About this Research Topic

Background

In debates on sustainable production and consumption, all actors in food supply chains, food and eating are increasingly problematized as one of the major contributors to issues such as climate change, loss of biodiversity, and degradation of land and water resources. There is an urgent need for a more sustainable food culture, i.e., addressing sustainability in food and eating and order to diminish the ecological impacts of food production and consumption while paying attention to their economic, social and cultural dimensions. Although food sustainability has been investigated from different aspects, there has been little research on sustainable food culture as an endeavor that connects organizations and consumers together from multiple perspectives. Culture refers to the system that produces and co-ordinates meanings and knowledge and is characterized by more or less shared practices, identities and values. Culture is thus present in all aspects of daily lives of individuals, organizations, and societies. It comprises of knowledge, beliefs, art, morals, custom and any other capabilities and habits, and is affected by various economic, political, legal, religious, linguistic, educational, technological and industrial environments and is researched via a range of theoretical frameworks. Research to date concludes that culture is paramount in driving sustainable societies.

This Research Topic (RT) will provide insights into a sustainable food culture through both organizational and consumption lenses and will do so by covering topics such as (but not limited to):
• Sustainable dimensions in food companies (i.e. economy, environment, society, and food safety) and their inter-relations
• Contributions of organizations to developing a sustainable food culture (including consumption, habits and behavior, procurement, production, and management)
• Sustainable food supply chains
• Sustainable food and catering procurement
• Education, training and awareness for a sustainable food culture
• International, national and other legal contexts for promoting sustainable food production and consumption
• Dimensions of sustainable food consumption (ecological, economic, social, cultural and ethical) and their inter-relations
• Sustainable food practices in different cultural contexts
• Sustainable triggers in food purchasing patronage
• Critical analysis and approaches to fade out unsustainable food consumption and production
• Role of UN SDGs in achieving a global sustainable food culture
• Sustainable culture of food production / consumption in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and after

We welcome empirical, methodological, and theoretical papers, as well as reviews that provide insights into the area of sustainable food culture via consumption and organizational lenses. The papers may focus on a particular geographical area, food system, stakeholder group, policies and laws, or include comparative analyses (e.g. between countries, cultural contexts, food supply chains, or social groups). The papers should contribute to perspectives pertaining to sustainable food organizations and food consumption, such as (but not limited to) those originating in sociology, organizational theory and behavior, social psychology, geography, political studies, food technology, philosophy, marketing and consumer studies, or (food) sustainability science.

Keywords: sustainable food production, sustainable food consumption, sustainable food culture, sustainable perspective

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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