Reflection On a Healthy Eating Journal

1211 Words5 Pages
Summary Jones, Comfort and Hillier (2006) highlight the issues of healthy eating in our society and how the top food retailers are claiming to address this in their online Corporate Social Responsibility reports and how these are being translated into their in-store marketing strategies. They provide an insight into the food retailers’ intentions towards corporate social responsibility through reviewing information on the retailer’s online reports and through a several day inspection and survey of the retailer’s premises in the largest Cheltenham and Gloucester store. Jones, Comfort and Hillier describe the growing pressure from the government and pressure groups to promote ‘choosing health’ (Jones, Comfort and Hillier, 2006, pp) and the argument that ‘the food industry has a corporate social responsibility to promote healthy eating’ (Jones, Comfort and Hillier, 2006, pp1). However they highlight some issues that have arisen such as the ‘availability and price of ingredients of a healthy diet and the location and pricing policies of large supermarket chains’ (Jones, Comfort and Hillier, 2006 pp 5) leading to the ‘food desert’ debate (Jones, Comfort and Hillier, 2006, pp5). They recommend that if retailers wish to promote a pro CSR status they need to reconsider their price strategies for healthy ranges for equal distribution to low income earners. They also state that the retailers need to be tackling both general and childhood obesity with in-store marketing strategies aimed at both types of consumers. Finally they note there is a significant difference between retailers own brands and manufacturers branded food and that retailers need to be using their influence to enforce a ‘healthy eating influence’ ( Jones, Comfort and Hillier, 2006, pp 9) on producers, to not only produce healthier goods, but to also promote them. After discussing these issues they
Open Document