226, that's the number of decisions
we make about food every day, according to a 2007 Cornell
University study.
The physical and symbolic environment
in which we make these decisions is called choice architecture,
a phrase coined in 2008 by behavioural economists Richard
Thaler and Cass Sunstein.
Adjustments to choice architecture encourage people
towards certain behaviours, that's nudge theory.
The smell of baking in a supermarket and sweets
by the checkout, these are nudges.
But can nudging be harnessed to promote food sustainability?
In 2012, a study at Indiana University
showed that by removing trays from the student canteen
and reducing the surface area for diners to fill,
18 per cent less food was wasted.
Language can have an impact.
For plant-based meals, the words,
'meat-free', and 'vegan' may signal a social identity that
many don't aspire to.
Recent trials conducted by the World Resources Institute
found that when Sainsbury's meat-free sausage and mash was
renamed Cumberland spiced veggie sausages and mash,
sales increased by 76 per cent.
But critics of consumer nudging say
it avoids tackling the hole in the food chain.
The UK's Behavioural Insights Team,
a government backed company that uses psychology to try
to change public behaviour, is looking at double nudges to be
introduced through policy.
These would be aimed at consumers,
yet also encourage businesses to change.
An example of this is the UK's 2018 sugar tax on soft drinks.
Customers have to pay the tax, but as a result,
companies dropped the sugar content of their drinks
by almost 30 per cent per 100 mil to keep prices down.
The supermarket sustainability rating system
could function in a similar way and is being considered
by Behavioural Insights.
It would give food retailers a clear overall sustainability
score so consumers would only need to make one sustainability
decision over where to shop instead of considering
each individual product.
Subconsciously, people are more receptive to habit alterations
in times of upheaval, as the world
is experiencing right now due to the coronavirus.
For that reason behavioural scientists
see this moment as a potentially exciting window for change.