@inproceedings{WienenSteinOebeletal.2023, author = {Wienen, Daria and Stein, Lennart and Oebel, Benjamin and Michalke, Amelie and Gaugler, Tobias}, title = {Veganismus f{\"u}r alle? Akzeptanz von veganer Ern{\"a}hrung in der Bev{\"o}lkerung und Potentiale einer Transformation hin zur nachhaltigen Ern{\"a}hrung}, editor = {Wienen, Daria}, publisher = {Verlag Dr. K{\"o}ster}, year = {2023}, abstract = {Veganism is a dietary trend that is in line with the needed change towards a sustainable food system and nutrition but it is only accepted by the population to a limited extent. In this study, the lack of acceptance of society is identified by both a review and a consumer survey. In this context, current food patterns in relation to sociodemographic characteristics are analysed, motives of consumer behaviour related to omnivorous and vegan nutrition are compared and incentives for the purchase of sustainable products as well as the factors for acceptance of vegan nutrition are highlighted.}, language = {de} } @inproceedings{EwertSteinMichalkeetal.2021, author = {Ewert, Stefan and Stein, Lennart and Michalke, Amelie and Fichtner, Rosalie and Rau, Henriette and Stoll-Kleemann, Susanne}, title = {True Food Pricing}, pages = {26}, year = {2021}, abstract = {The first spotlight presented by Stefan Ewert focused on the necessary differentiation in True Food Accounting (TCA) with regard to soils. Amelie Michalke introduced a framework for internalizing external costs from the production of different foods, as well as different production practices, as this session's main focus. In the following, Lennart Stein and Rosalie Fichtner highlighted the outcomes of a quantitative face-to-face study evaluating the customer's cognizance of measures taken. Based on a literature review, such intervention studies, their evidence-based success factors and, especially, barriers were analyzed and presented by Henriette Rau as the fourth spotlight. Susanne Nicolai's talk spotlighted the links between justice sensitivity, moral emotions and dietary behavior and intention.}, language = {de} } @article{SeidelOebelSteinetal.2023, author = {Seidel, Felix and Oebel, Benjamin and Stein, Lennart and Michalke, Amelie and Gaugler, Tobias}, title = {The True Price of External Health Effects from Food Consumption}, series = {Nutrients ; Special Issue: Sustainable Nutrition and Human Health as Part of Sustainable Development}, volume = {15}, journal = {Nutrients ; Special Issue: Sustainable Nutrition and Human Health as Part of Sustainable Development}, number = {15}, publisher = {MDPI}, address = {Basel}, doi = {10.3390/nu15153386}, year = {2023}, abstract = {Although global food consumption costs more in terms of impact on human life than money is spent on it, health costs have not been consistently quantified or included in food prices to date. In this paper, a method to determine the external health costs of nutrition and dietetics is developed by employing the cost-of-illness (COI) and true cost accounting (TCA) approaches. This is done exemplarily for the reference country Germany. The results show that 601.50 € per capita and 50.38 billion € in total external health costs are incurred annually due to nutrition. Overall, most costs are accrued through excessive meat consumption (32.56\% of costs), deficient whole grain intake (15.42\% of costs), and insufficient uptake of legumes (10.19\% of costs). Comparing the external health costs with the external environmental costs in Germany, it can be seen that of the total annual costs of around 153.86 billion €, 67.26\% originate from environmental impacts and 32.74\% from impacts on human life. In order to achieve the 17 Sustainable Development Goals and to increase family as well as public health, there is a need to internalise these external costs into actual food prices.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{MuellerSteinOebeletal.2023, author = {M{\"u}ller, Laura and Stein, Lennart and Oebel, Benjamin and Michalke, Amelie and Gaugler, Tobias}, title = {Noch ein Label? - Meta-Label als Instrument zur Nachhaltigkeitskommunikation gegen{\"u}ber Verbrauchern}, isbn = {978-3-96831-055-177}, year = {2023}, abstract = {Due to rapidly rising prices caused by inflation, the current political situation, and the critical impact on the environment through agricultural pollution, sustainable purchasing decisions become increasingly important. A meta-label that offers consumers orientation for a more ecologically, economically, and ethically conscious consumption is a possible tool for changing and adapting the food industry to the current challenges of the environment and society.}, language = {de} } @article{OebelMichalkeSteinetal.2024, author = {Oebel, Benjamin and Michalke, Amelie and Stein, Lennart and Stoll-Kleemann, Susanne and Gaugler, Tobias}, title = {Towards true prices in food retailing: the value added tax as an instrument transforming agri-food systems}, series = {Sustainability Science}, volume = {2024}, journal = {Sustainability Science}, publisher = {Springer}, address = {Berlin, Heidelberg}, doi = {10.1007/s11625-024-01477-7}, year = {2024}, abstract = {Current crises (i.e., climate crisis, COVID-19 pandemic, Russian invasion of Ukraine, and the resulting energy and food shortages) indicate the need for robust, and sustainable supply chains with regional food production and farmland to secure food supply in the European Union (EU). Recent research shows that organic food is more resilient to supply chain disruptions and price fluctuations. In this context, we examine an approach for the sustainable and resilient transformation of agri-food networks: can an adaptation of value added tax (VAT) levels work as a financial incentive to amplify resilient agricultural practices and sustainable dietary patterns? Within the setting of the amendment of the European framework directive on the use of VAT in 2022, we model the effects of adapting the current German VAT system by (1) reducing VAT on organic vegetarian food to 0\% and (2) raising VAT on conventional meat and fish to 19\%. Based on historical data on organic sales shares and price elasticities, we project sales shares differentiated by product group for each scenario. Then, we calculate expected tax revenues, changes in consumption patterns, and arising total external climate costs in Germany for both scenarios. Our results show that the overall consumption share of organic food would increase by 21.83\% due to the modeled VAT reform compared to the status quo. Despite the VAT reduction to 0\% on organic vegetarian products, the measure would yield €2.04 billion in extra tax revenues in Germany per year due to the increased taxation on conventional meat products. We find that annual environmental costs of €5.31 billion can be avoided as a result of lower external climate costs of organic and vegetarian food. Therefore, adjusting VAT rates in the food market can be a political instrument to drive organic food consumption and reduce animal livestock. This supports re-territorialization of agriculture and a more sustainable and resilient European food supply.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{MichalkeSemkenStein2023, author = {Michalke, Amelie and Semken, Christoph and Stein, Lennart}, title = {Customer's behavior towards true prices of food: lessons learnt from informational campaigning and factual intervention}, year = {2023}, language = {de} } @inproceedings{Stein2023, author = {Stein, Lennart}, title = {Added tax as an instrument for agricultural Transformation}, year = {2023}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{SemkenAllcottGaugleretal.2024, author = {Semken, Christoph and Allcott, Hunt and Gaugler, Tobias and Michalke, Amelie and Stein, Lennart}, title = {Optimal Green Retailing: Theory and Evidence}, year = {2024}, abstract = {We lay out a simple framework for optimal green retailing. We use it to evaluate a heavily publicized campaign in which a large German grocer added uninternalized environmental externality costs, which we estimated using "true cost accounting", to a selection of products and donated the proceeds to environmental conservation. The implied demand elasticity with respect to the campaign price increase was half of the elasticity with respect to standard short-term promotional price decreases, suggesting that demand may have shifted out significantly due to warm glow from the donations. We find that the campaign increased overall welfare. Surveys show that the campaign did not substantially affect beliefs about externality magnitudes, but consumers expressed concerns about greenwashing and viewed true cost pricing more sceptically after the campaign. Using a structural model and home scanner data, we evaluate alternatives such as a cross-subsidy from high- to low-externality foods and the first-best system of externality taxes.}, language = {en} } @article{MichalkeSteinFichtneretal.2022, author = {Michalke, A. and Stein, Lennart and Fichtner, R. and Gaugler, Tobias and Stoll-Kleemann, S.}, title = {True cost accounting in agri-food networks: a German case study on informational campaigning and responsible implementation}, series = {Sustainability Science}, volume = {17}, journal = {Sustainability Science}, number = {6}, publisher = {Springer Science and Business Media LLC}, issn = {1862-4065}, doi = {10.1007/s11625-022-01105-2}, pages = {2269 -- 2285}, year = {2022}, abstract = {AbstractThere is broad scientific consensus that current food systems are neither sustainable nor resilient: many agricultural practices are very resource-intensive and responsible for a large share of global emissions and loss of biodiversity. Consequently, current systems put large pressure on planetary boundaries. According to economic theory, food prices form when there is a balance between supply and demand. Yet, due to the neglect of negative external effects, effective prices are often far from representing the 'true costs'. Current studies show that especially animal-based foodstuff entails vast external costs that currently stay unaccounted for in market prices. Against this background, we explore how informational campaigning on agricultural externalities can contribute to consumer awareness and tolerance of this matter. Further, we investigate the socially just design of monetary incentives and their implementation potentials and challenges. This study builds on the informational campaign of a German supermarket displaying products with two price tags: one of the current market price and the other displaying the 'true' price, which includes several environmental externalities calculated with True Cost Accounting (TCA). Based on interpretations of a consumer survey and a number of expert interviews, in this article we approach the potentials and obstacles of TCA as a communication tool and the challenges of its factual implementation in agri-food networks. Our results show that consumers are generally interested in the topic of true food pricing and would to a certain extent be willing to pay 'true prices' of the inquired foods. However, insufficient transparency and unjust distribution of wealth are feared to bring about communication and social justice concerns in the implementation of TCA. When introducing TCA into current discourse, it is therefore important to develop measures that are socially cautious and backed by relevant legal framework conditions. This poses the chance to create a fair playing ('polluter pays') with a clear assignment of responsibilities to policy makers, and practitioners in addition to customers.}, language = {en} } @article{SteinMichalkeGaugleretal.2024, author = {Stein, Lennart and Michalke, Amelie and Gaugler, Tobias and Stoll-Kleemann, Susanne}, title = {Sustainability Science Communication}, series = {Sustainability}, volume = {16}, journal = {Sustainability}, number = {9}, editor = {Stein, Lennart}, doi = {10.3390/su16093842}, pages = {20}, year = {2024}, abstract = {The Anthropocene, marked by human-induced climate change, necessitates urgent action to address climate goals and respect planetary boundaries. While sustainability research provides knowledge, the first challenge lies in communicating the findings in an adequate manner to the public and several stakeholders, such as economic and political actors. Therefore, this study explores the significance of science communication in sustainability science, focusing on a case study—the True Cost Accounting (TCA) campaign by the University of Greifswald, Technical Institute of Nuremberg, and German retailer PENNY. TCA herein serves as a transparency tool, economic incentive, and discussion basis for sustainable consumption. This study investigates consumer perceptions of ecological prices of foods through a face-to-face survey during the 2023 PENNY campaign, comparing results to an informational campaign carried out in 2021. Findings indicate a high awareness of the true cost campaign in 2023, with 50.8\% of participants hearing about it. Consumers' willingness to pay true costs and potential behavior changes were explored. In comparison to results from the informational campaign of 2021, customers showed a decrease in this WTP when the true prices would actually impact their spending, indicating an attitude-behavior gap. In addition, a willingness to reduce the consumption of animal foods—if TCA was implemented—of 60.5\% was determined, suggests that TCA has the potential for sustainable behavior change. This study highlights factors that influence consumer attitudes and preferences regarding the inclusion of TCAs, such as environmental, social, and animal welfare costs. Customers' understanding of increased prices like, in this case, the compensation for environmental and social costs—is an argument in favor of true prices. The results emphasize the need for differentiated scientific communication strategies to bridge knowledge and action gaps in sustainability science.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{RasidovicOebelSteinetal.2023, author = {Rasidovic, Amel and Oebel, Benjamin and Stein, Lennart and Michalke, Amelie and Gaugler, Tobias}, title = {Soziale externe Kosten: Ein Framework zur Monetarisierung von Tierwohl zur Berechnung wahrer Lebensmittelpreise}, editor = {Rasidovic, Amel}, publisher = {Verlag Dr. K{\"o}ster}, year = {2023}, abstract = {A long-term improvement of the current animal husbandry is inevitable. Animal welfare is one of the six areas of externalities and so imposes hidden costs that are currently not priced into food products. A framework to monetize animal welfare and thus account the true food prices would not only yield these external costs, but also provide the opportunity to reform husbandry conditions on German farms. Potential price premiums raised for animal welfare could finance investment projects to improve husbandry.}, language = {de} }