Commentary on Food Sustainability Understanding in the Nordic-Baltic countries

Understanding how different countries and communities conceptualize sustainability is a key element in the development of effective interventions that can drive us closer to achieving a sustainable food system. I am thrilled to have had the opportunity to delve into the insights presented within the report detailing the understanding of food sustainability in Nordic-Baltic countries.

Coinciding with the compilation of this comprehensive report, I was engaged in leading a study that shared a similar overarching goal: analysing the perceptions of both citizens and industries regarding food sustainability in the United Kingdom. The outcome of our research provided the UK government with evidence to understand why sustainable food is important when making food choices. Our investigation also included sustainability labelling, critically assessing the types of information these labels conveyed to the populace.

In our review, we found an intricate network of interconnected concepts within the UK's understanding of sustainability. Core concepts ranged from local and organic production, to animal welfare considerations, dietary shifts toward plant-based regimes, mitigation of meat and dairy consumption, reductions in food waste and packaging, and enhancements in overall health. Together these dimensions contribute to the multifaceted tapestry of sustainability in the UK.

This is important from a food systems perspective as each country’s core understandings of Sustainability influence the actions that policy makers, industry and citizens prioritise.

We highlighted the divergence between perceptions and actual environmental impacts – in short: individuals underestimated the magnitude of certain actions, such as equating reducing packaging or increased recycling to the much larger environmental impacts of dietary change. Moreover, we found a divergence between intention and action: individuals aimed to adopt sustainable practices yet this was inconsistent in their shopping and food behaviours. Similar findings have been found in this report with each nation cultivating unique interpretations of sustainability. These different country level perceptions lead to different food choices, and different policymaking outcomes, which result in different sustainable food systems. In particular, the choices of what sustainability means as a labelling concept, can have far reaching purchasing impacts.

Our study additionally uncovered biases within UK understandings of sustainability. There was an emphasis on environmentalism while inadvertently ignoring broader dimensions such as food safety, affordability, and economic growth in relation to sustainability. These biases are mirrored within the Nordic-Baltic countries, further underscoring the importance of this report in considering these country level understandings of food sustainability.

In conclusion, this report on how food sustainability is understood in the Nordic-Baltic region provides a fascinating comparative perspective to my own research in the UK. Both investigations underscore the profound influence of cultural perspectives on sustainability, the challenges tied to perception versus actual impact, and the intricate dance between intention and action at both the personal and food system level. Collectively, they illuminate the imperative of tailoring interventions that are sensitive to local nuances while fostering wider understandings of sustainability that encompass environmental, economic, and social dimensions.

Dr Christian Reynolds
Reader in Food Policy
Centre for Food Policy
City, University of London
Email: christian.reynolds@city.ac.uk

Reynolds, C., Moore, S., Jones, R., Droulers, C., Oakden, L., Hegarty, R., Snell, J., Chalmers, H., Sieff, A., Rampalli, K., Dong, H., Blake, C., Yates, J., Filho, M. L., Deeney, M., Samin, S., Kadiyala, S. & Sarkar, S. (2022). A rapid evidence assessment of UK citizen and industry understandings of sustainability - Why our understanding of sustainable food is important when making food choices. Food Standards Agency.