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Exploring the Social, Economic, and Environmental Dimensions of Sustainable Food Systems

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2025 | Viewed by 9820

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Economic and Legal Studies, Parthenope University of Naples, 80132 Naples, Italy
Interests: corporate social responsibility; sustainability; consumer attitudes; cause-related marketing; environmental management system
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

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Guest Editor
Department of Economics and Legal Studies, Parthenope University of Naples, Generale Parisi, 13, Naples, Italy
Interests: consumer behaviour; circular economy; sustainability; farmers’ market; marketing and sustainable consumption

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Environmental issues are of increasing significance for nations engaging the population and firms in mitigating climate change to bring economic, social and environmental findings. In fact, the United Nations General Assembly established the sustainable development goals (SDGs) to set out a blueprint of 17 global goals ensuring the Earth’s sustainable future. In particular, the twelfth Sustainable Development goal seeks to ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns. This goal emphasizes that sustainability is the responsibility of both producers and consumers—and all stakeholders in between. In this framework, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is by now an important component of the dialogue between firms and their stakeholders. In fact, the firms embrace responsibility for its actions and encourage a positive impact through its activities on the environment, consumers, employees, communities and stakeholders. On the other hand, stakeholders can only make sustainable choices, be they lifestyles, behaviors, or purchases. This requires a concerted and coordinated change by all stakeholders to bring about change as well as an understanding of what drives consumers and or other stakeholders to initiate or maintain sustainable behaviors.

This Special Issue seeks to advance the current state of research on CSR, sustainable behavior, production and consumption. The overarching aim is to explore new perspectives on sustainability, sustainable production and consumption, by focusing on behaviour change (at firm and consumer level) on sustainability-related topics. Thus, interdisciplinary contributions are encouraged, and submissions may relate to the following broad theme examples:

  • Corporate Social Responsibility
  • Green business models
  • Circular economy
  • Farms and Sustainable productions
  • Marketing and facilitating sustainable consumption choices
  • Promoting green behavior, awareness, and mindfulness
  • Sustainable consumers and lifestyles
  • Green behaviors
  • Consumer behaviour

Prof. Dr. Flavio Boccia
Dr. Nadia Palmieri
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 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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

  • corporate social responsibility
  • economic, environmental and social aspects of firms
  • sustainable production
  • green models
  • green economy
  • circular economy
  • behaviour change
  • sustainable marketing
  • sustainable consumption
  • sustainable behaviour

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

23 pages, 1024 KiB  
Article
Reducing Food Waste in Indonesia: Examining the Moderating Roles of Impulsive Buying and Value-Seeking in Discount Strategies
by Agung Budi Leksono and Yuanqiong He
Sustainability 2025, 17(2), 747; https://doi.org/10.3390/su17020747 - 18 Jan 2025
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2393
Abstract
This study examines the application of discount strategies to reduce consumer food waste in Indonesia, focusing on the interplay between bundling discounts as short-term interventions and loyalty member discounts as long-term interventions. Indonesia is a country facing serious environmental and economic challenges due [...] Read more.
This study examines the application of discount strategies to reduce consumer food waste in Indonesia, focusing on the interplay between bundling discounts as short-term interventions and loyalty member discounts as long-term interventions. Indonesia is a country facing serious environmental and economic challenges due to its position among the largest generators of food waste in the world. This research investigates the impact of bundling discounts, moderated by impulsive buying, and loyalty member discounts, moderated by value-seeking behavior, on reducing food waste. In a quantitative approach, SEM was employed, with data sampled through questionnaires distributed across major Indonesian cities renowned for their large restaurant industries, including Bali, Jakarta, Yogyakarta, and Malang. A total of 350 questionnaires distributed resulted in 312 being eligible for further analysis. The findings indicate that bundling discounts have certain positive effects, which are usually weakened by impulsive buying, leading to over-purchasing. However, loyalty member discounts have stronger and more sustainable impacts, mediated by value-seeking behavior that encourages planned and responsible consumption. These findings highlight that tailored discount strategies have a critical role in food waste reduction, while loyalty programs provide an effective framework for sustainability. Insights from this study put restaurant managers and policymakers in a better position to align Indonesia’s discount strategies with its sustainability goals and to advance responsible consumption practices in the restaurant sector. Full article
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19 pages, 710 KiB  
Article
Can Sustainable Food from Edible Insects Become the Food of the Future? Exploring Poland’s Generation Z
by Anna Mikulec, Anna Platta, Monika Radzymińska, Bożena Garbowska, Grzegorz Suwała, Millena Ruszkowska, Przemysław Łukasz Kowalczewski and Stanisław Kowalski
Sustainability 2024, 16(23), 10198; https://doi.org/10.3390/su162310198 - 21 Nov 2024
Viewed by 1417
Abstract
This study addresses a research gap by examining the attitudes and interest of young Polish consumers in new foods containing insects. The results of the survey, which are presented in this article, were obtained as part of an inter-university project conducted at five [...] Read more.
This study addresses a research gap by examining the attitudes and interest of young Polish consumers in new foods containing insects. The results of the survey, which are presented in this article, were obtained as part of an inter-university project conducted at five Polish higher education institutions (N = 1063). The survey was conducted using the indirect interview method via an online platform (CAWI). This study aimed to assess attitudes, behaviours and intentions to purchasing insect foods, as well as factors influencing the selection of new foods containing insects and product preferences for such foods. The analysis revealed no statistically significant differentiation in consumer behaviour and declared intentions towards insect foods based on gender or place of residence (p > 0.001). Our results revealed correlations between the level of neophobia and negative attitudes among young consumers towards insect products, albeit weak in nature. The exploratory factor analysis suggested that the assessment of factors influencing the purchase of insect products may be based on a small number of dimensions, which were not found to be correlated, as follows: “Health and Environmental Concern”, “Organoleptic Attributes” and “Circumstantial Influences”. Full article
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20 pages, 652 KiB  
Article
Product Characteristics and Emotions to Bridge the Intention-Behavior Gap in Green Food Purchasing
by Sara de Sio, Giulia Casu, Alessandra Zamagni and Paola Gremigni
Sustainability 2024, 16(17), 7297; https://doi.org/10.3390/su16177297 - 25 Aug 2024
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 4337
Abstract
Promoting environmentally friendly behaviors is a pivotal strategy in addressing the climate crisis. The food industry’s impact on pollution and resource consumption underscores the importance of fostering eco-sustainable food consumption, which can significantly benefit the environment. However, despite the global surge in green [...] Read more.
Promoting environmentally friendly behaviors is a pivotal strategy in addressing the climate crisis. The food industry’s impact on pollution and resource consumption underscores the importance of fostering eco-sustainable food consumption, which can significantly benefit the environment. However, despite the global surge in green purchase intentions, a noticeable discrepancy persists between these intentions and actual purchasing behavior. This study aimed to investigate the influence of various factors on the likelihood of purchasing green food. An online survey was administered to Italian adult consumers (n = 832, 66% female, aged 18–84 years), collecting sociodemographic data and assessing emotions related to green purchases, perceptions of green food characteristics, intention to buy green food, and frequency of green food purchases. Through cluster analysis, three distinct consumer categories emerged: Coherent Buyers (individuals willing to buy green food and actively doing so), Coherent Non-Buyers (individuals who have no intention to buy green food and do not buy it), and Non-Buyers with Favorable Intentions (individuals expressing willingness to buy green food but not following through with purchases). Results from multinomial logistic regression analysis revealed that several factors influenced the likelihood of being categorized in the other two categories, as opposed to the Coherent Buyers one. These factors included younger age, a lower sense of pride associated with purchasing green products, and considering healthiness, natural content, and eco-sustainability of food less important and familiarity of green food more important. These findings provide valuable insights for marketers and policymakers, facilitating efforts to bridge the gap between green food intentions and behaviors and promote a shift toward a more eco-sustainable dietary pattern. Full article
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