The reduction of diet-related diseases and the improvement of environmental sustainability represent two of the major 21st century food policy challenges. Sustainable diets could significantly contribute to achieving both of these goals, improving consumer health and reducing the environmental impact of food production and consumption. The Mediterranean diet (MD) represents an excellent example of sustainable diet, however recent evidence indicates that such a dietary pattern is now progressively disappearing in Mediterranean countries. In such a context, this paper explores how individual lifestyle and habits are related to a high/low adherence to the MD model. The goal is to examine whether there is a relationship between individuals’ healthy and pro-environmental behaviors and their level of adherence to the MD. The analysis also explores the role of consumer income and education. The study is based on the Italian population (n = 42,000) and uses a structural equation model approach. The results outline that the MD is part of a sustainability-oriented lifestyle and stress the key role of both income and education in affecting adherence to MD. Future policy aimed at contrasting the gradual disappearance of the MD should emphasize the sustainable dimension of the MD, meanwhile reducing socio-economic disparities among different population segments.

The mass production and use of plastics over the past decades is now posing a threat to the environment due to increasing pollution. The industrial transition towards more sustainable plastic alternatives has already started, but the process will require years to become truly feasible from an industrial and economic standpoint. In the meantime, a significant contribution to limit plastic-related environmental impact could arise from consumers’ daily consumption choices. This study aims at investigating the determinants of consumers’ decision to avoid purchasing single-use plastic eating utensils, food products with multiple plastic packaging, and plastic water bottles while grocery shopping. The results of the Structural Equation Model reveal that environment- and health-related concerns associated with plastics are key drivers of plastic avoidance. Instead, subjective knowledge and the importance attached to the commitment of third parties for tackling the plastic issue only indirectly affect consumer behaviors with regard to plastic avoidance.

The objective of the study is to analyze if there is a relationship between health and environmental sustainability concerns in food choices. We used data of 300 Italian consumers collected through a vis-à-vis survey. We performed cross-tabulations and chi-square tests for a selected set of variables measuring both types of concerns, segmenting the sample by age, gender and education. Our results suggest that the association between health and environmental concerns is often statistically significant, though we observe a high variable specificity of the associations. Socio-demographic conditions seem to play a role in determining the association between the two concerns, with middle-aged and/or highly-educated respondents showing a stronger association between health and environmental concerns.