Perspective:AFrameworkforAddressingDynamic FoodConsumptionProcesses

Abstract

Thestudyoffoodconsumption,diet,andrelatedconceptsismotivatedbydiversegoals,includingunderstandingwhyfoodconsumptionimpacts our health, and why we eat the foods we do. These varied motivations can make it challenging to define and measure consumption, as it can be specified across nearly infinite dimensions—from micronutrients to carbon footprint to food preparation. This challenge is amplified by the dynamic nature of food consumption processes, with the underlying phenomena of interest often based on the nature of repeated interactions with food occurring over time. This complexity underscores a need to not only improve how we measure food consumption but is also a call to support theoreticians in better specifying what, how, and why food consumption occurs as part of processes, as a prerequisite step to rigorous measurement. The purpose of this Perspective article is to offer a framework, the consumption process framework, as a tool that researchers in a theoreticianrolecanusetosupportthesemorerobustdefinitionsofconsumptionprocesses.Indoingso,theframeworkinvitestheoreticianstobe a bridge between practitioners who wish to measure various aspects of food consumption and methodologists who can develop measurement protocols and technologies that can support measurement when consumption processes are clearly defined. In the paper we justify the need for such a framework, introduce the consumption process framework, illustrate the framework via a use case, and discuss existing technologies that enabletheuseofthisframeworkand,byextension,morerigorousstudyofconsumption.Thisconsumptionprocessframeworkdemonstrateshow theoreticianscouldfundamentallyshifthowfoodconsumptionisdefinedandmeasuredtowardsmorerigorousstudyofwhat,how,andwhyfood iseatenaspartofdynamicprocessesandadeeperunderstandingoflinkagesbetweenbehavior