Within the space of just two generations, society has swept away thousands of years' worth of cultural evolution regarding the understanding of vegetable and animal food resources.
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2. Sustainable evolution
of eating habits
History
Evolution of man’s diet
For over 7 million years, since our common ancestry
with chimpanzees up to the emergence of post-industrial
urban societies, mankind has acquired food by gathering, hunting or fishing and, over the past few thousand
years, through agriculture and animal husbandry. Nature,
therefore, was the main factor impacting the physiological regulation of nutritional requirements.
AN OMNIVOROUS DIET INHERITED
FROM OUR APE ANCESTORS
Man is omnivorous. Or more specifically, our diet is of
interest to our food in terms of its energy content and
sensory qualities, hence our penchant for fruit and meat.
But being omnivorous is not actually very widespread.
This characteristic, handed down through prehistory from
our ape ancestors, is somewhat rare amongst mammals.
«Being a generalist requires special skills in the quest
for resources, accessing foodstuffs, preparing them in
different ways and both ingesting and digesting them.
Being omnivorous must be learnt, which means that such
diets require complex social and cognitive adaptations»,
explains Pascal Picq, a paleoanthropologist at the Collège de France.
Choosing the right food comes from education and
imitation; a sense of taste does not always direct and
make it possible to avoid potentially poisonous foods. An
omnivorous diet is therefore embedded within a context
interwoven with the numerous interactions of various
physical and social environments, in which are played
out the concepts of pleasure, exchange and prohibition,
etc. In uncertain times, the choice of foodstuffs (fruit,
vegetables, roots and tubers, nuts, meat, eggs, honey,
flowers, insects, etc.) ensures survival during difficult periods such as in drought or food deserts. Acquiring such
a diet was achieved by mobilising cognitive, technical,
social and cultural abilities, opening up access to food
of high quality irrespective of the circumstances. This
required education about nature, its resources and its
production cycles, not forgetting food conservation and
preparation methods.
DIET SHAPED BY HISTORY…
Man’s diet has evolved under the influence of powerful
nutritional and economic determinisms, with strong similarities from one country to the next depending on the level
of economic development. »In the developed countries,
and now across most of the world, the agricultural revolution – supported and then supplanted by the industrial
revolution – has brought about a considerable reduction in the cost of dietary calories», stress the authors
of the ‘duALIne1’ discussion paper. The consequences
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French history
lifestyle and diet
French dietary history has been through a variety of
phases9. In the Middle Ages and right up to the 17th century, the elite classes followed the dietary dictates of their
physicians, before gastronomy took hold of the reins. Then,
after the revolution of 1789, the act of eating was transformed into a culinary tradition. The search for taste and
pleasure at mealtimes became more widespread, and the
practice of eating together at the same table was born, up
until the emergence of the hygienist movement in the early
19th century, when it was discovered that food poisoning
was caused by microbes carried within unsound food. Furthermore, at the end of the 19th century, there emerged a
new standard of body shape: slimness. Therefore, in just
one century, three great trends associated with the French
diet appeared: eating together at the table, health and slimness. Trends that persist and which, to this day, dominate
dietary choices.
At the same time as this cultural evolution of the act of eating, throughout the 19th
in individual calorie intake can be noted, with particularly
favourable effects on health. Grains (mainly in the form of
bread) represented the major part of the daily intake as
they were amongst the cheaper foodstuffs, while energy
requirements remained high1. But the trend would reverse
with nutritional transition: consumption of basic foodstuffs
(grains, starches and dried pulses) face sustained decline
while other products (animal products, fruit and vegetables, fat and sugar) rose sharply. The result: the nutritional structure of the daily diet was fundamentally changed.
In France, between 1880 and 1980, the proportion of carbohydrate-based calories dropped from 70% to 45% of
total energy intake (TEI) while that of fat-derived calories
increased from 16% to 42% of TEI11
sometime between 1985 and 1990, since which time the
relative proportions of the various macronutrients have stabilised.
of these upheavals are both positive (improvements in
biological potential, work aptitude, longevity and quality
of life2) and negative (increase in the number of people
who are overweight, obese, diabetic, etc.). These harmful
effects have been accentuated by simultaneous lifestyle
changes (changes to the structure of employment with a
boom in services, urbanisation and sedentary activities).
Thanks to consumption habits which have been reconstituted and analysed by historians2, 3, we have a fairly accurate idea of the characteristics of dietary evolution in Europe since the 18th century. The main stages of this >>
p. 2 - Understanding the evolution of our dietary behaviour to improve that of the future
4. Sustainable evolution
of eating habits
>> creased as has the extent of processing. The volume of
ultra-fresh products has increased by a factor of 25 in forty
years, demonstrating this replacement of basic products
by prepared products»
report into dietary behaviour9 published in 2010 by INRA,
the French national institute for agronomic research. At the
end of the 20th century, prepared meals and ready-to-use
products experienced great success as they meet a high
demand for time-saving and ‘grab and go’ products within
the context of meal preparation. National dietary surveys
in France (INCA) suggest that the attraction of ready-toconsume products is likely to intensify, encouraged by the
younger generation who are becoming increasingly fond of
snacks, sandwiches and hamburgers11.
At the same time as these changes, the distribution of
food has migrated from the market (or local shop) to
Present day
supermarkets, which now account for 70% of household food expenditure, around 15% of which is in hard
discount stores, while hypermarkets had less than 5%
of market share for food products in 1970. The area of
residence (rural, town centre, etc.) and age are the main
determinants for the purchase location9.
During the 20th century, consumers in the West have progressively increased the proportion of fats in their diet.
An evolution one can attribute to history, to changes in
food availability, and more generally to lifestyle changes.
All industrialised countries have experienced this dietary
transition, whether sooner, as in the UK, or later, as in the
countries of southern Europe. Currently, it is the emerging and developing economies that are faced with this
issue, notwithstanding accelerated by globalisation.
Current consumption behaviour
Today, the search for food is no longer solely
an act of purchase, and we are gradually losing the
How do the French
perceive their diet ?
convivial, emotional and social aspects associated with
cooking, we take fewer meals as a family, etc. «Within the
space of just two generations, society has swept away
thousands of years worth of cultural evolution regarding
the understanding of the vegetable and animal resources
in our food and everything associated with the way they
are consumed», observes Pascal Picq. The explanation?
Our diet is the result of a dual evolution, »the first in relation to the resources available in the environment, as for
all species, and the second derived from complex interactions between cultural innovations and our biology»,
the paleoanthropologist states.
In practice, although dietary behaviour is fundamentally
governed by the consumer’s own internal physiological
regulation, it is nonetheless influenced, and frequently
transformed, by the restrictions and information emanating from their environment. These constraints include
social norms about food preferences, but also dietary practices, especially the pattern and structure of
meals. As for information received by the consumer, this
comes from the commercial world (advertising, marketing campaigns at the place of purchase, nutritional labelling, product claims), from peers (friends, family) and
health promoters (doctors, information campaigns, etc.).
Consumers’ behaviour is also inseparable from the type
tary judgements generally held by society will also condition choices.
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The French consider that product safety and access for
all to a quality diet should constitute a major National
priority. However, they also expect their government to
take steps to develop the consumption of local products, to encourage the food processing industry to
improve the quality of their products, and to reduce
waste and food packaging. Regarding information
sources, seven out of ten French people state that they
mainly keep themselves informed about food issues via
television (ahead of the press, the Internet, books and
radio), while 3 out of 10 say they do not trust any public
bodies. Regarding the role attributed to diet, this appears to depend on the standard of living. Those with
as a necessity, while others view it above all as a pleasure. The perception of a link between diet and health
has been falling since 2007, and a number of risks still
concern the French, notably the presence of pesticides
in crops and microorganisms in other food products.
From the 2011 survey on perceptions about diet
conducted by CREDOC, the French research institute
for the study and monitoring of living standards14.
THE ERA OF «SUSTAINABLE EATING»
To illustrate the influence of society on the everyday diet
of the consumer, the example of France is enlighte- >>
p. 4 - Understanding the evolution of our dietary behaviour to improve that of the future
6. Sustainable evolution
of eating habits
>> without doubt fulfils the desire to limit one’s impact
on the environment. «Such trends contradict a number of
previously popular trends. But does this mean they are
unrealistic?, asks Martine Padilla. lt is more likely that
they represent the diverse facets that make up today’s
individual, marking the end of mass consumption patterns.»
Nonetheless, making informed choices when surrounlimit their consumption of meat in favour of vegetables?
Should they favour local over imported produce? Or seasonal produce over that available all year round? Organic
over conventional? «In the absence of adequate studies,
answers can sometimes be counter-intuitive», states the
sociologist. Accordingly, with their zeal for social and
environmental responsibility and their desire for economic solidarity and transparency, the behaviour of modern
consumers continues to evolve in guilt-ridden confusion.
That said, the dietary convergence described previously
and its fundamental trends cannot mask significant variation not only between different countries, but also within
each country. Food insecurity remains a public health
ly one billion people in the world are under-nourished
(including in affluent nations) and millions of others are
affected by chronic illness such as obesity and diabetes
type 2, which have a greater impact on of lower social
economic groups12, 13.
Tomorrow What does the future have in store for us?
Scenario no
from confusion and the developing countries in the
full throes of nutritional transition, how will the world resolve the issue of sustainability and food? Such is the
(eco-conditionality of common agricultural policy aid, energy savings that require
Scenario no
food to meet qualitative and quantitative needs within the
context of pressure on resources and climate change.
The world’s food systems are constantly evolving. At the
same time, existing contextual elements are changing and
food supply systems are being transformed. Predicting
the outcome of future changes is all but impossible. But
possible to comprehend the changes ahead.
POSSIBLE SCENARIOS
In 2007, Pierre Feillet, a member of the French Academy
of Agriculture and the Academy of Technologies, followed
described at the end of comprehensive research on the diet
of the French15, one which can be transposed more or less
to all industrialised countries.
Scenario no
vourings, etc.).
Scenario no
diet (interventionist dietary policy, analysis
of individual needs according to the nutrigenome, etc.).
Scenario no
pose their products (development of services,
functional food, and genetic engineering).
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many additives and products with stanconsumerism is all-powerful, regionalism
is valued.
As far as the French are concerned, Martine Padilla judges
that «although current trends suggest we are moving towards scenarios 4 and 5, we can also wager that industrial
power will work out how to sell sustainably while adapting
leading edge technologies to ancestral expertise.»
THE WAY AHEAD ON A GLOBAL LEVEL
considered the question of food and sustainability16. The
DuALIne discussions held at INRA cover complete food
systems from leaving the farm right up to consumption
and waste elimination. As such, it distinguishes itself
from and complements the Agrimonde7 forecast, which
focuses on global issues associated with agriculture.
It examines numerous questions and is testament to the
crease of animal-derived calories and its consequences,
the organisation of food systems in liaison with the production of chemicals and renewable energy, losses and
waste, the impact of international markets on consumption, etc. Accordingly, this work does not end here with
the presentation of scenarios, but with 3 cross-func- >>
p. 6 - Understanding the evolution of our dietary behaviour to improve that of the future