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Müller-Hansen, Merle, Mahne-Bieder, Johannes, Keck, Markus (2023): Interdisciplinary research on food environments: the key to transforming unhealthy food consumption practices and unsustainable food systems. Die Erde, 154(1-2), 49-53. https://doi.org/10.12854/erde-2023-656"

In September and October 2022, Merle Müller-Hansen collected initial qualitative data in Hyderabad (India), which was analyzed as part of the NutriAIDE project and Merle's doctoral thesis. Merle, initially guided by Prof. Markus Keck, conducted over 30 individual and group interviews. She also exposed herself to the various physical and digital places where the urban middle class consumes food. The research interest was guided by the question of how the eating habits of the middle class interact with unhealthy and unsustainable urban food environments.

In July 2023, Markus Keck and Merle Müller-Hansen were in Chandigarh, India, for the launch of the prototype of the nutriAIDE app. As part of this, there was a press event through which the project and the app were widely received: in regional and national print and online media, as well as by social media activists. Before and after this, the team from the National Institute of Nutrition was trained in data collection for the NutriAIDE project.

NutriAIDE is a state-of-the-art mobile application that harnesses cutting-edge technology to triangulate crucial psychological, geographical, and nutritional data of urban food consumers. NutriAIDE is not just another app for health and nutrition, of which you can find hundreds in the Indian market. NutriAIDE follows an up-to-date approach to nutrition, health and sustainability, which makes this app unique for scientific and entrepreneurial reasons. The focus of the app is not on classic self-quantification, but on the empowerment of users to adopt food consumption practices that are not only good for health, but also sustainable and sound from an ecological, socio-cultural, and economic perspective.