A review on policy instruments for sustainable food consumption

The current food system is not sustainable, and food consumption contributes substantially to the climate crisis. Several challenges make it difficult for consumers to make sustainable food decisions. Therefore, policy action is indispensable to reduce the environmental impact of food choice. We present the results of a literature review of 160 studies, investigating four types of consumer-targeted policy instruments (market-based, information-based, regulatory, and nudging) and their potential to improve the sustainability of food systems. Our results show that (i) less intrusive policy instruments (information-based, nudging) are more popular and widespread and can be combined (however, more intrusive…