Moving towards sustainable food retailing?

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to offer an outline of, and some reflections on, the review entitled Green, Healthy and Fair published by the Sustainable Development Commission in February.

Design/methodology/approach

In summarising the content of the review the paper focuses government policies and retailer initiatives in six priority areas namely climate change; waste; water; ecosystems; nutrition and obesity; and fair relationships within supply chains and outlines a number of recommendations made to governments and agencies. This is followed by a number of reflections designed to set the review into wider debates about sustainable development.

Findings

In reflecting on the review the paper focuses on three sets of issues namely differing definitions of sustainable development, the role of the state in implementing sustainable development and the ways in which sustainable development is constructed.

Originality/value

The paper offers some reflections on the Sustainable Development Commission's current thinking on the move towards a sustainable food system and as such provides a platform for the discussion of what is an increasingly topical issue amongst academics, students, planners and those working in the retail sector of the economy.

Citation

Jones, P., Comfort, D. and Hillier, D. (2008), "Moving towards sustainable food retailing?", International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, Vol. 36 No. 12, pp. 995-1001. https://doi.org/10.1108/09590550810919397