About this Research Topic
The United Nations' Agenda 2030 promotes sustainable development on a global level by addressing key challenges defined by the Sustainable Development Goals, SDGs. Some of these, such as those related to clean energy, climate action, and environmental protection, are closely linked to the European Green Deal initiatives, which can be seen as a specific EU response to the goals and directives of the Agenda 2030.
The Green Deal, developed by the European Commission in 2019, is an ambitious initiative to make the European Union a climate-neutrality continent by 2050. It aims to transform the European economy in a sustainable way by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, promoting energy efficiency, protecting biodiversity, and encouraging a circular economy. It is in this context, that the Farm to Fork strategy is one of the tools implemented by the Commission to accelerate our transition towards a sustainable food system aimed at reducing the consumption of natural resources, protecting biodiversity, and enabling a fair economic return for all actors in the supply chain, as well as promoting the adoption of healthy and sustainable diets by consumers.
In this context, sustainable food procurement has the potential to steer food consumption patterns towards sustainable diets and identify production schemes to implement actions that address environmental, economic, and social concerns. It is an approach that can safeguard sustainability, for example, through the inclusion of organic food and the valorisation of food from short supply chains in catering for public and private canteens with appropriate attention to limit food waste.
This Research Topic aims to publish research that supports the promotion of food purchasing for the achievement of healthy and sustainable diets and to help fill gaps in the knowledge and use of food purchasing as a development tool for a sustainable food system. Topics of interest include (but are not limited to):
• Approaches developed to improve the sustainability of both private and public food purchasing according to country-specific regulations.
• Development of healthy and sustainable menus in the context of food purchasing.
• Modelling the sustainability and economic and/or social impacts of food procurement.
• Strategies for reducing food waste, such as educational and consumer awareness programs on the topic, and methodological aspects for quantifying food waste.
The Green Deal, developed by the European Commission in 2019, is an ambitious initiative to make the European Union a climate-neutrality continent by 2050. It aims to transform the European economy in a sustainable way by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, promoting energy efficiency, protecting biodiversity, and encouraging a circular economy. It is in this context, that the Farm to Fork strategy is one of the tools implemented by the Commission to accelerate our transition towards a sustainable food system aimed at reducing the consumption of natural resources, protecting biodiversity, and enabling a fair economic return for all actors in the supply chain, as well as promoting the adoption of healthy and sustainable diets by consumers.
In this context, sustainable food procurement has the potential to steer food consumption patterns towards sustainable diets and identify production schemes to implement actions that address environmental, economic, and social concerns. It is an approach that can safeguard sustainability, for example, through the inclusion of organic food and the valorisation of food from short supply chains in catering for public and private canteens with appropriate attention to limit food waste.
This Research Topic aims to publish research that supports the promotion of food purchasing for the achievement of healthy and sustainable diets and to help fill gaps in the knowledge and use of food purchasing as a development tool for a sustainable food system. Topics of interest include (but are not limited to):
• Approaches developed to improve the sustainability of both private and public food purchasing according to country-specific regulations.
• Development of healthy and sustainable menus in the context of food purchasing.
• Modelling the sustainability and economic and/or social impacts of food procurement.
• Strategies for reducing food waste, such as educational and consumer awareness programs on the topic, and methodological aspects for quantifying food waste.
Keywords: Sustainable Development Goals, Green Deal, Sustainable Food Procurement, Canteen Menus, Food Purchasing, Food Waste, Education, Farm-to-Fork
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.
