VeggiEAT

VeggiEat researchers has been busy presenting VeggiEat during the summer of 2014. Although VeggiEat is a EU project, its outreach will go beyond the borders of Europe. Already within the first year of the project, there has been significant notice in what this project might bring to both academia and to the foodservice business.

Europeans pioneering in the study of choice architecture and nudging in behavioural nutrition

Although VeggiEat will not start their activities within choice architecture before late 2015, then there has been a growing international interest in this part early on. VeggiEat researchers from Denmark have been visiting both Brazil and the USA to present their on-going research within the field of choice architecture in public health nutrition, including future activities in VeggiEat. During a keynote lecture jointly organised by the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) and Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (UERJ), Laurits Rohden Skov introduced the VeggiEat project for Brazilian researchers within food research and epidemiology. Likewise, prominent researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital have been introduced to VeggiEat and they are excited to follow the outcomes very closely, which they hope will contribute to the growing evidence base for choice architecture in promoting healthier food choices.

VeggiEat’s importance in the foodservice and hospitality sector

The unique contribution of VeggiEat in increasing vegetable consumption through the foodservice industry was presented by consortium leader Professor Heather Hartwell at the EuroCHRIE conference in Dubai in October. Conference participants were mainly from the field of hospitality and they found great inspiration in the presentation and acknowledged the importance food and health in the growing customer demands.

Poster

VeggiEAT presented in Finland

During a Seminar organized at the University of Eastern Finland, associate professor Armando Perez-Cueto, presented VeggiEAT project and some of the preliminary exploratory research results. The talk had as title: Promotion of vegetable consumption through Priming, Default and Multiple Choice nudging interventions, and highlighted the methodological issues when doing this kind of research, and the lessons learnt for VeggiEAT. The Seminar was held at UEF, Kliininen ravitsemustiede, Kuopio, on October 1^st, 2014. Kuopio University representatives have welcomed the presentation of VeggiEAT, and further expressed their interest for future collaboration in the promotion of vegetable consumption through behavioural interventions.

Likewise, JAMK, The University of Applied sciences, organized an Open Seminar on October 2^nd, 2014. Associate professor Armando Perez-Cueto, presented the preliminary results of VeggiEAT related research, more precisely, the development of a scale for estimating acceptability of choice architectural nudge interventions (CANI) among adolescents.

Both guest lectures were invited by Food4Growth Network (China, Denmark, Finland and Norway).

The VeggiEat partners are recognizing the importance of the work that is being undertaking now and we are happy that the international academic and private communities are following it closely.