Food choices can have a big impact on the environment—research done by the journal Food Policy indicates that 16 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States come from food spending alone. Public awareness grows as influential voices like The Lancet push for sustainable dietary guidelines and the U.N. Environment calls meat production the “world’s most urgent problem.” But even the best-intentioned consumer caves to time, cost, and convenience pressures when facing 200 daily food choices. Behavioral scientists are cooking up shortcuts—better known as nudges—enticing greener choices.

“Nudges focus on small changes to the social, cognitive, and physical environments in which people make decisions—the ‘choice architecture,’” explains Stephanie Wilcoxen and Sasha Tregebov from The Behavioural Insights Team (BIT), a social purpose company that applies behavioral science to public policy.

Read the full article on behavioral science and food choices by Natalie Quathamer at Food Tank