How foodies support sustainable diets and food systems: A comparative study of motivations, practices and behaviors across four countries

The current global agrifood system is unsustainable, inequitable, unhealthy and not resilient to respond to climate change. The demand behaviour of consumers offers one avenue to help drive system change. While foodies – individuals with high interest and involvement in food - have a unique relationship with food and influence broader trends and innovation within the industry, the extent to which they are engaged in sustainability dietary practises is largely unexplored in the literature. The purpose of this study (Oct–Nov 2023) was to assess the level of engagement (LOE) of foodies and non-foodies for 15 sustainable dietary actions across behaviours representing social, economic, and environmental dimensions of sustainability. The study explored the knowledge, motivations, practices and behaviors of adult foodies versus non-foodies (n = 824) toward sustainable diets across four high-income countries of the Global North (Australia, Canada, England and the United States). Four assessment tools (12-item Foodie Index, 25-item Food Literacy Scale, 14-item Food Sustainability Concern Scale, 6-item New Ecological Paradigm Scale) were administered online to explore significant relationships with sustainable diets. Results show that LOE with sustainable dietary practices is positively associated with foodiness, food literacy, food sustainability concern, and NEP scores (p(r) < 0.05). Importantly, foodies have a higher LOE for each dietary behaviour than do non-foodies (p(F) < 0.05). Similarly, foodies have higher food literacy and food sustainability concern, but not NEP scores (H). Together, these findings suggest that the greater food knowledge of foodies is leveraged into sustainable dietary action through heightened concern for food sustainability. We argue that foodies are both well-positioned and predisposed to act as agents of change in support of a more sustainable agri-food system, and that this can be promoted through targeted policy and education initiatives.