Research paradigms and the assessment of food system sustainability

The concept of “sustainable development” is inherently complex, multidimensional and value-laden. It is typically defined in as development that “meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (UN Brundtland Report). This leaves much room for interpretation, and recent research from the diffuse field of sustainability sciences has attempted to bring consensus and clarity to what counts as “sustainability assessment” (SA), beyond the simple combination of indicators across environmental, social and economic dimensions. In the context of growing (mis-)use of the term sustainability across research, consultancy, commercial and policy circles, building a clear consensus on what SA entails is an urgent undertaking to counter dubious claims and widespread greenwashing. This is a pressing task in the agri-food sector, where drastic, urgent and transformational changes are required across the food system to remain within planetary boundaries, enhance wellbeing and support resilient food economies. In this paper, conceptual and applied research on SA within and outside food system research is reviewed to identify elements of a research paradigm for conducting SA. A research paradigm is understood as a set of interrelated elements covering ontology (the environmental and social reality to be assessed), axiology (how values influence the mobilization of knowledge systems), epistemology (the nature of knowledge and validity of knowledge claims), and methodology (principles that determine the use of specific methods to construct knowledge). To do this, key paradigm positions in ecological economics, namely critical realism and post-normal science, are drawn upon to contrast existing conceptual and operational approaches in the literature.