ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Nutr.
Sec. Food Policy and Economics
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fnut.2025.1662085
This article is part of the Research TopicA Roadmap for Sustainable Food Systems: Prioritising Diets and Eradicating Hunger (SDG 2)View all articles
Disentangling food transformation narratives: A Q-method analysis on pathways to sustainable food systems and their implications
Provisionally accepted
- 1Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
- 2VU Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
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The urgent need to transform global food systems is widely acknowledged in scientific and policy agendas, yet diverse interpretations of what constitutes a sustainable food system persist, complicating transformation efforts. This exploratory study investigates the characteristics and priorities of sustainable food systems through the perspectives of university students enrolled in various sustainability-related programs. Through Q-methodology interviews, the analysis identifies five distinct narratives associated with food system transformations: (1) securing food sovereignty, (2) contributing to climate justice, (3) doing no harm, (4) empowering consumers, and (5) connecting people to their food. The comparison of narratives allows for the identification of consensus elements, such as food security and transparent, democratic governance. These elements can act as core bridges for the different perspectives, fostering transformative pathways toward leveraging sustainable food systems. Conversely, urban agriculture, GMOs, and the preservation of food traditions were consistently deprioritized, reflecting the importance of considering context-specific perspectives in food system research.
Keywords: food system transformation, Sustainable food systems, Pathways to sustainability, SDG 12, food systems
Received: 08 Jul 2025; Accepted: 18 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Leigh Mull and Torralba. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Mario Torralba, VU Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
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