Stranieri Stefanella, Ricci Elena Claire, Banterle Alessandro
Department of Environmental Science and Policy, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Celoria, 2, 20133 Milan, Italy.
Appetite. 2017 Sep 1;116:11-20. doi: 10.1016/j.appet.2017.04.015. Epub 2017 Apr 18.
The use of chemicals in agriculture poses risks on both human health and the environment. Regulatory measures, both mandatory and voluntary, have been introduced to promote a reduction in the use of pesticides. The proliferation of such standards is related to the gradual shift of consumer preferences towards food with reduced negative health and environmental impacts. Beside consumer demand for sustainable food products, convenience food is also assuming an increasingly important role in developed countries. Among such products, minimally-processed vegetables are showing a growing positive trend, but their production has also negative effects on the environment. The goal of this study is to investigate the interaction between environmentally-friendly and healthy convenience food, and to investigate the determinants behind the purchase of healthy convenience food products with environmentally-sustainable attributes, focusing on minimally-processed vegetables labelled with voluntary standards related to integrated agriculture. To do so, we started from the Theory of Planned Behaviour and tested the efficacy of an extended model by considering also other variables which were found to affect significantly food choices. Data were collected by means of face-to-face interviews with 550 consumers in charge of grocery shopping in the metropolitan area of Milan, in northern Italy. Structural equation modelling was performed to analyse the relative importance of the constructs on consumer behaviour. Results confirm the relations of Ajzen's theory and reveal positive relations with consumer food shopping habits, food-related environmental behaviour, gender, income and knowledge. A negative relation with agricultural practices concern also emerges, highlighting that the most concerned consumers may prefer other more stringent environmental certifications.
农业中化学品的使用对人类健康和环境都构成风险。已出台强制性和自愿性的监管措施，以促进减少农药的使用。此类标准的激增与消费者偏好逐渐转向对健康和环境负面影响较小的食品有关。除了消费者对可持续食品的需求外，方便食品在发达国家也日益重要。在这类产品中，最少加工的蔬菜呈日益增长的积极趋势，但其生产也对环境有负面影响。本研究的目的是调查环保型和健康型方便食品之间的相互作用，并调查购买具有环境可持续属性的健康方便食品背后的决定因素，重点关注标有与综合农业相关的自愿标准的最少加工蔬菜。为此，我们从计划行为理论出发，通过考虑其他被发现对食物选择有显著影响的变量，测试了一个扩展模型的有效性。通过对意大利北部米兰大都市区负责食品杂货采购的550名消费者进行面对面访谈收集数据。进行结构方程建模以分析各构念对消费者行为的相对重要性。结果证实了阿杰恩理论的关系，并揭示了与消费者食品购物习惯、与食品相关的环境行为、性别、收入和知识之间的积极关系。还出现了与农业实践关注度的负面关系，突出表明最关注的消费者可能更喜欢其他更严格的环境认证。
