Which dietary patterns are more likely to be associated with aspects of eco-sustainable food behaviours in Italy?

Abstract

Sustainable food consumption (SFC) policies need further investigation into eating habits to improve interventions to encourage shifting to new consumption patterns respectful of human rights, environment and health. Reversing the usual approach focussed on sustainable consumer, the present study investigates how different eating patterns relate to eco-sustainable food. A cluster analysis was carried out on consumption frequencies of food groups recorded in an Italian national survey on 3004 respondents, providing four eating habit segments, further investigated as for sustainable food attitude and behaviour. Openness to eco-sustainable food is found mostly in the more balanced diet segment, accounting for about one third of the adult Italian population. Inaccessibility, non-affordability, unhealthy diet and a lack of information still negatively condition eating habits to the detriment of more sustainable consumption. These findings could support SFC stakeholders in targeting policies and strategies based on diversified approaches to enhance awareness of SFC issues.

Keywords:

• Sustainable food consumption
• eating habits
• eco-sustainable attitude and behaviour
• cluster analysis

Acknowledgements

The project REGALIM, aimed at monitoring the dietary habits across the Italian regions to safeguard the culture and traditions, focussing on characterisation of territory and its social structure along with responsible food consumption. Furthermore, this study does not necessarily reflect, and in no way anticipates, the MiPAAF future policy in this area. Special thanks are due to Dr. Romana Roccaldo for support in English editing. Finally, the first author is grateful to Prof. Mario Mazzocchi for the tutorship of the doctoral thesis; the topic inspired this article.

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest.

Additional information

Funding

This study was conducted within the project REGALIM, funded by the Italian Ministry for Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies (MiPAAF).