About The Project

Putting 'just food' on the table is still a global challenge. Critical research on environmental justice and alternative food movements indicates that the 'quality' turn in food sustainability should be examined in the processes rather than product/outcomes: justice and democratization are the key terms of the transitional and transformational work of AFMs. The literature shows that the most harmed by injustices (hunger, insecurity, unhealthy) are, first of all, the low-income communities in marginalized areas. In other words, quality food has become a privilege rather than a right. In this context, 'cultivating 'just food' aims 'to ensure a better quality of life for all, now and into the future, in a just and equitable manner, whilst living within the limits of supporting ecosystems' .
The underlying questions of this research project are:

How do AFMs contribute to the 'just sustainability' of food?

What are the challenges and potentialities of cultivating 'just food'?

JustFood main objective is to contribute to policy innovation through the findings of a comparative, empiricallygrounded
research project designed to rethink food sustainability from the perspective of socio-environmental justice in two contrasting European countries: Portugal and Romania. This general objective is threefold:
1. Developing a comparative qualitative study of socio-political and mobilization context for ?just food? in Portugal
and Romania;


2. Understanding the experiences of transformations in food-practices based on the narratives of actors involved in
AFMs in these countries.


3. Producing a theoretical and policy model of 'just food sustainability' at the European level (JustFood Europe), which
integrates socio-environmental justice mobilization with food sustainability.