Stakeholder perceptions of policy tools in support of sustainable food consumption in Europe: Policy implications

Transitioning agri-food systems towards increased sustainability and resilience requires that attention be paid to sustainable food consumption policies. Policy-making processes often require the engagement and acceptance of key stakeholders. This study analyses stakeholders' solutions for crea...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Sustainability
Main Authors: Saviolidis N. M., Olafsdottir G., Nicolau M., Samoggia A., Huber E., Brimont L., Gorton M., von Berlepsch D., Sigurdardottir H., Del Prete M., Fedato C., Aubert P. -M., Bogason S. G.
Other Authors: Saviolidis N.M., Aubert P.-M., Bogason S.G.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: 2020
Subjects:
Agri-food system
Policy tool
Semi-structured interview
Stakeholder
Sustainable food consumption
Transition
Iceland
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/11585/776038
https://doi.org/10.3390/su12177161
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/17/7161
Description
Summary:Transitioning agri-food systems towards increased sustainability and resilience requires that attention be paid to sustainable food consumption policies. Policy-making processes often require the engagement and acceptance of key stakeholders. This study analyses stakeholders' solutions for creating sustainable agri-food systems, through interviews with a broad range of stakeholders including food value chain actors, non-governmental organizations, governmental institutions, research institutions and academic experts. The study draws on 38 in-depth, semi-structured interviews conducted in four European countries: France, Iceland, Italy and the UK, as well as three interviews with high-level EU experts. The interviewees' solutions were analysed according to a five-category typology of policy tools, encompassing direct activity regulations, and market-based, knowledge-based, governance and strategic policy tools. Most of the identified solutions were located in the strategic tools category, reflecting shared recognition of the need to integrate food policy to achieve long-term goals. Emerging solutions-those which were most commonly identified among the different national contexts-were then used to derive empirically-grounded and more universally applicable recommendations for the advancement of sustainable food consumption policies.

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