Consumer concerns over food insecurity drive reduction in the carbon footprint of food consumption

Food security is increasingly a societal concern, also in developed economies. While originally developed through a nutritional lens, food security is also increasingly incorporating the environmental quality of diets. This study develops a Structural Equation Model to examine how consumers concerns...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inSustainable production and consumption Vol. 39; pp. 451 - 465
Main Authors Righi, Selene, Viganò, Elena, Panzone, Luca
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Elsevier Ltd 01.07.2023
Subjects
Carbon footprint
Consumer behaviour
Consumer concerns
Food security
SEM
Sustainability
Q54
Consumer concerns
C21
D12
H41
Sustainability
Food security
SEM
D91
Consumer behaviour
Carbon footprint
C83
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Summary:Food security is increasingly a societal concern, also in developed economies. While originally developed through a nutritional lens, food security is also increasingly incorporating the environmental quality of diets. This study develops a Structural Equation Model to examine how consumers concerns over food insecurity – in terms of its impact on health and poverty – and environmental beliefs influence the carbon footprint of diets. Using data from a survey representative of the Italian population, this study shows that health-related food insecurity concerns increase the use of health motives when shopping for food, in turn reducing the carbon footprint of the diet. Conversely, poverty-related food insecurity concerns are associated to diets higher in carbon footprint, as they reduce health motives, and increase private shopping motives (e.g., taste, low price). Overall, the study highlights how shifts to more sustainable food systems require a better understanding of what motivate consumers to make more sustainable food choices.
ISSN:2352-5509
2352-5509
DOI:10.1016/j.spc.2023.05.027