A scoping review of food consumer aspects in transitioning to a safe and just agrifood system

Abstract

The agrifood system holds the key to identifying potential transformative pathways to achieve prosperity for all within the limits of the planet's natural resources, thereby fostering a safe and just operating system (SJOS) for future generations. The agrifood system is currently not on the right track to meet this ambition. Food-consumer processes such as preference shifts toward healthy diets and substantial reductions in food losses and waste could help to avoid severe environmental degradation and decrease overall mortality, although it remains unclear whether such transitional developments are entirely compatible with socially responsible thresholds. In this paper, we conduct a scoping review approach to map the evidence on the underlying drivers of such demand-side processes in the context of a SJOS with the aim to provide insights on how to transform the EU agrifood system. This review specifically examines how consumer aspects influence the SJOS, rather than exploring the bidirectional relationship. We used a scoping review approach to select relevant studies. The selected papers were subjected to quantitative and qualitative analyses. As a result, we extract insights and draw lessons from the role of food-consumer processes in the transition toward a more SJOS for the agrifood system.