OUR RESEARCH
ON DIGITAL FOOD ENVIRONMENTS
LEARN ABOUT OUR WORK
RESEARCH GROUP SPECIALIZING IN DIGITAL FOOD ENVIRONMENTS
Digital Food Retail
The increased use of digital technology over the past two decades has led to the rise of online food retail services, including food delivery apps, online groceries, and meal kits. These services improve access to food and make food purchasing more convenient. Consumers now have more access to both unhealthy foods through food delivery apps and healthy foods through online groceries. Research in this area may show how using these services can support or hinder the selection, planning, and preparation of healthier foods.
Nutrition Communication Online
Online nutrition communication includes all information shared about food and nutrition on the Internet through websites, social media, or apps. Anyone can post information about nutrition online, regardless of their expertise or credentials, which makes it hard for the public to understand whether information is false or correct. Food and nutrition information shared online shapes people's beliefs and attitudes about food and can impact eating habits. Research on online nutrition communication can help us understand information is shared and used so that we can fight against false or misleading information and promote information supported by scientific evidence.
Public Health Nutrition & Research Priorities
Public health nutrition is an approach that aims to promote health and disease prevention through food and nutrition to the population as a whole rather than individuals. Integrating technology into daily life creates new opportunities and challenges to address nutritional health online. Research in this field may improve current policies and standard practices in how to support the public in adapting to changing digital food environments.
Canadian Food Shopping & Consumption Study
Recruitment for this study is complete and we are now analyzing the data. A big thank you to all the participants that completed the study. Stay tuned for updates on the results!
UPDATE: FEBRUARY 2023
As of 2019, Canadians were readily adopting online food services:
The recent growth of online food services has made them a key area of interest in nutrition and health research.
There are 3 types of services available for buying food online:
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Food delivery apps (e.g. Skip the Dishes, Uber Eats)
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Online grocery shopping (e.g. Click & Collect, Instacart)
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Meal kits (e.g. Hello Fresh, Good Food)
HOW DO ONLINE FOOD SERVICES AFFECT EATING PRACTICES?
This study will explore the effects of online food shopping on the eating practices and diet quality of Canadians.
Many factors affect our eating practices such as convenience, cost and food preferences. There is currently little research on the impact that online food shopping has upon food choices and food skills.
Given the growing use of technology, the data collected from this study will be important for future research and public health interventions.
DIGITAL FOOD RETAIL
NUTRITION
COMMUNICATION
ONLINE
PUBLIC HEALTH &
RESEARCH PRIORITIES
Digital Food Environments Planning Meeting
The impacts of digital food environments on health and nutrition: Setting research priorities
On May 6, 2020, our team held a virtual planning meeting to identify research and public health priorities for digital food environments. At this day-long meeting, 34 interdisciplinary stakeholders, researchers, and trainees met to present current research and discuss knowledge gaps. Recorded presentations from the meeting may be viewed below.
This graph depicts the results of the pre-meeting survey, where respondents were asked to prioritize research topics related to digital food environments.
This graph shows the primary area of practice of respondents, according to their survey response.
This graph depicts the results of the pre-meeting survey, where respondents were asked to prioritize research topics related to digital food environments.
Critical media literacy, effectiveness of policy measures to restrict digital food marketing to children, and the feasibility of using online food purchasing in Northern and remote communities were identified as high priorities for
research.