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Food Science and Engineering for Sustainability—2nd Edition

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Food".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2026 | Viewed by 689

Special Issue Editors

College of Medicine and Public Health, Health Sciences Building, Flinders University, Bedford Park Campus, Sturt Road, Adelaide, SA 5042, Australia
Interests: analytical chemistry; natural bioactive compounds; sustainable biomass processing; soft matter; biophysics

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Guest Editor
Haide College, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266000, China
Interests: utilization and nutrition of marine bio-resources; utilization of by-products; eco-friendly extraction and food processing; structure and function of active substances in by-products
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Food demand is expected to increase anywhere between 59% and 98% by 2050, which raises great concerns over global food crisis in the future. In order to address this pressing issue, the concept of a sustainable food system has been proposed, attracting significant attention. As defined by the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization, a sustainable food system should be environmentally friendly, socially beneficial, and economically viable. To meet these requirements, researchers in both academia and industry have been making tremendous efforts to develop innovative food science and engineering techniques throughout all the stages of the food industry, from production to consumption.

The aims of this Special Issue are to present the challenges and opportunities in developing sustainable food systems, share state-of-the-art techniques for sustainable food processing, and discuss recent discoveries in fundamental food science to improve sustainability. This Issue will summarize recent progress and initiatives to improve sustainable food systems and provide up-to-date studies on innovative approaches to enhance sustainability in food science and engineering. Therefore, we are pleased to invite you to contribute original research articles and reviews to this Special Issue. Topics of interest include (but are not limited to) the following:

  1. Agricultural and food waste valorization;
  2. Sustainable alternative food processing technologies (Eco-friendly extraction and processing, energy-efficient designs, and innovative biotechnology for food production);
  3. Sustainable food product development (Plant-based meat and cell factories for sustainable food production);
  4. Smart materials for food packaging and storage;
  5. Fundamental research in food science to enhance nutritional value of food (chemical/enzymatic treatment, encapsulation and food nanotechnologies);
  6. Social science studies, including sustainable food supply chains, customs, attitudes, and behaviors, and government’s policies.

We look forward to receiving your contributions. 

Dr. Long Yu
Prof. Dr. Ping Dong
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

  • waste valorization
  • innovative food processing technologies
  • novel product development
  • food packaging
  • food chemistry and nanotechnology

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Review

20 pages, 299 KB  
Review
Bridging Food Justice and Management: A Pathway to Sustainable and Equitable Food Systems
by Ioannis Manikas
Sustainability 2025, 17(22), 10360; https://doi.org/10.3390/su172210360 - 19 Nov 2025
Viewed by 565
Abstract
Although our world produces more than enough food, hunger and malnutrition remain widespread. This is not simply a problem of production—it is about how we manage and organize our food systems. Many researchers and practitioners see food security either as a business challenge [...] Read more.
Although our world produces more than enough food, hunger and malnutrition remain widespread. This is not simply a problem of production—it is about how we manage and organize our food systems. Many researchers and practitioners see food security either as a business challenge to be solved with technical and managerial tools, or as a social movement rooted in justice, sovereignty, and sustainability. These two schools of thought rarely meet, and their disconnect holds back real progress. This paper brings these perspectives together, through the introduction of the “Managerial Architecture of Food Justice”—a new way to think about food management that does not pick sides but aims to transform how food systems are governed. By blending the best of strategic management with values of equity, agency, and ecological stewardship, this framework shows how management practices can help build food systems that are not only resilient and efficient, but also fair and truly sustainable. Grounded in public and collaborative governance theory, this approach provides practical steps for policymakers and food system leaders who want to break the cycle of hunger and injustice. The proposed model supports the Sustainable Development Goals by making sustainability defining features of food security efforts. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Food Science and Engineering for Sustainability—2nd Edition)
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