“The conscious is still asleep” – Exploring sustainable food perceptions among Kyrgyz migrants and non-migrants

Abstract: Food production and consumption have a major role in climate change mitigation processes. The global food systems must develop to be more sustainable as they currently are contributing to the anthropogenic pressure the ecosystems struggle to carry. However, there is no clear academic consensus on what “sustainability” in regards to food consumption is, how it is measured or when it is achieved. This study adopts a social constructivist approach on the topic of sustainable food and explores individual sustainable food perceptions among Kyrgyz migrants and non-migrants. The study aims to reflect sustainable food perceptions in different food environments through a socio-environmental framework. The empirical data for this study was collected through semi-structured interviews. This study identifies six themes that are influencing the individual perceptions of sustainable food. These themes are health, natural environment, privilege, culture, quality and global food system. The study concludes that even though the individual would not be familiar with the academic understandings of the concepts of sustainability and sustainable foods, the individual practices and perceptions can still be aligned with those understandings.