Year: 2023
Type: dissertation
Abstract: The global food industry is the second main contributor to climate change whilst climate change also poses threats to future food security (Ritchie & Roser, 2020). One of the suggestions to decrease the environmental footprint of consumption and increase the resilience of food systems, is the shift to local production and consumption (Stein & Santini, 2021; Van Gameren et al., 2015). However, life-cycle assessment studies show that local vegetable production may have a higher environmental footprint compared to imported vegetables (Högberg, 2010). Yet, LCAs only consider environmental impacts while for complete sustainability assessments an equal consideration of the social and economic dimension is crucial, as suggested in the triple bottom line model (Brundtland, 1987). Therefore, by performing an multi-criteria assessment based on the TBL, this thesis has investigated the differences in sustainability potential between locally grown and imported vegetables for consumption in Skåne, Sweden. The results show that Swedish vegetables are more sustainable than imported vegetables and stakeholders have indicated that increasing local production could be achievable under certain conditions. Supermarkets can play a key role in the transition towards more sustainable production and consumption of vegetables by offering more local and seasonal produce for a fair price.
Author: Vijverberg, Emy
Language: English
Subfield: Ecology
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7062719825