Introduction

This chapter explains a result of the European project Sustainable Consumption Research Exchanges (SCORE!) and summarises the findings of the working group on Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP) for the domain 'food and agriculture'. Food is of great significance in people's social life and welfare—on the supply side as well as on the consumption side. Experts estimate that close to half of human impact on the environment is directly or indirectly related to food production and consumption. Sustainability issues are on the agenda for food producers and market actors, for politicians and regulators, and for ordinary people as citizens—in public discourse and as a subject of collective mobilisation—as buyers and eaters of food. SCORE! is a network initiated with Council Regulation funding supporting the development of the UN's 10 Year Framework of Programmes on SCP. The chapter also presents an overview on the key concepts discussed in this book.