Stakeholder perspectives on local and seasonal food in Brazil and Portugal: Pathways to sustainability

This study examines stakeholder perspectives on integrating local and seasonal foods into gastronomy in Brazil and Portugal, focusing on perceived benefits, operational challenges, and their potential to foster more sustainable food systems. Thirty semi-structured interviews were conducted with chefs, farmers, and public servants involved in food production and policy. Thematic analysis identified six interrelated dimensions showing that local and seasonal foods are framed through overlapping cultural, ecological, and quality-based logics, yet differ in operational and market dynamics. Chefs emphasised provenance, menu innovation, and sensory excellence, whereas farmers and public servants stressed biodiversity conservation, fairer returns, and the value of short supply chains. Barriers to local food centred on infrastructural and policy limitations, while seasonal systems faced production instability, temporal unpredictability, and climate variability. Limited consumer awareness of seasonality emerged as a cross-cutting constraint, increasing pressure on restaurants to provide out-of-season products. Sustainability served as the conceptual bridge between local and seasonal food, revealing pathways to advance sustainable consumption. In Brazil, vast distances, weak logistics, and uneven institutional support hindered the development of short supply chains; in Portugal, barriers related to market saturation, small-scale production, and regulatory constraints were cited. The findings highlight gastronomy’s potential to strengthen sustainable food systems by connecting ecological practices with cultural identity and consumer engagement. They underscore the need for supportive policies, infrastructural improvements, and education strategies to align production, markets, and consumption with seasonal availability. • Stakeholders framed local and seasonal foods as levers for sustainability. • In Brazil, biodiversity and public procurement shaped local food systems. • In Portugal, certification and terroir anchored the discourse of local foods. • Logistics, policy gaps, and market mismatches hindered the adoption of these foods. • Chefs bridged farmers, policy, and consumers through gastronomic practice.