Marketing for sustainable food consumption

Food systems sit at the centre of contemporary sustainability challenges, shaping planetary health, human well-being and economic livelihood. Despite growing policy and research attention, unhealthy and unsustainable diets and avoidable food waste continue to rise, and global progress towards more sustainable food systems remains slow. Marketing bears part of the responsibility for this trajectory, as increasingly sophisticated marketing tools, consumer insights and persuasive communication have often been used to expand demand for nutritionally poor and environmentally damaging products. These same capabilities could be redirected to support sustainable food consumption by promoting healthy, sustainable diets, reducing consumption of harmful, unsustainable products and curbing avoidable food waste. This paper discusses the concept and importance of sustainable food consumption. It also highlights the need for marketers to fulfil their critical role in understanding, promoting and shaping such consumption. This paper concludes by suggesting some key avenues for future research into pro-sustainable food marketing.