Joint Project Co-ordinator and Workpackage Leader - Satisfaction with food related services, University of Surrey, UK

Research into procurement, preparation and consumption of food - project overview

"The Food in Later Life Project was set up in 2002 and it involves 9 partners in 8 different countries covering Northern, Western, Eastern and Southern Europe, so we have countries such as Denmark, Germany, Spain & Italy, Poland, Portugal and the UK and Sweden involved in the study. The project involves 6 studies and each of the studies was conducted in all of the countries. So we have a great deal of information and data on procurement, preparation and consumption of food and the relationship between people's ability to obtain food and their quality of life and independence.

We have an ageing population - Europe is never going to be young again! And we do need to address some of the nutritional needs of older people in the Community, but also commercially we have to redefine our perceptions of what older people are like.

Food is of great social significance in the everyday life of older people. The more we can understand what governs their choice of foods, what their needs are in relation to food products, food services, the better we are going to be able to help them maintain their independence and quality of life as they get older.

Inevitably, as people get older, they undergo transitions in life which make it more difficult to obtain food and there are barriers and constraints to this important activity. If we can understand that and get that information across to retailers, to food manufacturers and to food service providers, they will be able to provide older consumers with the kinds of products they would prefer.

Previously, there hasn't been a great deal of research done on 'the grey market' and I think there have been some misperceptions of what those sort of people really want in our society. In many ways, they are no different from the younger population and as varied as the rest of the population. The challenge is to meet those varying needs of an increasing proportion of the population.

The project was set up to look at the drivers of food selection and at the whole process of food procurement - from shopping through to the meal preparation, they way food is stored, the way they cook the food, the meals that they had and the social significance of the meal - [that is] the meaning of the meal and how important that is for older people - whether they are eating alone, with others or in community settings.

The project has been set up with 9 partners over 8 countries and that has enabled us to draw comparisons with other cultures and look at similarities and differences in the way elder people's needs are met - their preferences for food, the way that they obtain food and the social networks they have. [For example,] in Southern Europe there is probably a stronger family connection than in Northern Europe and we can learn things from that and we can convey that information to social workers and health professionals.

One of the key objectives of the Food in Later Life project was to compare procurement, preparation and consumption of food and look at the differences between men and women and people living alone, compared to those living with others and also between the 'young' old and the 'old' old."

Biography
Dr Margaret Lumbers is Joint Coordinator of the EU Food in Later Life Project (www.foodinlaterlife.org ) and a Senior Lecturer in Food Management in the School of Management at the University of Surrey. She is a Registered Public Health Nutritionist and has worked in both industry and education. She will shortly be jointly coordinating a Food Standards Agency Scotland funded project on the Demand for Nutrition and Healthy Catering Training in Catering Education in Scotland. She is working on a number of projects funded by the UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) including Getting Food Safety and Hygiene Messages into Schools and the Evaluation of UK Food Hygiene and Safety Training. She recently completed work for the Food Standards Agency on a Review of the Composition of Foods (UK) and is now project team member of a European Network of Excellence (FP6) to provide a unified reliable food composition resource for various stakeholders including the food industry (www.eurofir.net). Other research focuses on factors affecting food choice, particularly in service sector settings (hospitals, day centres schools and the workplace). She has published a range of journal articles mainly on malnutrition in older people, food choice in older people in hospitals and school meals. She has contributed chapters to several books on food choice and older people, attitudes and beliefs towards organic foods and influence of air travel on appetite. She is a founding member of the Food Consumer Behaviour and Health Research Group, a multidisciplinary research centre at the University of Surrey and is joint Programme Leader for the MSc Food Management at the University of Surrey. She currently lectures in food policy, consumer behaviour, food marketing and new product development.