University / Organisation : Wageningen University and Research

Paper or project ? paper

Title : Online Food Shopping and Smallholder Nutrition In Rural China: Hidden Risks Behind Dietary Gains

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Abstract : The rise of e-commerce is reshaping food accessibility in rural China, significantly influencing smallholder farmers’ dietary patterns. While existing research suggests that online food shopping enhances dietary diversity, limited studies have examined its post-pandemic effects or the potential drawbacks of increased processed food consumption. This study investigates the impact of e-commerce on smallholders' dietary patterns using data collected after the COVID-19 pandemic. Dietary quality is assessed through the Chinese Food Guide Pagoda (CFGP) 2022 and dietary diversity indicators. To address potential endogeneity concerns, we employ a two-stage least squares (2SLS) approach to account for unobserved household characteristics that may simultaneously influence online food shopping behavior and dietary outcomes. Our findings confirm that e-commerce improves dietary diversity and food quality among rural households. Additionally, we observe a growing awareness of health and nutrition in the post-pandemic period, with approximately 40% of online food shoppers checking nutritional information and 40% of internet-connected households using digital platforms to access dietary knowledge. However, despite this rising health consciousness, a notable trend emerges: sweets and snacks constitute a significant portion of online food purchases. This suggests a trade-off between increased food diversity and the rising consumption of processed foods, a factor often overlooked in prior studies on rural dietary patterns in China. We recommend refining dietary assessment frameworks to incorporate processed food intake and updating CFGP standards to better reflect contemporary dietary habits.