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Making Sense of Sustainability: A Practice Theories Approach to Buying Food

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  • Anke Brons

    (Environmental Policy Group, Wageningen University, 6706 KN Wageningen, The Netherlands)

  • Peter Oosterveer

    (Environmental Policy Group, Wageningen University, 6706 KN Wageningen, The Netherlands)

Abstract

In light of global climate change the relevance of sustainable food consumption is growing, yet access to it has not correspondingly developed. This paper addresses the issue of accessing sustainable food from a practice theories perspective. The case of students in Paris is examined by means of interviews and participant observation. Four indicators serve to structure the results, i.e., mode of recruitment, mode of engagement, degree of commitment, and bundles of practices. Based on this analysis, three types are constructed, each with distinct access issues. We conclude that access to sustainable food is not necessarily determined by financial means only, nor by individual attitudes, but should be analysed as embedded in the complex dynamics of multiple social practices. Building on these insights means that more attention for the actual practice of accessing sustainable food, the different elements, and bundles involved is needed when looking for ways to increase access to sustainable food.

Suggested Citation

  • Anke Brons & Peter Oosterveer, 2017. "Making Sense of Sustainability: A Practice Theories Approach to Buying Food," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(3), pages 1-15, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:9:y:2017:i:3:p:467-:d:93648
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Rod MacRae & Michelle Szabo & Kalli Anderson & Fiona Louden & Sandi Trillo, 2012. "Empowering the Citizen-Consumer: Re-Regulating Consumer Information to Support the Transition to Sustainable and Health Promoting Food Systems in Canada," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 4(9), pages 1-30, September.
    2. Elisa Giampietri & Dieter B. A. Koemle & Xiaohua Yu & Adele Finco, 2016. "Consumers’ Sense of Farmers’ Markets: Tasting Sustainability or Just Purchasing Food?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(11), pages 1-14, November.
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    2. María Alonso Martínez & Anke Brons & Sigrid C. O. Wertheim-Heck, 2024. "How do the people that feed Europe feed themselves? Exploring the (in)formal food practices of Almería’s migrant and seasonal food workers," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 41(2), pages 731-748, June.
    3. Séverine Gojard & Bérangère Véron, 2018. "Shopping and cooking: the organization of food practices, at the crossing of access to food stores and household properties in France," Review of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Studies, Springer, vol. 99(1), pages 97-119, June.
    4. Paweł Bryła, 2019. "Regional Ethnocentrism on the Food Market as a Pattern of Sustainable Consumption," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(22), pages 1-19, November.
    5. Quoc Nguyen-Minh & Raffaele Vignola & Inge D. Brouwer & Peter Oosterveer, 2025. "Transitioning practices of vegetable small-scale actors in Vietnam: an interplay of food safety, labor demand, and soil environment," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 42(2), pages 825-843, June.
    6. Martina Chalupová & Stanislav Rojík & Hana Kotoučková & Lenka Kauerová, 2020. "Food Labels (Quality, Origin, and Sustainability): The Experience of Czech Producers," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-13, December.
    7. Magnus Boström & Erik Andersson & Monika Berg & Karin Gustafsson & Eva Gustavsson & Erik Hysing & Rolf Lidskog & Erik Löfmarck & Maria Ojala & Jan Olsson & Benedict E. Singleton & Sebastian Svenberg &, 2018. "Conditions for Transformative Learning for Sustainable Development: A Theoretical Review and Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-21, November.
    8. Hsin-Wei Hsu & Chia-Ying Chen & Chia-Wen Wu, 2021. "Cross-Cultural Comparison of Sustainable Agro-Food Consumption from Consumers’ Perspectives: Cases from Taiwan and France," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(17), pages 1-19, August.
    9. Gerrit Antonides, 2017. "Sustainable Consumer Behaviour: A Collection of Empirical Studies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(10), pages 1-5, September.

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