Addressing Grand Challenges in Sustainable Food Transitions: Opportunities Through the Triple Change Strategy

Abstract Despite emerging consumer trends and policies promoting sustainable food consumption, the transition towards societal tipping points for sustainable food systems remains protracted due to multifaceted challenges such as consumer misconceptions, value chain inequalities, and policy fragmentation. Addressing these challenges requires a comprehensive approach that considers all actors within the food system. The present paper follows the paradigm set by the Consumers’ Understanding of Eating Sustainably (CUES) Horizon Europe project and introduces CUES’ Triple Change strategy. This strategy highlights Consumer and Cultural Change, Industrial Change, and Policy Change as interconnected dimensions essential for driving behavioral change and ensuring a successful transition to sustainable food systems. By leveraging persuasive communication and interventions for transparency, fostering value chain reform, and advocating for policy transformations, the Triple Change aims to overcome existing barriers and create opportunities to accelerate the shift towards a resilient food system. This paper explores the grand challenges and opportunities within each of these dimensions and offers a holistic framework for academics, stakeholders, and policymakers to contribute to sustainable food transitions.