Building Sustainable and Diversified Food Systems Through Organic Practices and Consumer Participation
A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Agriculture".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 October 2026 | Viewed by 7
Special Issue Editors
Interests: agroecology; plant–microbe interactions; crop diversity; sustainable agriculture
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
This Special Issue open for the submission of research on holistic approaches that aim to increase the sustainability of food systems based on crop biodiversity and food quality. It seeks to preferentially promote the role of organic and participatory approaches in sustainable agriculture by linking biological processes and socio-cultural dimensions with broader agroecological and food system transitions.
We hope to attract original scientific papers and reviews articles that enrich the literature on the improvement of food systems from field to plate; that are inspired by over a century of organic practices; and that show awareness of environmental harms, losses of food sovereignty and biodiversity, and shortfalls in diversified crop species and cultivars. Papers considered for publication will focus on the co-development of organic plant breeding and/or practices to renew food systems involving all stakeholders, including studies on plant–microbiome interactions, the role of organic agriculture, and participatory approaches to sustainable agriculture. Methodological approaches linking biological processes with broader socio-cultural contexts (including policies and regulations pertaining to sustainability) for food system transitions will be valuable contributions to this Special Issue.
Submitted papers should address challenges related to socio-economic, scientific, and integrated approaches to sustainable and diversified food systems based on the following aspects:
- Transdisciplinary and multi-actor approaches;
- Action research based on the four organic pillars (IFOAM principles of health, ecology, fairness, and care);
- Solutions from technical tools to systemic approaches to food systems, considering a strong holistic conception of agroecosystems from the microorganism to the landscape scale;
- Renewing seeds, cultivars, and practices jointly for healthier crops and food;
- Integrating science into society to involve citizens and consumers;
- Policy evolutions at local, national, and international levels.
This Special Issue aims to enlarge the conceptual basis of sciences needed to transition food systems toward a desirable future, to enrich the dialogue between agronomic and human sciences skillsets, and to reinforce interactions between science and society. Contributions should promote high-quality transdisciplinary approaches and methodologies to ensure that the Special Issue becomes a domain of excellence.
Dr. Véronique Chable
Dr. Pedro M. R. Mendes-Moreira
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
- diversity
- seed
- plant breeding
- organic practices
- agroecology
- food quality
- society
- consumers
- microorganisms
- policy
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