ABSTRACT
This chapter investigates how eating practices contribute to sustainability and food system diversity, focusing on the relationship between bio-cultural diversity and agrobiodiversity. It argues that preserving food diversity depends on the active use of traditional and local varieties and breeds. Using a practice-theoretical approach, the chapter analyses how consumers’ food choices – both intentional and unintentional – shape the diversity of foods consumed in different contexts, such as daily meals, celebrations, and public eating. Drawing on qualitative data from the European FOOdIVERSE project, which includes focus groups and interviews with consumers, farmers, retailers, and experts across five countries, the study highlights varying levels of awareness and consumption of diverse food products like potatoes, apples, grains, and cattle meat. The findings show that standardisation in food production and retail often restricts access to traditional varieties, which are usually marketed as specialty items. The Norwegian ‘Ringerikspotet’ potato, with its PGI label, exemplifies how labelling can support diversity. The chapter concludes that sustaining agrobiodiversity through food consumption requires increasing consumer knowledge, supporting robust local production, and improving the availability of diverse products through multiple distribution channels.
