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Abstract
Simultaneous with the growing demand for
sustainable food, statistics in all EU member states
report consumption patterns that are characterized by
too much fat, overdoses of sugar and a lack of fruits and
vegetables. The streams of literature that investigate the
factors influencing sustainable food consumption and
healthy food consumption are largely separated.
However, the question whether there is a positive
relationship between consumer behaviour towards
sustainable food and consumer behaviour towards
healthy food remains largely unanswered. The purpose
of this paper is to examine the relationship between the
consumption of different types of sustainable food on the
one hand, and healthy food patterns on the other. The
study is based on a sample of 2595 respondents in
Belgium. The research shows a significant relationship
between a healthy diet and sustainable food choices.
Analyses applied to identify gender- or age-specific
tendencies demonstrate that the association is
particularly pronounced for consumers between 26 and
40 years old. For younger consumers (<26 years) and
older consumers (>65 years), the relationship between
sustainable food behavior and the choice for healthy
food is weak. These findings can be extremely useful in
the communication and promotion of different types of
sustainable food.