Sustainable Food Consumption: Social Representations of Definitions, Drivers, and Obstacles

The topic of food is one of the main terrains of the debate about sustainability, with reference to all the components of food systems. At present, a vast body of literature exists about what can be considered as sustainable food products, as well as about drivers and obstacles connected with the consumption of these products. On the contrary, little research exists about the representations of these elements developed by potential consumers. On the basis of qualitative research in Turin, Italy, the aim of this article is to reflect upon what individuals mean by sustainable food products, what they think about the drivers at the basis of their consumption, and what, in their opinion, the main obstacles for potential consumers are in adopting these products. These are the main findings of this research. Regarding the definition of sustainability of food products, research showed that the scientific literature identifies two main dimensions, environmental and economic; in contrast, for potential consumers, the environmental dimension takes priority. Moreover, in the literature, food sustainability is mainly evaluated considering all the five phases of the food chain (production, processing, distribution, consumption, disposal); while potential consumers focus primarily on production and processing, only partly on distribution, and neglect the other two phases. Considering drivers and obstacles of sustainable food consumption, the scientific literature identifies six drivers: environment and health, the main ones, followed by human rights, taste/quality, culture, relationships; and four main potential obstacles: availability and cost first of all, and then competences and culinary habits/traditions. Potential consumers, instead, regarding drivers give priority to environment, and add fashion and identity construction dynamics; regarding obstacles, focus on cost and on competences, do not identify the products’ availability or culinary habits and traditions as relevant factors, and add a reference to the creation of social networks among consumers where information and competences are shared as potential facilitators.