The Millennials’ Concept of Sustainability in the Food Sector

Abstract

The aim of this study is to analyze the perception of the meaning of sustainability in the food sector. A sample of 268 University students belonging to the Millennial generation was identified and a survey was carried out to assess the interaction between this kind of Millennials and food sustainability. Collected data were explored with descriptive statistics, followed by multivariate statistical techniques to get an integrated vision of relationships among the variables. Outcomes evidence four groups of Millennials with specific peculiarities, i.e., “Socio-Nature Sensitives”, characterized by a high level of attention for the socio-economic dimension and sustainable ways of food production; “Info-Supporter”, very sensitive to labeling and warranty systems; “Proactive-Oriented”, interested in innovative activities; “Indifferent Millennials”, assigning the issue in general a low level of importance. Results provide useful information and some contribution to public institutions and private stakeholders so as to implement new rules and new tools in the food sector, so as to reach the target of reducing waste and pollution. Substantial literature on interaction between Millennials and sustainability in the food sector has not yet been developed; the aim of this pioneer study is to offer some contribution to the debate among stakeholders on driving choices towards new consumption rules and production patterns.

Generational Differences toward Organic Food Behavior: Insights from Five Generational Cohorts

“…Studies that have focused on or include generational cohorts and SFC, and/or organic food products in general or specifically, are limited (to our knowledge), and they emphasize on one generation, with a particular tendency to Gen Y/Millennials [11,34,57,[102][103][104][105][106][107][108][109][110][111][112][113][114]. Table 1 presents the studies that-to the author's knowledge-focus on SFC or OFB combined with generational cohorts.…”

Sustainability: Nutrition and Dietetic Students’ Perceptions

“…Students undertaking higher education, as the future professional workforce, are in an ideal position to develop skills and capabilities in creative and critical problem solving for sustainability. Although Kagawa [4], Bollani [5] and Sidiropoulos [6] have explored perceptions of sustainability among students within higher education, there is little that explores N&D student perspectives in particular, and none that explores their holistic understanding of sustainability. Understanding how N&D undergraduate students perceive sustainability is important as these students will likely be called upon to consider elements of sustainability within the food system and nutrition practice in future work.…”

The Importance Given to Food Naturalness Attributes by Millennial University Students

“…The purpose of this paper is to explore attributes important to millennial university students when evaluating food naturalness. It cannot be disregarded that present and future tendencies of food consumption are specified by what millennials value the most [1][2][3][4][5]. The importance of food naturalness for consumers and its impact on their behavior has been widely studied in the literature (e.g., [6][7][8][9]).…”

“…They are characterized for adding more value to authenticity [2], having more concern about what they eat [7], having an elevated preference for local food [20], and exhibiting knowledge about the value and quality of products [19]. The millennial generation is of current interest to researchers and represents an attractive segment for food businesses across the globe [1,21].…”