COVID-19 Pandemic Is a Wake-Up Call for Sustainable Local Food Supply Chains: Evidence from Green Restaurants in the USA

Omar Alsetoohy, Baker Ayoun and Mahmoud Abou-Kamar
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Omar Alsetoohy: Department of Hotel Management, Faculty of Tourism and Hotels, University of Sadat City, Sadat 32897, Egypt
Baker Ayoun: Department of Nutrition, Dietetics, and Hospitality Management, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849, USA
Mahmoud Abou-Kamar: Department of Hotel Management, Faculty of Tourism and Hotels, University of Sadat City, Sadat 32897, Egypt

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 16, 1-24

Abstract: The COVID-19 outbreak has forced customers to shift their food habits to more locally grown products. Therefore, restaurants have begun to provide local food, which is reflected in “farm to fork” or “locally-sourced” or “farm to table” restaurants. Thus, purchasing sustainable food, specifically local food products, has become one of the most salient sustainability practices in restaurants. Therefore, this study seeks to further explore the influences of the Sustainable Local Food Supply Chain (SLFSC) of green fine-dining restaurants on tourist food experiences and destination branding in the USA. Data were analyzed using the partial least square (PLS) technique of a sample of 232 respondents. The findings of this study showed positive impacts of all sustainability dimensions on most consumption values of tourists (i.e., emotional, epistemic, health, taste/quality, etc.). The findings indicated that each sustainability dimension and overall sustainability of the local food supply chain had strong positive effects on destination branding. Finally, tourist food experiences in totality mediated the relationship between the overall Sustainable Local Food Supply Chain and destination branding. This study contributes to the existing literature by developing and validating a scale to measure the sustainability practices of local food supply chains in restaurants to fill this gap in the literature. Additionally, the findings have intimate important theoretical and practical implications.

Keywords: local food; sustainability; food supply chain; sustainable local food; consumption value; tourist experiences; destination branding; USA (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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