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, Nina M., Olafsdottir, Gudrun, Nicolau, Mariana, Samoggia, Antonella, Huber, Elise, Brimont, Laura, Gorton, Matthew, Schamari, David, Sigurdardottir, Hildigunnur, Del Prete, Margherita, Fedato, Cristina, Aubert, Pierre-Marie, Bogason, Sigurdur G.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: MDPI 2020
Subjects:
sustainable food consumption
agri-food systems
transition
stakeholders
semi-structured interviews
policy tools
CIRCULAR ECONOMY
GOVERNANCE
TRANSITIONS
INNOVATION
MEAT
TRANSPARENCY
CHALLENGES
PROTECTION
MANAGEMENT
SYSTEMS
Iceland
Online Access:https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/01HV6GEZY010K4T2Z8WVX5YY5S
http://hdl.handle.net/1854/LU-01HV6GEZY010K4T2Z8WVX5YY5S
https://doi.org/10.3390/su12177161
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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