FOOD AND RESPONSIBILITY

 Research Manager Sari Forsman-Hugg
 MTT Agrifood Research Finland 

Responsibility issues concerning food production and consumption have become a key theme also in food industry during the past few years. In the responsibility discussion, we are now moving from speeches to action. More and more food companies are looking for concrete ways to show they operate responsibly and meet the global and local challenges set by sustainable development from the economic, environmental and social perspectives.

Responsibility in food production is attached, on the one hand, to social responsibility of companies and production chains and, on the other hand, to responsible consuming. Several researches and studies show that consumers’ interest in the impacts of their own choices has increased. Where does food come from? How safely, ecologically and ethically is it produced?

Concretising responsibility information has been challenging, and it has been difficult for consumers to evaluate the responsibility of their own choices. Many consumers are not very aware of the different phases of food production and production chain. Responsibility should be verified and made transparent. This requires that more attention is paid to the dialogue between food production and consumption as well as to the communication of responsibility issues.

In forefront companies, responsibility is seen as an opportunity, not as a requirement that needs responding. In proactive companies, responsibility is such a central dimension that it can be seen in the core of business activities and strategy. A proactive company challenges its customers and stakeholders to an active discussion in order to enhance responsibility.

Seven dimensions of responsibility

Joint research project of MTT Agrifood Research Finland and National Consumer Research Centre resulted in concrete content for the responsibility of food chain. In the project, seven dimensions for responsibility were identified: environment, product safety, nutrition, occupational welfare, animal welfare, localness and economic responsibility. The content of responsibility was constructed in cooperation with companies, stakeholders and experts. Essential starting points for the study were the viewpoint of the entire value chain, life cycle thinking as well as transparency and measurability of responsibility.

Responsibility concerns the whole food chain – its every link from the field to the consumer’s table. For instance, environmental impacts of a product are generated during the entire life cycle of the product, primary production having the greatest impact. This is why it is important to study the whole production chain when evaluating, developing and measuring responsible activities. From the environmental viewpoint, the most important measurable environmental issues are related to climate change and eutrophication. Companies have to be aware of the environmental impacts of their operations so that it is possible to find solutions to reduce them.

Product safety is considered to be a strength of Finnish food production, and it has a key role to play in maintaining the confidence of consumers. From the responsibility viewpoint, the traceability of products would be worth developing further than required by law. To increase the transparency, consumers could also be more informed about the good practices done for the safety of food production. Nutritional responsibility should be taken into account in the company’s strategic planning and in the product information for consumers. In fact, nutrition seems to be one of the spearheads on the basis of which food companies are developing responsible business operations.

Finnish food chain employs more than 300,000 people. Responsibility for the food makers’ occupational welfare, for its enhancement and for high-level occupational competence should be more highlighted. Farm animal welfare, including animal health, care and living conditions, has been under discussion recently, and the issues related to animal welfare interest consumers more and more. When reviewing animal welfare, it is important to remember the significance of the feed chain.

Localness is sociocultural responsibility whose productisation would deserve more attention. What are the impacts of a farm or a company on the local welfare (e.g. employment, economic impacts regionally)? What is the interaction between local operational environment and its stakeholders based on? And how are the regional taste habits and food cultures taken into account when developing products?

Economic responsibility is the basis of all business activities. Key issues related to the responsibility of the whole chain are the economic impacts of food production on stakeholders and the transparency of price formation in the food chain.

Meters of responsibility under development

In the research project conducted by MTT “Developing food chain responsibility into business opportunities “ (2009-2011), a set of meters is being developed for the seven dimensions of responsibility. The work is challenging. Food industry needs common concepts and meters that would encompass issues characteristic of food industry in a user friendly way. Concepts and tools for measuring are needed so that companies could evaluate the development of responsibility in food production chains as well as communicate responsibility issues to their customers and stakeholders.

MTT has worked on this project together with National Consumer Research Centre, University of Jyväskylä and University of Vaasa. Our main sponsor is TEKES, Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation. We have four companies as partners in the project, one of which is Ravintoraisio. Expertise and insights of specialists, companies and stakeholders are used when building measuring tools for responsibility.

Further information:
Forsman-Hugg, S., Katajajuuri, J-M., Paananen, J., Pesonen, I., Järvelä,K. & Mäkelä, J. 2009. Responsibility in the food supply chain. Description of an interactive process in constructing the content of social responsibility. Maa- ja elintarviketalous 140. Helsinki: MTT Agrifood Research Finland. 74 p.

http://www.mtt.fi/met/pdf/met140.pdf