Publishable Manuscript on Cross-cultural Comparison of Systems of Provision in the Food Sector

The goal of this report is to analyse and compare cross-culturally systems of provision of food, e.g., retail structure, eating out (school lunches, restaurants, catering) in Europe (Task 7.3.4). The basic assumption is that a highly concentrated retail structure as well as children’s immediate food environments are overwhelmingly “obesogenic” and hence contribute to the obesity pandemic. The report starts with a general overview of the respective systems of food provision, namely the retail structures and the market environment in Europe and the I.Family countries in particular. It then looks into families’ eating out and discusses the causes and consequences of out-of-home eating in schools, restaurants and other places. Wrapping up, the report then reviews policies for healthier out-of-home eating in general and addresses the school food environment in particular. We conclude with thoughts on implications for research and policy.