About this Research Topic
According to the UN, approximately one-third of all food produced each year - equivalent to 1.3 billion tonnes worth approximately $1 trillion - ends up rotting in consumer and retailer bins or spoiling due to poor transportation and harvesting practices. At the same time, approximately 2.3 billion people worldwide are malnourished. The majority of our water is used to produce food, and current food production practices consume roughly half of the earth's land. Furthermore, consumption of animal products is increasing, which are produced at a high environmental cost. Current food production and consumption trends are unsustainable in light of rising population and deteriorating climate. There is a need for solutions to address food production and consumption sustainability issues.
Food system structural changes, the expansion of high-value agriculture, the development of reformulated foods, and the establishment of institutions for vertical integration in food supply chains present both opportunities and challenges for producers and consumers worldwide. Adopting new technologies in production and participating in the modern food supply chains are good opportunities for farmers to increase their income. Whereas the challenges come in the form of high production costs, risks associated with production and marketing, post-harvest handling, and meeting changing consumer food habits/modern food chains. Recent advances have focused on the development and promotion of bio-fortified foods, plant-based meat analogues, and reformulated foods to combat malnutrition and the negative environmental impacts of food production. However, much remains unknown about consumer and producer attitudes and behaviors toward these new food.
Contributions from scholars on the issues of consumer behavior toward novel and reformulated foods, the economic aspects of these foods, and their implications for improving nutrition and sustainable food consumption are welcome. Furthermore, we encourage contributions that focus on the economics of sustainable food production, technologies to improve resource utilization in agriculture, increasing farmer income, and reducing the negative environmental impact of food production. We welcome papers on the below topics (but not limited to):
- Development of sustainable food systems to improve nutrition and reduce the impacts of food production on climate
- The impact of sustainable food production methods on farmer and enterprise profitability, as well as strategies for improving agricultural resource utilization
- Consumer behavior toward sustainable foods (such as plant-based meat alternatives, bio-fortified foods, insect foods etc.) and ways to improve consumer acceptance of these foods
- Challenges faced by governments and communities in ensuring food security, promoting sustainable foods, and reducing wasteful production
- New source of food from neglected and underutilized species and traditional/indigenous plants
Food system structural changes, the expansion of high-value agriculture, the development of reformulated foods, and the establishment of institutions for vertical integration in food supply chains present both opportunities and challenges for producers and consumers worldwide. Adopting new technologies in production and participating in the modern food supply chains are good opportunities for farmers to increase their income. Whereas the challenges come in the form of high production costs, risks associated with production and marketing, post-harvest handling, and meeting changing consumer food habits/modern food chains. Recent advances have focused on the development and promotion of bio-fortified foods, plant-based meat analogues, and reformulated foods to combat malnutrition and the negative environmental impacts of food production. However, much remains unknown about consumer and producer attitudes and behaviors toward these new food.
Contributions from scholars on the issues of consumer behavior toward novel and reformulated foods, the economic aspects of these foods, and their implications for improving nutrition and sustainable food consumption are welcome. Furthermore, we encourage contributions that focus on the economics of sustainable food production, technologies to improve resource utilization in agriculture, increasing farmer income, and reducing the negative environmental impact of food production. We welcome papers on the below topics (but not limited to):
- Development of sustainable food systems to improve nutrition and reduce the impacts of food production on climate
- The impact of sustainable food production methods on farmer and enterprise profitability, as well as strategies for improving agricultural resource utilization
- Consumer behavior toward sustainable foods (such as plant-based meat alternatives, bio-fortified foods, insect foods etc.) and ways to improve consumer acceptance of these foods
- Challenges faced by governments and communities in ensuring food security, promoting sustainable foods, and reducing wasteful production
- New source of food from neglected and underutilized species and traditional/indigenous plants
Keywords: Food security Food quality and safety Food supply chains Consumer behavior Reformulated foods Plant-based meat alternatives Bio-fortified foods
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
