Sustainable Food Consumption: The Influence of Governmental Assistance Programs on Low-Income Consumers’ Decision-Making: An Abstract

The food industry is expanding quantitatively and qualitatively, with consumer trends changing all the time (Costa and Jongen 2006). One consumer trend growing over the years is food consumption, especially in sustainable food consumption (Vermeir and Verbeke 2006). As with the theme of the conference highlighting enlightened marketing during challenging times, the paradigm of consumption has changed due to the increase in consumers’ interest in food consumption. Food consumption has moved past the concept of just nutrient intake. Nowadays, food consumption is intertwined with the environment, society, and culture (Duchin 2005). For example, Subway used to be a leading retailer in food retailing; however, nowadays, that is not enough. Subway is losing sales as other restaurants that focus more holistically on sustainable food consumption are increasing in market share (Taylor 2018). This is not only affecting consumers at restaurants but also in-home food consumption. Reflecting this belief, the World Summit on Sustainable Development conducted by the United Nations emphasized sustainable food consumption as a concept of food consumption that considers various qualitative factors (WSSD 2002). Sustainable food consumption is defined as economic development through food choices beneficial to individuals, society, and the environment, and that can enhance the quality of life for consumers. It refers to food consumption that minimizes environmental pollution and social problems (Sustainable Development Commission 2005). This is related to eco-friendly food consumption because it considers the consumers’ health and the environment. However, sustainable food consumption can be influenced by socio-cultural factors (Verbeke 2005). The specific content ensures that consumers are consuming stable and nutritious food. It can contribute to public social interest, including satisfying the needs of low-income families (Johnston et al. 2014). Overall, the results of our study confirm our three hypotheses, that consumers getting food assistance from governmental programs the findings show that consumers on governmental food assistance programs are more likely to suffer from emotional health issues, are more likely to consume fewer fruits and vegetables, and are more likely not to limit their caloric food intake, compared to consumers who do not get assistance from governmental programs. As research has shown, consumers on governmental assistance programs are those who are in lower-income brackets (Cutler and Katz 1992; Duchin 2005). Therefore, our findings illustrate that, unfortunately, sustainable food consumption is harder for consumers with lower incomes. Since, our findings illustrate that, unfortunately, sustainable food consumption is harder for consumers with lower incomes, marketers must know how to communicate healthy and sustainable food choices effectively to consumers of all income levels, and to those who use or do not use governmental assistance programs to help buy food.