Sustainable food consumption : a practice based approach / Elizabeth Sargant.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Sargant, Elizabeth, author.

Series:

Routledge/EUI environmental policy series ; Volume 11.

Environmental Policy Series ; Volume 11

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Sustainable agriculture.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (177 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Wageningen, Netherlands : Wageningen Academic Publishers, 2014.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Agricultural and food consumption practices are the most important contributors to ecosystem degradation and climate change. Consumers are called on to take responsibility for sustainable development; to consider the environment in their everyday life, to choose more sustainably produced goods and services. However, often consumers are not directly involved in food production and preparation. Today many of the meals we eat are prepared by someone other than ourselves. In addition, environmental and social issues of food production might be important to us but they have to be weighed up against a range of situational and personal considerations. Thus 'making a sustainable choice' can be far from straightforward. This book explores the question 'how sustainable food consumption can be encouraged' using social practices theory. This approach focuses not on the individual behaviour of consumers, but on everyday food practices (like shopping for food, eating lunch at work, etc.) and their context. The book discusses how Dutch consumers engage in sustainable food consumption on an everyday basis, and how consumers with different grocery shopping practices differ in this engagement. A second study considers the sustainable development of food provisioning within business catering (food procurement and provisioning). Here we discover the importance of food professionals and the opportunities that canteens and kitchens offer to explore more sustainable ways of eating. Both studies illustrate how a context-oriented approach leads to insights on where we find leverage points for changing consumption patterns.

Contents:

""Preface""; ""Table of contents""; ""Chapter 1. Introduction""; ""1.1 Introduction""; ""1.2 Sustainable development in food provisioning in a nutshell""; ""1.2.1 Alternative food networks""; ""1.2.2 Diversification in food retail and services""; ""1.2.3 Sustainable development in the agro-food industry and public procurement""; ""1.3 Sustainable development in food consumption""; ""1.3.1 Consumers and sustainable development""; ""1.3.2 Context matters""; ""1.4 Research set-up""; ""1.4.1 Research aims and questions""; ""1.4.2 Research topics of the empirical studies""

""1.4.3 Thesis outline""""Chapter 2. Theory and methodology: a social practice approach to food consumption""; ""2.1 Introduction""; ""2.2 Introducing perspectives on sustainable consumption""; ""2.3 Practice theory: key concepts""; ""2.3.1 Habitus""; ""2.3.2 Practice(s) and lifestyle""; ""2.3.3 Practice(s) and the practitioner""; ""2.4 Practice theory applied to food consumption""; ""2.5 The social practise approach framework""; ""2.5.1 Consumption as a social practice""; ""2.5.2 Defining practices""; ""2.5.3 Concepts and indicators""; ""2.5.4 The system of provisioning""

""2.5.5 The locale""""2.5.6 The consumer practitioner""; ""2.5.7 Food consumption practices; change toward sustainability""; ""2.6 Introducing the research cases and methodologies""; ""2.6.1 Quantitative research on consumer engagement with sustainable food practices in the Netherlands""; ""2.6.2 Qualitative research: the case of canteen food consumption practice""; ""2.6.3 Literature review""; ""Chapter 3. Presenting the consumer in context""; ""3.1 Introduction""; ""3.2 Sustainability and food consumption practice today: the consumer in context""

""3.2.1 Diversity of context and practices""""3.2.2 The convenience and service aspect""; ""3.2.3 Less direct influence, more awareness and concern""; ""3.3 Revaluating the �responsibly choosing� consumer""; ""3.4 Changing consumption practices toward sustainability""; ""3.4.1 The limited effect of information on changing practices""; ""3.4.2 Changing practices: lessons from food providers� food experience approach""; ""3.5 Conclusion""; ""Chapter 4. Shopping for more sustainable food""; ""4.1 Introduction""; ""4.1.1 Towards more context in consumer studies""

""4.1.2 Grocery shopping practices exploring differences in engagement""; ""4.2 Methodology""; ""4.2.1 Use of the social practice approach in the survey set-up""; ""4.2.2 Co-responsibility""; ""4.2.3 Concerns and the attractiveness of food alternatives""; ""4.2.4 Consumer portfolio; knowledge and experience""; ""4.2.5 Practice narrative: �doings� and �sayings� of the practice""; ""4.3 The survey""; ""4.3.1 Survey set-up""; ""4.3.2 Questions and routing""; ""4.4 Analysis of results""; ""4.4.1 Descriptive statistics and grouping of respondents on shopping practice""

""4.4.2 Statistical tests""

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (ebrary, viewed November 18, 2014).

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

9789086868117

90-8686-811-8

OCLC:

896107182