Purpose -This paper aims to identify and define the content of corporate social responsibility (CSR) for the food chain. Design/methodology/approach -A qualitative research approach was applied in the study, based on participatory and case study research methodologies. The study drew on three different case food products and their supply chains: rye bread, broiler chicken products and margarine. The content of CSR was built through participatory workshops, the aim of which was to elicit the ideas of different stakeholder groups. Findings -The study identified seven key dimensions of food chain CSR: environment, product safety, corporate nutritional responsibility, occupational welfare, animal health and welfare, local market presence and economic responsibility. Originality/value -The results provide food and agribusiness companies with a better understanding of core CSR issues and their relevance in complex chains and networks. This may encourage the companies to promote their activities in a more responsible and sustainable direction and offer elements to build sustainable business cases. In addition, the results may indicate a change towards broader understanding of what is meant by corporate social responsibility.

Purpose Coffee is one of the most widely grown cash crops globally, but there are few scientific articles on its carbon footprint and water scarcity impacts. The aim of this study was to assess the carbon footprint and water scarcity impacts throughout the life cycle of the coffee chain (cradle-to-grave) and to identify the most important sources of the impacts (hotspots). Methods The system included all the key stages of the supply chain from land use change and coffee cultivation to roasting and household consumption. Primary data was collected from eight coffee cultivation farms in Brazil, Nicaragua, Colombia and Honduras and coffee roastery and packaging manufacturers in Finland. The AWARE method was applied in a water scarcity impact assessment. Results and discussion The carbon footprint varied from 0.27 to 0.70 kg CO2 eq/l coffee. The share of the coffee cultivation stage varied from 32 to 78% and the consumption stage from 19 to 49%. The use of fertilizers was the most important process contributing to the carbon footprint. Furthermore, deforestation-related emissions notably increased the carbon footprint of coffee from Nicaragua. Compared with the previous literature, our results indicate a relatively larger share of climate impacts in the cultivation stage and less during consumption. The water scarcity impact was relatively low for non-irrigated systems in Central America, 0.02 m3 eq/l coffee. On Brazilian farms, irrigation is a major contributor to the water scarcity impact, varying from 0.15 to 0.27 m3 eq/l coffee. Conclusions Improving the management practices in cultivation and fertilization is key for lower GHG emissions. Irrigation optimization is the most important mitigation strategy to reduce water scarcity impact. However, actions to reduce these two impacts should be executed side by side to avoid shifting burdens between the two.

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Young consumers are often described as innovative and concerned about the environment. However, their practices sometimes are not strong enough, which are described as the attitude–behavior gap and are seen in significant amounts of food waste. The objective of this study is to focus on food waste among young consumers in high-income countries and to outline the main determinants of food waste generation. Qualitative data gathered from nine focus groups in Lithuania, Finland and Denmark (2021–2022) contribute to formulating potential intervention to decrease food waste behavior within this segment. The article provides a substantial literature review on food waste and discusses recommendations for possible interventions and further research to solve the attitude–behavior gap. The findings show four specific fields for potential solutions, related to (1) special occasions, (2) assessing food quality, (3) kitchen habits, and (4) shopping habits. Our contribution is discussed at the end of the article.

The aim of this article was to create key indicators for measuring the implementation potential of the green economy transition at a local level in a northernmost, natural biomass-rich environment. The case area to test the set of indicators was the village of Saija in Lapland. The work presented in this article is based on a communicative cooperative research and development project. The selection process for the appropriate indicators is based on a conceptual framework for developing local sustainability indicators and the thematic framework follows the key dimensions of the green economy (ecosystem resilience, resource efficiency and social equity). When selecting the local-level indicators, a strong emphasis was placed on the special characteristics of the local area and the availability and validity of the data. Layman villagers and data policy relevance (in this case green economy) were also taken into consideration. The key indicators developed as a result included: the increment of growing forest stock in relation to the drain on growing forest stock, the village population, the bioenergy consumption share, the utilization share of side streams, the bioenergy production potential, capital outflow, demographic dependency ratio, the ratio between employed and working age residents and the number of forest owners in relation to area households. The key indicators are targeted for use in supporting local decision-making and monitoring and assessing development activities and their effectiveness in the process of the green economy transition. The indicators measure the most critical factors for green economy transition in a local area and identify the most optimal development opportunities when moving towards green growth. In the measurement of the transition potential of the green economy, it was found that the case area’s imported fossil energy consumption could be substituted with self-sufficient bioenergy production utilizing the area’s own raw materials. There is extensive potential for the utilization of manure (an agricultural side stream) and forest resources (forestry side streams) at the local level, especially since forests account for 98% of Lapland’s land area. In support of the change from fossil-based energy consumption towards bioenergy production, plans for a biogas plant were examined for self-sufficient bioenergy production and this appeared to be the initial key process in the path of the green economy transformation in the case village of Saija.