An emerging food policy domain: The effects of autonomous transport technologies on food access and consumption

IF 6.8 1区经济学 Q1 AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS & POLICY

Food Policy Pub Date : 2024-05-01 DOI:10.1016/j.foodpol.2024.102647

Simone Pettigrew , Leon Booth , Victoria Farrar , Prof Julie Brown , Branislava Godic , Jason Thompson

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Abstract

Innovations in food home delivery systems have seen rapid growth in the consumption of food prepared outside the home. Such food is often higher in negative nutrients than home-prepared food. Technological advancements in the transport sector are set to amplify the availability of food delivery services via the introduction of autonomous (driverless) vehicles. Very little is known about how consumers are likely to react to this change, and relevant regulatory frameworks are lacking. To address this evidence gap and inform policy in this emerging domain, the aim of the present study was to provide preliminary insights into how and why consumers may choose to use autonomous food delivery services once they are widely available and the potential impacts on their diets. A sample of 100 adults currently residing in Australia participated in one-to-one interviews. Quotas were applied for the attributes of age, sex, and geographical location to ensure appropriate demographic distribution. Around two-thirds of interviewees reported intending to use autonomous food delivery services for receiving groceries and around one-half for receiving fast food. Perceptions of increased convenience dominated interviewees’ expressed reasons for intending to use autonomous delivery services. Overall, interviewees saw few impediments to the widescale use of autonomous delivery services, and some expected to consume more unhealthy food due to increased access. While autonomous delivery services have the potential to substantially increase access to both healthy and unhealthy food products, effective policy actions are needed to ensure health outcomes are optimized.

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一个新兴的粮食政策领域：自动运输技术对食品获取和消费的影响

随着送餐上门系统的创新，家庭外烹制食品的消费量迅速增长。这些食品的负营养成分往往高于家庭自制食品。交通领域的技术进步将通过引入自动驾驶（无人驾驶）车辆来扩大食品配送服务的可用性。人们对消费者可能如何应对这一变化知之甚少，也缺乏相关的监管框架。为了填补这一证据空白并为这一新兴领域的政策提供信息，本研究旨在提供初步见解，以了解一旦自动送餐服务普及，消费者可能会如何及为何选择使用这种服务，以及对其饮食的潜在影响。100名目前居住在澳大利亚的成年人参加了一对一访谈。为确保适当的人口分布，对年龄、性别和地理位置等属性进行了配额。约三分之二的受访者表示打算使用自主食品配送服务来接收杂货，约二分之一的受访者表示打算使用自主食品配送服务来接收快餐。在受访者表达的有意使用自主送餐服务的原因中，对更大便利性的认识占据了主导地位。总体而言，受访者认为大规模使用自主送餐服务的障碍很少，一些受访者预计，由于使用自主送餐服务的机会增加，他们会消费更多不健康食品。虽然自主配送服务有可能大幅增加健康和不健康食品的获取，但需要采取有效的政策行动，以确保优化健康结果。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Food Policy 管理科学-农业经济与政策

CiteScore

11.40

自引率

4.60%

发文量

128

审稿时长

62 days

期刊介绍： Food Policy is a multidisciplinary journal publishing original research and novel evidence on issues in the formulation, implementation, and evaluation of policies for the food sector in developing, transition, and advanced economies. Our main focus is on the economic and social aspect of food policy, and we prioritize empirical studies informing international food policy debates. Provided that articles make a clear and explicit contribution to food policy debates of international interest, we consider papers from any of the social sciences. Papers from other disciplines (e.g., law) will be considered only if they provide a key policy contribution, and are written in a style which is accessible to a social science readership.