Editorial on the Research Topic
Keeping it real - exploring personal sustainability in the context of food systems
Personal sustainability is a relative concept of time, place, and identity. It shapes how “alternative” or “sustainable” are perceived. It is controversial in terms of agency, scale, and impact. Personal sustainability is transdisciplinary, encompassing food security, nutrition, livelihoods, health, culture, and environment. Food systems are systems upon systems where personal choices, practices, and habits around availability and access, consumption and waste to and of diverse (or less diverse), safe (or unsafe), healthy (or unhealthy) diets influence and are influenced by sustainability drivers like the socio-economic factors, climate change, institutions from government to small and big business, urbanization and culture. In turn, this impacts the wellbeing of people and the planet. Such dynamic within food systems is evident at the individual and household level, extending to small and medium-sized entities within developed and developing countries and formal and informal systems.