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Understanding how food systems could change and evolve in the future is essential for scientists and decision-makers across sectors to make informed policy decisions. For effective and salient policy, engaging citizens, especially young generations, who will experience those policies firsthand is crucial. This work aims to define and test new food systems sustainability indicators through youth engagement for policy insights to provide policymakers with literature incorporating citizens' needs. Our approach is based on Community Dissonance Theory and the application of a literature review, focus groups and survey. Four future food systems scenarios were obtained through the literature, serving as a baseline for discussion for Generation Z focus groups, whose results were analyzed through NVivo. In this work 31 food system indicators were identified, 20 on social aspects, 9 economic and one environmental. Social indicators proposed were related to capacity development, education, vulnerable groups, income inequality, social awareness, and increased stakeholders' engagement measures. Economic ones are on stakeholders' bargaining power and purchasing power, while environmental ones are on climate change. The combination of these scenarios contributed to identifying top priorities in terms of social, economic, and environmental indicators, which in terms of policy suggestions, could: balance economic, social, and environmental objectives within food systems; address potential impacts of policies beyond specific scenarios since they are inferred from a multitude of scenarios; reconcile short- and long-term priorities as areas of interventions within food supply chains; and engage young stakeholders to inform coherent policymaking. • Understanding how food systems could change and evolve in the future is essential for decision-makers. • Different future scenarios are built from which young people prioritise indicators to be followed. • Food education and food labels emerged as key elements to guide sustainable choices. • The outcomes of this work can help policymakers to shape sustainability strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of biogas production exacerbated the competition for land availability between crops dedicated to human consumption and those intended for energy production. Residual biomasses have been often proposed for their positive outcomes in terms of reduced pressure on land use. However, literature did not assess optimization options for existing biogas plants feeding. This paper developed a bio-economic model for the optimization of agricultural biogas supply chains using artichoke byproducts in existing plants. A multiple goal linear programming approach was adopted, using two objective functions, calculating respectively net present value and land use from energy crops, associated to a regional biogas network. Three scenarios were defined using primary and secondary data on the residues of a specific artichoke variety - globe - and an Italian region - Sardinia. In the Business As Usual scenario, net present value is about 7 million € with a land use of about 2720 ha. When using artichoke residues, the economic impact increases by 28% and land use is reduced by 83% if net present value is optimized. When land use is optimized, the economic impact still grows by 25% and land use is reduced by 100%. Results from this study confirm that, under certain conditions, locally available residual biomasses can replace energy crops in existing biogas networks, coupling viability and sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent studies have shown that consumers encounter various conflicting motivations that influence the prevention of household food waste. Food choices are rooted in deep-seated judgments, such as emotions, habits, and values, thus raising the cognitive dissonance between motivation and behavior (intention-behavior gap). The complexity of this subject increases when considering that food waste is driven by repetitive, multiple, and hidden individual choices and influenced by a composite set of situational factors. This study argues the presence of a critical distance between food choices and waste generation in homes and this factual interval (behavior-outcome gap) further affects consumer's decision-making when comparing available options. Employing data from a three-year survey of a national representative panel of Italian consumers, this study develops a system of regression models using path analysis methodology. The objective is to measure the relationships between the different phases of the food consumption cycle and rank their contribution to waste. The results suggest that the more upstream the phase, the stronger the influence on food waste generation in homes. Purchasing emerges as the most critical choice of the consumers' food waste cycle. This gap between behavior and outcome adds uncertainty to food decisions, which reverberates on behavioral beliefs and as a result, leads consumers to resort to heuristics. The findings allow for the identification of a set of behavioral patterns with implications on food waste generation. Furthermore, purchasing decisions are exposed to out-of-home contextual factors, suggesting that food retail can affect consumer behaviors relevant to household food waste. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scientific literature suggests that in developed countries food is predominantly wasted at the consumption stage of the food supply chain. This study aims to profile consumers’ attitude to waste food in Italy investigating households’ behaviours leading to food waste generation by addressing what is being wasted and why it is wasted. The work is based on a survey performed in Italy on a heterogeneous sample of 3,087 respondents. A cluster analysis was performed to detect consumers' profiles. Results, based on self-reporting, allow to sketch different 'waster' types, providing a picture of food waste related to eating, shopping, and storage behaviours and suggesting a number of differences existing in terms of perceived quantities and causes of generated food waste. Out of seven profiles identified, four are the most representative ones in terms of size: the conscious-fussy type, who wastes because food doesn’t smell or look good; the conscious-forgetful type, who forgets what is in the fridge or on the shelves; the frugal consumer who tends not to consume fruits and vegetables and declares to waste nothing (or almost nothing); and the exaggerated cook, who overbuys and overcooks. Profiling specific waste types can help to better understand if groups with common characteristics exist, what their specific features are and what levers can be employed to stimulate a change in their behaviour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]