Healthier diets can be used to leverage sustainable global and European food systems.
An economist by training (MSc Development Economics, Erasmus University Rotterdam), Thom moderates at Wageningen Economic Research a team of research economists studying solutions for food and nutrition security. The team applies micro-level data and modelling tools, often in combination with in-house economy-wide model MAGNET, as research tools for the evaluation of various food, health and agricultural policies for their impact on food and nutrition outcomes. His own research interests include metrics and foresight on food systems; nutrition-driven and sustainable consumption; equity; transformation; food and trade policy; and sustainable development. Thom (co-) leads multidisciplinary research programs on the long-term challenges related to food insecurity and malnutrition: currently he is the coordinator of the EU-funded project SUSFANS, co-leader for diagnosis and foresight on Food systems for healthier diets under the research program Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH) of the CGIAR; and co-leader for Future Scenarios under the research program Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) of the CGIAR. Recently concluded programs include the EU research program FOODSECURE and Wageningen-wide program ‘Global food security: Scarcity and transition’. Recent papers explore the metrics, models and foresight on EU food systems (in: Agricultural Systems 2016), equity issues in global food security (FOODSECURE briefing, 2016), the relation between income, food intake and food waste, and food system governance in foresight studies.
How to stimulate large groups of people to make healthier and more sustainable food choices? As a scientist, I find this question intriguing. The focus of attention is not on the individual consumer’s behaviour, but on the food system this consumer is part of. This system provides the context in…