Food purchase behaviour in a Finnish population: patterns, carbon footprints and expenditures.

OBJECTIVE

To identify food purchase patterns and to assess their carbon footprint and expenditure.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional.

SETTING

Purchase patterns were identified by factor analysis from the annual purchases of 3435 product groups. The associations between purchase patterns and the total purchases' carbon footprints (based on life-cycle assessment) and expenditure were analysed using linear regression and adjusted for nutritional energy content of the purchases.

PARTICIPANTS

Loyalty card holders ( 22 860) of the largest food retailer in Finland.

RESULTS

Eight patterns explained 55 % of the variation in food purchases. The pattern made the greatest contribution to the annual carbon footprint, followed by the , and patterns. , and patterns made the smallest contribution to the carbon footprint of the purchases. , , and patterns made the greatest contribution, whereas the and patterns made the smallest contribution to food expenditure. Carbon footprint per euros spent increased with stronger adherence to the , and patterns.

CONCLUSIONS

The , and patterns were associated with relatively high expenditure on food, suggesting no economic barrier to a potential shift towards a plant-based diet for consumers adherent to those patterns. Strong adherence to the pattern resulted in a low energy-adjusted carbon footprint but high carbon footprint per euro. This suggests a preference for cheap nutritional energy rather than environment-conscious purchase behaviour. Whether a shift towards a plant-based pattern would be affordable for those with more traditional and cheaper purchase patterns requires more research.