Background/Objectives: This study investigates how consumers decide to adopt alternative proteins-specifically insect-based, cultured meat, and plant-based options-as part of a transition towards environmentally sustainable diets. Building on an extended Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB), the analysis adds personal moral norms and environmental concerns to better capture the ethical and normative drivers of food choice. Methods: Survey data from 948 residents of the Campania region (southern Italy) were analysed using partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) to assess the relationship among classical TPB constructs, personal moral norms, environmental concerns, and behavioural intention towards alternative protein consumption. Results: Personal moral norms emerge as the strongest predictor of behavioural intention, directly and indirectly influencing attitudes and environmental concerns. Subjective norms also affect intention, primarily by reinforcing moral norms and perceived behavioural control, although their direct impact is not significant. Classical TPB constructs show limited direct effects. Conclusions: The findings suggest that consumers' sustainable food intentions are more strongly shaped by moral identity and the surrounding social context than by attitudes alone. The evidence supports the development of culturally sensitive strategies designed to strengthen moral and normative motivations and foster the adoption of alternative proteins.

The Mediterranean diet (MD) concept has evolved in recent decades, moving from the perception of a healthy diet model to the awareness that it is also a sustainable food model. This dietary model, in fact, brings benefits in terms of nutrition, health, and maintenance of local traditions and food culture, but it also has a better impact in terms of the emission of greenhouse gasses, water and land use, energy consumption, and environment contamination. The aim of this study is to analyze the knowledge of and the adherence to the Mediterranean diet in a sample of adults in southern Italy during 2022, as well as their orientation towards the social dimension of sustainability (in terms of human health and animal welfare) and towards environmental sustainability. To collect information, a questionnaire was prepared for a population of 570 Italian consumers. Using the data from the questionnaires, a multivariate analysis was developed by performing a principal component analysis and a cluster analysis. The results of the empirical analysis proposed by the present study confirm the fact that the analyzed sample lacks adequate knowledge of the MD and, as a result, does not satisfactorily adhere to a healthier lifestyle marked by the criteria of this diet. Most of the clusters derived from the empirical analysis demonstrate low-to-moderate adherence to the MD. There is a need to generate renewed interest in the general population in a sustainable dietary pattern that provides nutritional, environmental, and social benefits. This requires effective health promotion and national interventions to promote the health benefits of the MD.

In the last years, sustainability has become a successful, relevant, critical factor in several food industries. The adoption of a sustainable marketing strategy contributes positively to changes in society in terms of environmental, social and economic development. The relationship between sustainability and business performance has been widely debated in management and organisational studies. However, despite its importance and relevance, fishery sustainability has not been systematically considered by scientific studies. This paper identifies and analyses the critical factors that describe the propensity towards sustainable development for large companies within the Italian fishery sector. For this purpose, the relationships among the following latent variables were analysed: sustainable social behaviour, sustainable environmental behaviour, sustainable marketing, and return on investment. A theoretical research model has been proposed and empirically tested using a methodology based on structural equation modelling.

Consumers’ purchasing choices are no longer based only on economic factors but also on ethical reasons related to environmental sustainability and food safety. However, nutritional information on food labels is underused by consumers. Often the lack or incompleteness of information available on the market obstructs the complex transition towards sustainable consumption patterns. This empirical study analysed a sample of 359 consumers from an area in Southern Italy (city of Naples) to identify homogeneous consumer clusters with respect to the assessment of the level of consumer attention to sustainable environmental, social behaviours in daily life, and also to safety attributes. The most important sources of information influencing the consumers’ choices, food safety knowledge, and future purchasing behaviour were analysed. The research sample was self-selected, and the questionnaire for the survey was administrated through a non-probability sample from a reasoned choice. The results indicate that the ideal solution is a five-cluster partition that confirms a good level of attention to intrinsic attributes, in particular food expiry, transparency of food information, food traceability, and seller confidence. In addition, the research could provide an opportunity to consider collaborative actions between policy makers and industries to increase consumer awareness of environmental attributes.

The fisheries industry is currently characterized by a social context where levels of competitiveness and economic development must continue to grow, while simultaneously ensuring commitment to and guarantee of levels of environmental and social sustainability. Such businesses, demonstrate an elevated sensitivity to the territory in which they operate, voluntarily implementing corporate social responsibility (CSR) policies in a sustainable development and stakeholder engagement perspective. This study will analyse-through an empirical analysis developed in the Italian context-the level of sustainable strategies and CSR of the large buyers in the fisheries industry, as well as willingness to invest to create a sustainable product. Using multivariate statistical techniques, such as principal component analysis and cluster analysis, we will identify the various groups of buyers in the adoption of sustainable strategies and CSR practices in their business.

In 2015, The United Nations adopted an agenda for sustainable development in order to obtain “a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and for the world now and in the future (United Nations). The United Nations has defined 17 main goals, such as ending poverty, improving health, preserving the ocean, and tackling the climate change, in order to achieve worldwide sustainable development. Sustainable development is a crucial worldwide topic that encompasses three dimensions: economic, social and environmental. Nowadays, social ecological innovation has envisaged a new prominent business model focusing on social and environmental goals to achieve sustainable development. The intent of this paper is to propose the community garden framework as a social and ecological innovation tool in order to boost sustainable development in urban areas as well as rural areas. For this purpose, an empirical analysis based on a structured interview was conducted in the area of Naples on a sample of 150 gardeners. The results of the interviews have been aggregated by using a variance and correlation analysis in order to explore to what extent the social and environmental dimensions are linked to the community gardens and to identify a pattern between community gardens and social ecological innovation. Two attributes of community gardens, that is, urbanization effects mitigation and wellness and community, were identified as having the ability to influence other community garden attributes. Thus, the paper suggests using these highly influential factors to define a social and ecological innovation strategy based on a community gardens framework.

The idea within this paper originates from the concept Territory Social Responsibility (TSR), the cornerstone upon which is based the rediscovery of those shared values that the stakeholders of a territory know how to consolidate. This is done by means of solid territorial networks, which aims, first and foremost, at the well-being of the individual in their environment, considering environmental, social and economic sustainability. In this contest, we focused on how urban areas can be redeveloped through urban horticulture practices and, in particularly, on the management of public green areas, in the province of Naples, which is based on policies aiming at the redevelopment of disused spaces. Therefore, in order to assess the benefits, a cluster analysis, involving sustainability actions in its threefold aspect, has been carried out on territorial regeneration through urban gardens.

Consumers are affected by market imperfections which may stem from the lack of information they have at the time of purchase. This sometimes leads them to make choices based on the quality perception of a product without having the possibility to reach the desired level of food safety. There is considerable information asymmetry between producer and consumer and despite the recent EC Regulation No. 1169/2011 on the provision of information to consumers on food, there remain blind spots in the information problem which has been widely debated in the literature. The empirical analysis is aimed at finding, in the sample of N=222 cases, clusters of homogeneous consumers with respect to the 28 selected variables. In particular, the objective is to evaluate the level of attention towards food safety attributes, the factors that affect the iunderstanding of the level of food safety and the importance of the brand to identify a product as safe.

The urban garden is a plot of land situated in an urban area which is used for the production of flowers, fruit, vegetables, etc.. It can be considered as the expression of a more general process of changing needs. The idea within this paper is that the urban gardens are the expression of a more general evolution process of the environmental, social and economic needs In Italy the urban gardens are developing through both public and private initiatives. Starting from the concept of the urban garden and evaluating its historical and structural evolution, this paper analyses the data obtained from a survey distributed to Neapolitan farmers with the aim of highlighting the environmental, social and economic features of urban gardens. In addition, a SWOT analysis was performed in order to assess the advantages, the criticalities and opportunities of urban horticulture practices. The project was created with the aim of developing a common decision-making path for a new concept of the urban area in accordance with farmers.

BACKGROUND:Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is the most important tool for implementing Sustainability Guidelines for Business (US20030018487A1), delivering economic, social and environmental benefits for all the stakeholders and is currently the focus of international studies and debates (US7260559B1), especially in the agri-food sector as demonstrated by recent patents (CA2862273A1). In most agri-food businesses operating in Italy, there is little effectiveness in the communication strategies of this instrument to the stakeholders since they are often not advanced.METHODS:Identifying the first two food companies in the European ranking of the 6th CSR Online Awards, through an empirical survey on consumers, their level of perception of the CSR strategies communication of these companies will be analyzed.RESULTS:In both case studies analyzed, there is the presence of a Sustainability Orientation and the evolution of CSR tools within such companies and their promotion and communication to all the stakeholders. Despite this, the level of perception of respondents on the CSR strategies communication of these companies and the promotion of CSR instruments is not optimal.CONCLUSION:The interviewed consumers have not enriched their knowledge on CSR due to the lack of an adequate communication strategy for both case studies. Consequently, to raise awareness on the subject, there is still a great deal of cooperation needed between public institutions, local communities, businesses and citizens.

An urban garden is a plot of land intended to be used to grow fruit, vegetables or flowers. It can be generally defined as a plot of land, in urban or suburban setting, suitable to cultivation, divided in one or more parcels or minimum unities of cultivation, destined to subjects who run it with non-professional productive means, with multiple objectives such as family consumption, leisure or didactic use, and goals of aggregation between groups sharing values of environmental sustainability and social inclusion. Today urban gardens respond to different dimensions of sustainability (environmental, social and economic) posing themselves as a valid tool for the crisis, both material and of identity, thanks to the promotion of the local area and its products. The objective of this study is to analyze urban gardens, focusing on environmental sustainability. To this end, we have analyzed the peculiarities of this phenomenon, mainly from the environmental point of view, by a questionnaire given to 150 farmers, from 2 different areas in the city of Naples considering activities, organization and subsidies.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to ascertain the attitudes of people towards issues of food safety, food security and sustainability. For this, an empirical study was conducted on visitors to the event Milan Expo 2015. Particular attention was paid to any greater propensity to purchase products from socially responsible agri-food companies and whether the event might have contributed to enrich the baggage of their knowledge on the issues of sustainability and corporate social responsibility (CSR) and to influence future buying behaviour. Design/methodology/approach Different groups of visiting consumers were identified through cluster analysis in order to segment and divide visitors into groups based on their approach to food safety, food security and sustainability, their willingness to pay for products from companies practising CSR, and the impact of the event on their future buying behaviour. Findings The results showed a positive attitude of respondents towards issues of food safety, food security and sustainability in general and to the purchase of sustainable food products. However, due to shortcomings in the communication strategy used by companies attending the event, the sample of visitors did not enrich their knowledge on sustainability and CSR. The impact of Expo 2015 on future buying behaviour was far from impressive. Originality/value The findings are particularly useful for the future development of the reputation and profitability of food companies, for the enrichment of knowledge concerning CSR-oriented food companies and to increase the price of products from socially responsible agri-food companies.