Exploring Consumers’ Interest in Choosing Sustainable Food

Abstract

In order for humans to achieve a healthier diet and maintain ecological balance, a new concept regarding sustainable food has been introduced. The aim of this study is, therefore, to explore consumers' interest in choosing sustainable food. The study utilized "Do Survey," an internet survey platform, to distribute questionnaires. Survey invitations were sent out in a snowball manner. Invitations were posted in multiple online communities and forwarded by various members to other sites; 333 valid responses were collected. The results show that family and friend support and health incentive are the two strongest predictors for sustainable food buying interest. Price accessibility, on the other hand, has no impact on interest. This is not to say that price accessibility does not influence behavior. It just means that it is not the factor that fosters interest. Once an individual is interested, she/he may still rely heavily on price accessibility in purchasing sustainable food.

Widespread Dietary Patterns (Healthy and Balanced Diet, Western Diet, and Vegan and Vegetarian Diets) Compared for Water Consumption: Which Is the Winner?

“…In fact, people often struggle to recognize evidence-based information and some authors stated that consumers often feel confused, skeptical, and helpless in relation to the meaning of healthy eating [28,29]. To date, an increasing number of people confirm that they would be willing to change their eating habits to gain a more sustainable diet [1]. In spite of this, disoriented consumers have difficulty in recognizing the impact of their food choices on health and on the environment.…”

“…To date, an increasing number of people are deciding to follow a specific diet for ethical and environmental reasons [1]. In fact, growing scientific evidence suggests that specific kinds of food have different impacts on the environment [2].…”

“…Reducing the environmental impact of personal food choices is one of the most common reasons that drives people to adopt a Vegetarian or Vegan diet [1]. Many persons need to be properly oriented by health professionals when choosing to adhere to a Vegan or Vegetarian dietary pattern to not incur dietetic imbalances, with potential severe consequences for their nutritional health status.…”

Variation of the Nutritional Composition and Bioactive Potential in Edible Macroalga Saccharina latissima Cultivated from Atlantic Canada Subjected to Different Growth and Processing Conditions

“…The most recent concept of “sustainable food” no longer considers only environmental factors but must integrate economic and social factors. The aim is to enable the production of food for the growing world population while providing food security and preserving the environment [ 1 , 2 ]. Thus, new foods that meet these requirements are coming under the spotlight, as is the case for macroalgae.…”

How and Why Does the Attitude-Behavior Gap Differ Between Product Categories of Sustainable Food? Analysis of Organic Food Purchases Based on Household Panel Data

“…Organic agriculture is one of the most successful certified production standards that promotes the transformation toward sustainability because of positive effects for the environment (Caesar, 2019 ; Liu and Zheng, 2019 ; Vermeir et al, 2020 ) specifically with regards to biodiversity (Reisch et al, 2013 ). The organic label on food products enables consumers to make more sustainable purchasing decisions (Hsu et al, 2020 ; Vermeir et al, 2020 ) driven by growing health and environmental concerns (Hidalgo-Baz et al, 2017 ).…”