Food Citizenship as an Agroecological Tool for Food System Re-Design

Fabio Tittarelli, Anna Saba, Marta Di Pierro and Corrado Ciaccia
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Fabio Tittarelli: Research Centre for Agriculture and Environment, Council for Agricultural Research and Economics (CREA), 00184 Rome, Italy
Anna Saba: Research Centre for Food and Nutrition, Council for Agricultural Research and Economics (CREA), 00178 Rome, Italy
Marta Di Pierro: Research Centre for Agriculture and Environment, Council for Agricultural Research and Economics (CREA), 00184 Rome, Italy
Corrado Ciaccia: Research Centre for Agriculture and Environment, Council for Agricultural Research and Economics (CREA), 00184 Rome, Italy

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 3, 1-18

Abstract: The modern agrifood system has a strong socio-economic and health impact on stakeholders, from producers to consumers. According to agroecological studies, a key factor for the food system to change is a stronger connection between farmers and consumers and the implementation of Food Citizenship. In this paper, we present the results of preliminary research on the consumer approach to vegetable and fruit purchase in Italy. Our main aim was to group consumers according to the major criteria guiding their food purchase patterns, to outline the main criteria underpinning their choices and assess their degree of environmental, economic and social awareness. Cluster analysis was able to pick out two groups with significant statistical differences, i.e., 55.4% of the sample showed, through their consumption patterns, deeper environmental and social concerns. Specifically, when comparing food purchasing patterns, ethical choices, biodiversity and global warming were the most influential factors to discriminate the two clusters. Moreover, organic food consumption confirmed its status as an acknowledged way to reduce the environmental impact of the modern agrifood system for which respondents are willing to pay a higher price compared to conventional food. Nonetheless, the whole sample of respondents perceived organic food as expensive and not good for value.

Keywords: consumer awareness; food purchase pattern; organic food; ethical choices; environmental impact; social justice; web survey (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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