The adoption of healthy and sustainable diets and the transition to sustainable food systems is of principal importance in order to counteract the double burden of climate change and noncommunicable diseases. The Mediterranean diet (MD) has been widely recognized as a biodiversity and healthy nutrition resource to support sustainable development and food security. This study explored biodiversity in terms of food plants species, subspecies, varieties, and races, and also addressed food plant diversity differences between the MD and Western-type consumption patterns. It was funded by the EU BioValue Project, aiming to promote the integration of underutilized crops into the food value chains. Using a 2-stage scheme, data were selected from MEDUSA and Euro+Med databases (including 449 species, 2366 subspecies, varieties, and races). Furthermore, 12 countries from North Africa and Europe were classified in 2 groups according to their subregional attributes and their traditionally most prevalent dietary pattern (MD or Western-type diets). Statistical analysis showed that the mean of the majorly cultivated food plants in the MD was significantly higher than its counterpart in the Western diet. Furthermore, no statistical difference was detected in the averages of native food plants between the MD group and the Western diet group, implying that the higher diversity in food plants observed in the MD seems to be attributed to crop utilization rather than crop availability. Our findings indicated the interlinkage between biodiversity and prevailing dietary patterns and further underlined that biodiversity could constitute a prerequisite for dietary diversity and hence nutrition security. In addition, this study demonstrated that diets and nutrition should be approached in a broader way within the context of both agro-food and ecological systems.

This book gives a special emphasis to a state-of-the-art descriptions regarding cross-cutting issues in sustainable food production

The present study explored COVID-19 outbreak impacts on the food system in terms of agro-food production, distribution networks efficiency, and emerging food consumption patterns according to food experts' perspectives. Individual level data were selected from a sample of 59 executive managers of different domains representing agro-food businesses, agro-food cooperatives, and agro-food consulting firms and public institutions. The empirical analysis addressed the effects of the COVID-19 crisis to all the stages in the food chain and attempted to indicate the factors that could influence the trajectory from “farm to fork” under uncertain circumstances. Factor analysis elicited the underlying dimensions of experts' viewpoints toward the operation of the food system during COVID-19 pandemic. Data were also elaborated through hierarchical and k-means cluster analysis and the cluster structure was further validated by discriminant analysis. A two-cluster solution emerged, revealing differences in experts' perceptions toward the aftermath of the pandemic on agriculture (socioeconomic impacts on rural areas, impacts on agricultural production), food processing businesses (decline in the economic viability of food businesses, sharp economic downturn in the food industry, economic recession, incentives for innovation), food distribution networks (distribution channels fallout, food supply disruption), and consumers' food habits and preferences (increasing interest in health protection, adoption of unhealthy eating habits, demand for innovative and sustainable foods). These segments were identified as “skeptical food experts about COVID-19 impacts” (33.9%) and “alarmed food experts about COVID-19 impacts” (66.1%). Our findings highlighted the main disruptions that the food sector should overcome to meet consumer demand for safe and healthy food products and also ensure food availability and food system resiliency.

Greece is one of the countries blessed by astonishing features of nature where tourism is predominately thought of as one of the most powerful sectors that a country could lean on, a key component seeking every pinch of development effort. Under this scope and for the sake of helping to sustain the Greek tourism industry growth, this study is dedicated to assessing tourists' profiles, behavior, and attitudes in Crete, the largest Greek island and the fifth largest in the Mediterranean. A survey method was adopted where 4,411 questionnaires were delivered directly to tourists at the international airport in Chania, Crete. Furthermore, by means of multivariate analysis, the authors will try to assess the occurrence of any meaningful relations between visitors' satisfaction, their perception of the island, and the incentive they show to revisit Crete. The implications will eventually be worthwhile for decision makers to set up pertinent strategic development plans.

The Mediterranean diet is considered one of the healthier and most balanced dietary models currently in existence. Different studies suggest that it is environmentally friendly: it combines low greenhouse gas emissions, low demand of soil water and less deforestation. Climate change can be mitigated through what consumers decide to eat. This article addresses the issue of by studying the intention of young consumers to shift their diets towards the Mediterranean Diet to prevent climate change through face interviews, col-lected in Crete, Greece (N=287). Using the Theory of Planned Behavior, the objective is to identify whether attitudes, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control guide such a behavior. Our findings highlight that young consumers'perceived behavioral control have the highest influence on the intention, followed by their attitudes. As for the subjective norms, it has no significant impact on the intention.

Broadly consumed dietary patterns, such as the European and Western ones, are exerting pressures on biodiversity both in Europe and globally, and shifting toward a sustainable dietary pattern has thus become a must. This paper constitutes a preliminary communication of the results of a research project on the issue. In this study, the pressures of three dietary patterns (European, Western, and Mediterranean) on biodiversity are addressed in terms of land use, water use, greenhouse gas emissions, and eutrophication impact indicators. The environmental impacts are calculated based on a compositional analysis of each dietary pattern and the environmental footprints of the corresponding food groups. Food balance sheets published by the FAO are used as a basis for the compositional analysis, while the environmental footprints of each of the representative food products are retrieved from related life cycle assessment (LCA) studies. The results show that a shift from the European to the Mediterranean dietary pattern would lead to 10 m2/capita/day land savings, 240 L/capita/day water savings, 3 kg CO2/capita/day reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, and 20 gPO4eq/capita/day reductions in eutrophication potential. Likewise, a shift from the Western to the Mediterranean dietary pattern would lead to 18 m2/capita/day land savings, 100 L/capita/day water savings, 4 kg CO2/capita/day reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, and 16 gPO4eq/capita/day reduction in eutrophication potential. Based on these findings, it is clear that this shift is urgently needed as a step toward environmentally sustainable dietary patterns, such as the Mediterranean one, to preserve biodiversity for future generations.

Green supply chain management is concerned with the integration of environmental criteria and sustainability issues in the management of the supply chain. Within this framework, firms applying internally green strategy have, naturally, the interest to pressure purchases of goods and services from suppliers that are themselves green, at least to a certain extent. Thus, Supplier Evaluation and Selection is crucial due to its big impact on business function. The prospect of applying green principles has consequently become an important feature of a supplier’s overall performance. Hence, green supplier selection and evaluation, although a relatively new research subject, has grown quite rapidly. It develops and studies the decision and evaluation models based on environmental criteria. Its main tools are based on multi-criteria decision making approaches. Our objective, in this paper, is to review journal articles published in the period 2012–2019 on this topic, in order to identify the most widely applied approaches for green supplier evaluation and selection and the most cited green criteria.

Purpose This paper aims to get a better insight into the Cretan consumers’ behaviour towards alternative distribution channels (ADCs) of fresh fruits and vegetables. The main factors affecting the purchase decision are investigated and recorded, demonstrating the value of alternative channels in distributing agro-food products. Design/methodology/approach Six independent variables were chosen to represent the factors that motivate consumers’ behaviour towards the use of ADCs. The factors were classified into two groups: socio-economic factors, mainly age, level of education and monthly family income; and personal factors, such as environmental concerns, pros-ocial beliefs and perceived availability. Findings The output of the MANOVA tests showed significant results as regards the independent variables ( p > 0.05) which disproves the null hypothesis. More specifically, the results of this study showed that consumers’ behaviour towards ADCs is affected by socio-economic factors (age, level of education, monthly family income) and personal factors (environmental concerns, pro-social concerns and perceived availability). Research limitations/implications The questionnaire was focussing mainly on three (3) different ADCs: “directly from the producer”, “E-commerce” and “Fair Trade”. Any further research should examine more alternative food networks. Practical implications The present study's findings indicate that consumers support ADCs of fruits and vegetables and motivated by ethical stances such as environmental concern and pro-social behaviour. This could develop a new environment and trends not only for consumers but also for entrepreneurs (producers–wholesalers–retailers). Originality/value There is limited research concerning ADC of agricultural product in Crete. Thus, findings on consumers’ behaviour with respect to alternative and eventually sustainable distribution channels are a contribution to the literature in the field of sustainable supply chain management. Additionally, this research adds a better understanding of the Cretan consumers’ attitudes towards ADC.

The cooperative was characterized in the first chapter as an alliance designed to achieve certain objectives for the participants—the individual cooperators—within the context of (free) markets.

In the previous chapters, we have discussed various aspects of cooperation, with an emphasis on business cooperatives. We have shown that the cooperative has been studied from many points of view. In this book we have laid emphasis on the work by economists, public choice theorists, sociologists and philosophers of the civil society. However important and illuminating these scientific approaches are, the best proof is where cooperatives function in practice. Initiators of cooperatives have neither the time nor the means to study cooperatives thoroughly, and even if they had, it would still be too difficult to find the right mix of ingredients. Therefore, we include in the third part of this book some of our practical experience that has taught us how to start a cooperative business and how to apply the basic ingredients. We select those ingredients which we regard as essential for cooperative initiatives.

Football in Greece, as well as in whole world, exceeds the limits of simply the most commercial and widespread sport, becoming additionally a major issue in the political agenda. This can easily become understood, observing the impact of crucial football events (Mundial, Euro Cup, Champion’s League etc.) in world level. Besides the above events, each football league attracts the interest of people, media and politicians. Many studies have been done in this field, focusing mostly on the efficiency of football clubs, especially in countries such as England, Spain and Germany. The aim of this paper is to examine the performance of Greek football clubs competing in the Superleague for the period 2012–2014, regarding three different aspects (financial, commercial and sport). Our study differentiates from similar studies in the following points: (a) three different dimensions are examined in order to obtain a global view of football clubs, (b) the sample regards Greek Superleague teams, a regional and not so wealthy championship compared to other Europeans, and (c) the aim is to rank the teams, accordance to these aspects and not identify the efficient and not efficient teams. A well-known and established multiple-criteria decision making method (PROMETHEE II) is used, which has been found appropriate in several topics regarding ranking problems. In order our results to be meaningful, a decision maker assisted in the selection of the most influential factors in football clubs evaluation. The results partly verify earlier studies, since football clubs, with a few exceptions and surprises, were found financially imbalanced, with strong profitability, solvency and liquidity problems. The dependence of Greek Superleague on television rights and the basic sponsorship of OPAP (state betting company) is highly conspicuous amid the wider and much discussed European economic crisis in the field of football. Development trends via proposals of specific economic and social activities are listed, in response to the state and administrative mismanagement throughout the years.

Nowadays, consumers’ quality awareness and health consciousness drive the agri-food market towards a consumer-response food market. As a result, many producers and firms in the Euro-Mediterranean countries have opted for several quality and origin assurance schemes. Among them, a prevalent role is played by the Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) certification that constitutes a successful differentiation tool for agricultural products, and it is also widely used by Euro-Mediterranean olive oil producers due to effective contribution in promoting high-quality olive oil. After going through previous studies of PDO olive oil, this review paper investigates the general aspects and prospects of PDO olive oil products and EU relevant regulations, highlighting the socio-economic dimensions and impacts upon producers, consumers, and rural areas, and determining the gap between literature and practice with regards to PDO’s implementation and the expected benefits. Finally, the paper concludes with the main points and recommendations for further research.

Up to now we have discussed the cooperative model and have laid emphasis on the board and the management. In the present chapter, we draw attention to the role of the members.

A cooperative enterprise, as we have seen, must operate in the same free market as other firms with different ownership structures.

At the core of any cooperative there are various interests. How do members and managers weigh the importance of those interests? There is a special relationship between the cooperative enterprise and its member-owners. As an introduction, we contrast a public stock company with an imaginary investment cooperative. We shall then see three relationships that bind a cooperative firm and its members.