Trip2food

Globally, dietary risks contribute significantly chronic diseases such as obesity, cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and diabetes. In high-income countries, lower socioeconomic status is associated with a higher prevalence of diet-related chronic diseases. Consequently, reducing diet-related health inequalities has become a major concern. It is now recognized that dietary behaviors are not solely a matter of individual choice but are also shaped by the environments in which people live. Yet, understanding the environmental influences on dietary behaviors and social inequalities in access to healthy food is still lacking. Better understanding these relationships requires apprehending the complex interrelations between individuals and the environments they are exposed to through ecological approaches, particularly in urban spaces. This entails analyzing how different dimensions of the food environment to which urban dwellers are exposed (such as availability, accessibility, and cost of food) influence food choices and behaviors according to socioeconomic characteristics. The Trip2food project aims to provide unique insights into the socio-economic inequalities in access and use of the food environment as well as in diet-related behaviors. The project will pursue three main research objectives: 1) Study the spatialization of household food supplies in relation to objective and perceived exposure to food environments, daily mobility, and socioeconomic characteristics. 2) Evaluate to what extent these patterns of food provisioning behaviors can shape diet quality and contribute to diet-related inequalities. 3) Examine the effect of urban transformations on daily mobility for food shopping and on dietary behaviors in a disadvantaged neighborhood. The study will be conducted within the Montpellier metropolitan area, which is experiencing sustained population growth combined with a strong urban renewal process. The significant interest of local policymakers regarding the sustainability of food systems and social justice makes the Metropole of Montpellier an ideal case study for assessing the relationships between the urban environment and dietary behaviors. This interdisciplinary project will apply mixed methods integrated into a community-based participatory research (CBPR) approach. Drawing on the expertise of an interdisciplinary team and strong partnerships with local stakeholders, the ambition of this project is to come up with an innovative perspective which can robustly support policymakers in designing food environment can that effectively address issues of social justice and nutrition.