The United Nations Environment Programme has set up an online database providing information on approximately 30 existing national Sustainable Consumption and Production programmes, initiatives in their final stages of development and UNEP demonstration projects. UNEP has compiled this clearinghouse for participating countries to communicate knowledge regarding the development, implementation and monitoring of SCP programmes in an effort to foster their continual improvement. You can visit the site here.

Added: 07.05.08

In April 2008, WWF published the extremely interesting Weathercocks and Signposts: The environment Movement at a Crossroad which can be downloaded here . The report critiques the current approach to achieving pro-environmental behavioural change strategies which stresses the importance of small and painless steps.

An FCRN summary is available here.

Added: 07.03.08

In Sustainable Food Consumption at a Sub-national Level: An Ecological Footprint, Nutritional and Economic Analysis, (Collins, Andrea and Fairchild, Ruth, Journal of Environmental Policy & Planning, 9:1, 5 - 30 ) the authors use an ecological footprint approach to assess the City of Cardiff’s food footprint, examine how it could be reduced and what the impacts on food spending and nutrition might be.

An FCRN summary is available here.

The co-authors, Professor Ken Peattie of Cardiff's BRASS centre, and Ben Shaw from the Policy Studies Institute argue that while recycling rates have risen, and the UK is on schedule to meet EU targets, the key to dealing with our escalating waste problem lies in changing our buying habits and our attitudes to consumption, .

If current trends continue, the gains from recycling could be undermined by the sheer quantity of waste being generated. If household waste output continues to rise by three per cent a year, the cost to the economy will be £3.2 billion and methane emissions will double by 2020.

The report highlights projects and efforts both here and overseas which tackle different aspects of waste reduction at the production stage and in consumption. Some of these initiatives focus on changing consumer behaviour through techniques such as 'social marketing' while others adopt fiscal or regulatory measures. In particular, waste reduction needs to be tackled higher up the chain of production and consumption. "Waste reduction must be a goal of UK environmental policy, and not tackled through waste policy alone," says Ben Shaw.

For the press release see here.

An FCRN summary of the report is available here.

The report, which is based on work carried out by the University of Surrey's Centre for Environmental Strategy calculates that out of a total of 164.5 MT Carbon generated in the UK (excluding aviation), the foods and drinks we consume account for 22.4 MTC. This works out at about 13.5% of the UK's total carbon emissions. NOTE: the calculation is for carbon only. Methane and nitrous oxide emissions are omitted from the calculation; when these are included the proportion of the UK's greenhouse gas emissions attributable to our food and drink consumption increases substantially.

The core objectives of this programme were to explore the following questions:

• Why do people behave as they do towards the natural environment?
• How do or will people seek to adapt their behaviour in response to environmental change, especially rapid environmental change?
• What public policy approaches might persuade people to change their behaviour, either to mitigate the extent of negative environmental change, or to adapt to it in ways that do not exacerbate it, and to change their behaviour in ways that are least costly for society as a whole?

The University of Melbourne’s Victorian Eco-Innovation Lab published this report in April 2008. It provides an overview of Victoria's food production and consumption system, its impacts on the environment, and its vulnerability to environmental problems and resource constraints. The aim of the report is to identify any significant challenges to the future security of the food system in Victoria, that arise from environmental and resource issues and the risks, constraints and social or political responses to these. The report also considers a range of response strategies being developed and explored at various points across the food system (including low-input production methods, changing distribution systems such as farmers' markets and changing consumer food choices) .

This report is primarily a ‘mapping’ of information sources across the food system, to provide a sense of “what we know” and “what we need to know”. Research has involved literature scans, selective interviews and correspondence with researchers and research groups, as well as some consultative workshops. It has also drawn on secondary sources including general media to map social concerns and awareness about food sustainability issues.

While focused on the Australian (and specifically Victorian) context, the report will certainly be of interest to UK and US members who are interested in food supply chain sustainability.

Eating Out: Habits, Determinants and Recommendations for Consumers and the European Catering Sector

The EU project HECTOR looks at out-of-home food consumption. Individual-based food consumption data collected in 15 European countries will be analysed in order to:

• evaluate the prevalence of out-of-home food consumption;
• identify out-of-home dietary patterns, including meals, foods, and nutrients;
• compare dietary intake within- and out-of-home, at national and regional levels, when possible;
• evaluate the effect of sociodemographic, lifestyle, and anthropometric determinants on food choices when eating out;
• compare the out-of-home dietary intake with national and international recommendations and estimate, through an innovative approach, optimal out-of-home dietary patterns.

The findings after the evaluation of both food supply and demand will be translated to a common strategic action plan for enhancing the quality and safety of out-of-home food choices of the European consumers.

The conclusions are that there's not a lot to choose between the two. The home cooked meal used slightly less energy but generated slightly more GHG emissions (a result of different waste disposal assumptions).

See here for a summary of findings.