Food Security and Food Choices in Sustainable Development: Strategies and Applications
A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Food".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2026 | Viewed by 2369
Special Issue Editors
Interests: food quality; food security; nutritional value; food consumption behavior; nutrient profiling; food labeling; sensory analysis; sustainable diets; sustainable food trends; alternative protein sources; food anthropology; ethnography; consumer culture theory
Interests: supply chain management; logistics; sales; retailing; management operations; business coaching; consumer behaviour; food science; sustainable development
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: consumer behavior; social networks; social media; e-commerce; management of informatic systems
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
In the global food landscape, where abundance and overconsumption—linked to the growing incidence of lifestyle-related diseases and increasing food waste—accompany food shortages that fuel deficiency-related diseases and poverty, sustainability has emerged as a recurring theme.
Within this framework, food security, responsible food choices, and sustainable development emerge as core interdependent dimensions that should define contemporary food systems.
Food security—conceptualized through the four interdependent pillars of availability, access, utilization, and stability—intersects with the economic, social, and environmental dimensions of sustainable development, ensuring not only the steady provision and equitable distribution of resources, but also the responsible use of natural systems, facilitation of healthy living, and building of stable economic structures that sustain current and future generations. Therefore, food security emerges as both a prerequisite and a catalyst for strategies that promote human well-being, equity, and environmental resilience.
Food choices represent a key vector of transformation in this context, as they shape consumer demand while influencing the organization of production and distribution systems. When informed by principles of sustainability and responsibility, consumers' food choices can contribute to reducing environmental pressures, strengthening local economies, improving public health, and fostering social equity.
Building on the considerations outlined above, the purpose of this Special Issue is to enrich the existing literature by connecting sustainability studies with consumer-focused analyses, thus providing new insights into the complex relationship between food systems and sustainable development. Therefore, both conceptual and empirical papers addressing (but not limited to) the following topics are welcome:
- Nutritional security and adequacy;
- Eating preferences;
- Nutritional choices;
- Food consumption patterns;
- Dietary habits;
- Emerging trends in consumer behaviour and preferences;
- Food access and availability;
- Sustainable food supply;
- Food system resilience;
- Innovative food technologies;
- New food business models.
By advancing knowledge that facilitates the integration of food security, consumer behaviour, and sustainability, this Special Issue seeks to foster coherent strategies that support the long-term resilience and responsible transformation of the global food system.
I look forward to receiving your contributions.
Prof. Dr. Lelia Voinea
Dr. Mihaela Bucur
Dr. Razvan Dina
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- food sustainability
- food security
- nutritional adequacy
- responsible food choices
- consumer behaviour
- food innovations
- food system robustness
- green food supply chain
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