Environmental Issues as Drivers for Food Choice: Study from a Multinational Framework

Raquel P. F. Guiné, Elena Bartkiene, Sofia G. Florença, Ilija Djekić, Maša Černelič Bizjak, Monica Tarcea, Marcela Leal, Vanessa Ferreira, Ivana Rumbak, Panagiotis Orfanos, Viktória Szűcs, Dace Klava, Małgorzata Korzeniowska, Kathy Isoldi, Paula Correia, Manuela Ferreira and Ana Paula Cardoso
Additional contact information
Raquel P. F. Guiné: CERNAS-IPV Research Centre and Department Food Industry, Polytechnic Institute of Viseu, 3504-510 Viseu, Portugal
Elena Bartkiene: Department of Food Safety and Quality, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, 44307 Kaunas, Lithuania
Sofia G. Florença: Faculty of Food and Nutrition Sciences, University of Porto, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal
Ilija Djekić: Faculty of Agriculture, University of Belgrade, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia
Maša Černelič Bizjak: Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Primorska, 6310 Izola, Slovenia
Monica Tarcea: Department Community Nutrition and Food Safety, George Emil Palade University of Targu Mures, 540141 Targu-Mures, Romania
Marcela Leal: School of Nutrition, Faculty of Health Sciences, Maimonides University, C1405 Buenos Aires, Argentina
Vanessa Ferreira: Department of Nutrition, University UFVJM-FCBS, 39100-000 Diamantina, Minas Gerais, Brazil
Ivana Rumbak: Faculty of Food Technology and Biotechnology, University of Zagreb, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia
Panagiotis Orfanos: International Hellenic University, Department of Food Science and Technology, 57400 Thessaloniki, Greece
Viktória Szűcs: Directorate of Food Industry, Hungarian Chamber of Agriculture, H111 Budapest, Hungary
Dace Klava: Faculty of Food Technology, Latvian University of Agriculture, LV 3001 Jelgava, Latvia
Małgorzata Korzeniowska: Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences, 51-630 Wrocław, Poland
Kathy Isoldi: Department of Nutrition, University of Long Island, New York, NY 11548-1327, USA
Paula Correia: CERNAS-IPV Research Centre and Department Food Industry, Polytechnic Institute of Viseu, 3504-510 Viseu, Portugal
Manuela Ferreira: UNICISA:E Research Centre and School of Health, Polytechnic Institute of Viseu, 3504-510 Viseu, Portugal
Ana Paula Cardoso: CI&DEI Research Centre and School of Education, Polytechnic Institute of Viseu, 3504-510 Viseu, Portugal

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 5, 1-18

Abstract: This work intended to explore some motivations that influence people’s eating habits towards sustainability. This was an observational, cross-sectional study, carried out by questionnaire survey on a non-probabilistic sample of 10,067 participants from 13 countries (Argentina, Brazil, Croatia, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal, Serbia, Slovenia, Romania and United States). Results indicated that people prefer fresh local foods from the season, being important because it allows transportation and storage to be reduced, which in many cases implies refrigeration systems and consequent energy expenditure. Although people avoid food waste at home, the awareness for the waste at restaurants still needs to be improved. Consumers seem to prefer foods that have been produced and packed in sustainable ways but still give importance to the package—understandable for food products. The results also indicated significant differences in the food choice motivations between groups for all sociodemographic variables tested (age, sex, marital status, education, professional area, living environment and country), but the association was high only for variable country. Additionally, a tree classification analysis allowed to identify the relative importance of the influential variables on the sustainable food choices, with country being the most important, followed by age and sex. Additionally, discriminant function analysis allowed establishing a model for the relation between country and six variables accounting for preservation of biodiversity, respect for life, save natural resources, save energy, reduce industrial pollution and minimal packaging. Although with some limitations, this study brings valuable insight into some aspects linked with sustainable food choices on a number of countries and how people shape their food choices according to some sustainability issues.

Keywords: food choice; food waste; sustainable agriculture; sustainable packaging (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 (6)

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