Dear colleagues,

The XVI Congress of the European Association of Agricultural Economists, EAAE has been postponed until July 20-23 2021. The Local Organising Committee and the Programme Committee are striving to arrange a stimulating and innovative programme consisting of invited plenary presentations, invited panels, organised sessions, organised panels, contributed papers and posters as well as field trips. The Congress aims to stimulate interaction among a broad range of stakeholders of the food chain. In particular, policymakers, societal stakeholders and agribusiness representatives shall contribute to the programme through organised panels that have an open format and do not require a scientific paper. 

Guest Editor Nadia Palmieri and Dr. Alessandro Suardi from CREA Research Centre for Engineering and Agro-Food Processing are pleased to announce a Special Issue of Sustainability on “Agricultural and Food System Sustainability: The Complex Challenge of Losses and Waste”. For this Special Issue, they welcome conceptual and empirical studies that analyze actions: To reduce losses of products and byproducts at the farm level; To promote sustainable agriculture; To provide insights into the relationships between consumers and household food waste behaviors; To evaluate the market potential of food obtained from byproducts; To promote the reuse of waste and byproducts to increase the nutritional value of food; To underline causes of food waste and its correlation with climate change, agriculture, and population growth. This special issue is now open for submission.

Guest Editors Dr. Davide Menozzi, Dr. Francesca Scazzina and Dr. Michele Donati of the University of Parma welcome original research and reviews of literature for Special Issue "Sustainable Diet Combining Socio-Economic, Environmental, and Nutritional Objectives". Topics of interest include: Models identifying sustainable diets involving multiple dimensions, Factors driving the adoption of sustainable diets, Interventions by public and/or private bodies (e.g., information treatments, fiscal measures, education, labels, etc.) to promote sustainable diets, Targets for healthy diets from sustainable food systems intertwined with the UN Sustainable Development Goals, Comparing socioeconomic, environmental sustainability, and cultural interconnections of different dietary patterns, Assessing the environmental impact of diets through Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) approaches, Relationships between sustainable diets and public food procurement strategies, Shifts towards more sustainable dietary patterns, including reductions in food loss and waste, and implications for food production, retail and foodservice (including public or private canteens). Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 October 2020.

Dr. Clara Cicatiello and Dr. Mattias Eriksson are the Guest Editors of the Special Issue on "The Challenge of Food Waste Reduction to Achieve More Sustainable Food Systems". This Special Issue seeks to push the research on the strategies that may be implemented at any stage of the supply chain to reduce the amount of food waste generated. Articles shall focus on food waste prevention strategies and actions, but studies dealing with sustainable management of food waste, in line with the food waste hierarchy, may also be considered. Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 July 2020.

Finally, Dr. Daniela Martini and Prof. Davide Menozzi from the University of Parma will serve as guest editor of the Special Issue "Food Labeling: Analysis, Understanding, and Perception" for the Journal Nutrients. This Special Issue welcomes original research and reviews of literature focusing on: The analysis of the nutrient profile of products with different characteristics reported on the food labels (including but not limited to nutrition and health claims, organic, gluten-free); The nutrient profile underlying FOP nutrition labels and their graphical design in different countries; The consumers’ perception, knowledge and understanding of the information made on food; The impact of information on food labeling (e.g., front-of-pack information, serving size) on consumers’ willingness to pay and food choice; The attitudes, beliefs, perceptions, behavioral, and socioeconomic determinants regarding the use of food labels. Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 July 2020.