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226, that's the number of decisions
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we make about food every day, according to a 2007 Cornell
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University study.
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The physical and symbolic environment
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in which we make these decisions is called choice architecture,
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a phrase coined in 2008 by behavioural economists Richard
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Thaler and Cass Sunstein.
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Adjustments to choice architecture encourage people
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towards certain behaviours, that's nudge theory.
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The smell of baking in a supermarket and sweets
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by the checkout, these are nudges.
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But can nudging be harnessed to promote food sustainability?
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In 2012, a study at Indiana University
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showed that by removing trays from the student canteen
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and reducing the surface area for diners to fill,
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18 per cent less food was wasted.
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Language can have an impact.
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For plant-based meals, the words,
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'meat-free', and 'vegan' may signal a social identity that
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many don't aspire to.
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Recent trials conducted by the World Resources Institute
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found that when Sainsbury's meat-free sausage and mash was
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renamed Cumberland spiced veggie sausages and mash,
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sales increased by 76 per cent.
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But critics of consumer nudging say
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it avoids tackling the hole in the food chain.
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The UK's Behavioural Insights Team,
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a government backed company that uses psychology to try
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to change public behaviour, is looking at double nudges to be
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introduced through policy.
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These would be aimed at consumers,
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yet also encourage businesses to change.
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An example of this is the UK's 2018 sugar tax on soft drinks.
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Customers have to pay the tax, but as a result,
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companies dropped the sugar content of their drinks
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by almost 30 per cent per 100 mil to keep prices down.
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The supermarket sustainability rating system
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could function in a similar way and is being considered
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by Behavioural Insights.
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It would give food retailers a clear overall sustainability
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score so consumers would only need to make one sustainability
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decision over where to shop instead of considering
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each individual product.
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Subconsciously, people are more receptive to habit alterations
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in times of upheaval, as the world
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is experiencing right now due to the coronavirus.
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For that reason behavioural scientists
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see this moment as a potentially exciting window for change.