Toward healthy and sustainable diets in Switzerland

Dietary recommendations and eating habits evolve over time. In recent years, consumers have started paying more attention to healthy nutrition. Some diets, such as those without gluten or lactose, vegetarian or vegan diets are becoming more popular, and so are alternative food networks. Looking at the evolving food system, the project analyses the social resistance to a change in eating habits as well as the incentives that could encourage such change.

The aim is to understand the development of dietary practices and provide the right incentives for a transition toward healthy and sustainable nutrition in Switzerland. The project wants to find out what diets currently prescribed as healthy and sustainable consist of, and to better understand new trends in nutrition. It will also analyse how these diets evolve as social practices, from the perspective of eating habits, peer pressure and material aspects of consumption. At the same time, the project will study the impact of these diets on our health and environment by adopting a life-cycle approach. Finally, it will explore opportunities and barriers that are associated with a transition to healthy and sustainable diets in order to identify what might tip the balance in favour of dietary change.

The project contributes toward healthy nutrition and sustainable production in Switzerland. The results will serve politicians and consumers as a guide to diets that are good for our health and for the environment. Recommendations will be submitted to decision-makers and stakeholders in the agro-food value chain encouraging them to choose a path towards healthy and sustainable nutrition. At the same time, consumers from different socio-economic groups will receive advice on how to achieve a healthier and more sustainable diet.

Tipping points toward healthy and sustainable Swiss diets: Assessing prescriptions, practices and impacts