Sustainable Food Consumption and Principles of Justice in Italy

Public awareness of the environmental impacts of food systems and their implications for people’s lives is growing in many countries. There is also an increasing recognition of the links between sustainability and social justice goals. The objective of this study was to examine the relationship betw...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Social justice research Vol. 38; no. 4; pp. 466 - 494
Main Authors: Tronca, Luigi, Capitello, Roberta
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: New York Springer US 01.12.2025
Springer Nature B.V
Subjects:
Animal welfare
Anthropology
Attitudes
Behavioral Science and Psychology
Biodiversity
Consumers
Consumption
Egalitarianism
Environmental impact
Environmental protection
Food
Food consumption
Food systems
Investigations
Lifestyles
Motivation
Nutrition
Perceptions
Personality and Social Psychology
Philosophy
Political attitudes
Political Science
Principles
Psychology
Public awareness
Respondents
Social impact
Social justice
Social perception
Social Policy
Sociology
Sustainability
Sustainable consumption
Sustainable development
Sustainable use
Utilitarianism
Values
Italy
Political orientation
Social justice
Egalitarianism
Sustainability
Utilitarianism
Maximin principle
ISSN:0885-7466, 1573-6725
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Public awareness of the environmental impacts of food systems and their implications for people’s lives is growing in many countries. There is also an increasing recognition of the links between sustainability and social justice goals. The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between perceptions of social justice and sustainable consumption in the context of food. The study employed Rawls’s theory of social justice and was based on a survey conducted in Italy with a representative sample of 2000 respondents. The analysis encompassed indicators of sustainable consumption, political orientation, and attitude toward a sustainable lifestyle. The findings confirmed that in Italy, the sense of social justice is mainly inspired by the maximin principle, which drives toward sustainability depending on political orientation and the motivation for lifestyle change. The principle of egalitarianism seems to be the least effective in concretely supporting sustainable consumption, whereas utilitarianism has the potential to facilitate sustainability-related practices when based on personal motivations. This study contributes to advancing knowledge on the relationship between sustainable food consumption and the sense of social justice, which is a crucial condition for societal contexts that support the idea of affordable, sustainable options for all consumers.
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ISSN:0885-7466
1573-6725
DOI:10.1007/s11211-025-00466-0