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Food choice is a complex function of preferences and combines a myriad of food-related factors, such as biological, economic, physical, social, and psychological determinants. People's food choices directly affect their health and can have both positive and negative outcomes. For instance, the pandemic may have presented an opportunity to cook more at home, eventually resulting in dietary benefits, health improvements, and reduced stress. Conversely, adverse behavioral, psychological, and physical outcomes, such as overeating, have also been associated with stressful situations. Therefore, the aim of this study is twofold: first, to propose "cooking readiness" as a higher-order construct, in which 'food literacy' and 'cooking skills' correspond to the capability, 'cooking attitudes' reflect the motivation, and the variable 'COVID-19 restrictions' represent the opportunity for consumers to cook and consume healthier food at home. Furthermore, as the pandemic scenario was imposed and caused changes in mental health and emotional mood, the second objective is to explore the relationship between cooking readiness and stress levels in consumers' choices for nutritionally recommended (or non-recommended) food. Cross-country data (Brazil, Denmark) from 1074 consumers was analyzed using structural equation modeling. This study confirms cooking readiness as a higher-order construct, integrating food literacy, cooking skills, and cooking attitudes with pandemic-induced opportunities. Cooking readiness is crucial in promoting healthier eating habits, particularly in Brazil. The stronger tradition of healthier eating in Denmark may mitigate the impact of cooking readiness on reducing non-recommended food consumption. The varying effects of stress on food choices between the two countries underscore the need for tailored public health strategies that consider cultural differences and existing dietary habits. Promoting cooking skills and food literacy, particularly in times of crisis, can be instrumental in supporting healthier food choices and improving public health. • Food literacy, cooking skills, and attitudes are reflected in cooking readiness. • Capabilities, motivation, and opportunity to cook can stimulate healthy eating. • Empirical support for the COM-B model in cooking and eating behavior contexts. • Higher levels of stress lead to the consumption of nutritionally poor food. • In stressful times, cooking readiness can contribute to smarter food choices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The transition to a circular economy requires that consumers take responsibility for both the acquisition and disposal of what they consume. In Europe and around the world, there has for a long time been a focus on reducing and recycling waste, including from households. This implies a responsibility for households to source-separate their waste and take the recyclable fractions to designated containers or collection points, with the dual purpose of reducing landfills and reusing products and materials. However, for the latter to work, and for the economy to become truly circular, consumers must buy used products or products with recycled materials (i.e., circular products). Some consumers reject circular products, assuming they are of lower quality, while others value their environmental friendliness. In this study, we test the hypotheses that (a) the more consumers recycle, the more inclined they are to also buy circular products, and vice versa, and (b) that this behavioral spillover is mediated through strengthening the goal of waste reduction. These hypotheses are tested in a cross-lagged panel structural equation model by means of a two-wave online panel survey in Denmark (Copenhagen) and Portugal (Lisbon) (n ≈ 500 in wave 1 in each country). In both countries, we find a significant and positive cross-lagged effect from recycling to buying circular products, and in Portugal also the other way round. These "spillover" effects are mediated by commitment to and perceived progress toward the goals of waste reduction and saving resources – in Denmark primarily by goal commitment and in Portugal primarily by perceived goal progress. This suggests that communications to engage consumers in the circular economy should emphasize the logical connection between recycling and buying circular products, and in particular the superordinate waste and conservation goals to which both contribute. • For recycling to work, consumers need to buy used or recycled materials products. • We find that the more consumers recycle, the more they buy circular products. • This behavioral spillover is mediated through strengthening the goal of waste reduction. • In Denmark, the mediation is primarily through goal commitment. • In Portugal, the mediation is primarily through perceived goal progress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Existing research on public attitudes towards agricultural production systems is largely descriptive, abstracting from the processes through which members of the general public generate their evaluations of such systems. The present paper adopts a systems perspective on such evaluations, understanding them as embedded into a wider attitude system that consists of attitudes towards objects of different abstraction levels, ranging from personal value orientations over general socio-political attitudes to evaluations of specific characteristics of agricultural production systems. It is assumed that evaluative affect propagates through the system in such a way that the system becomes evaluatively consistent and operates as a schema for the generation of evaluative judgments. In the empirical part of the paper, the causal structure of an attitude system from which people derive their evaluations of pork production systems was modelled. The analysis was based on data from a cross-national survey involving 1931 participants from Belgium, Denmark, Germany and Poland. The survey questionnaire contained measures of personal value orientations and attitudes towards environment and nature, industrial food production, food and the environment, technological progress, animal welfare, local employment and local economy. In addition, the survey included a conjoint task by which participants’ evaluations of the importance of production system attributes were measured. The data were analysed by means of causal search algorithms and structural equation models. The results suggest that evaluative judgments of the importance of pork production system attributes are generated in a schematic manner, driven by personal value orientations. The effect of personal value orientations was strong and largely unmediated by attitudes of an intermediate level of generality, suggesting that the dependent variables in the particular attitude system that was modelled here can be understood as value judgments in a literal sense. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper''s objective is to investigate the associations between obesity and Food-Related Lifestyles (FRL) in five European countries. A cross-sectional web-based survey was carried out in Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Greece and Poland, January 2008, with quota samples on gender (male, female), age categories (20–44 and 45–70 years), and locality of residence (urban, rural). A total of 2437 respondents (51% women, 49% men; mean age 41.4 years, SD 13.1) participated. Obtained data included socio-demographic information, measure of the food-related lifestyle scale and self-reported weights and heights. Body Mass Index (in kg/m2) was calculated as weight (in kg) divided by the squared height (in m2). Individuals were classified as obese if BMI≥30. Logistic regressions were fitted for the aggregated sample and then by country with obese as dependent and socio-demographics and FRL were included as independents. The prevalence of obesity in the five countries is 22%. Europeans giving more importance to ‘self-fulfilment’ (odds=1.18), ‘planning of meals’ (odds=1.15), and preferring ‘snacks vs. meals’ (odds=1.24) are more likely to be obese. Respondents were less likely to be obese if they attached lower levels of importance to the use of ‘shopping lists’ (odds=0.87). The overall picture is that a stronger interest in health, organic products and freshness, within the FLR domain of quality aspects, is associated with ‘not being obese’. This study has identified specific FRL dimensions as potential predictors of obesity. The resulting consumers’ profiling can be used for targeted interventions for weight management in Europe. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]