Re-thinking sustainability and food in tourism

Abstract

Now is a good time to reflect on the way food tourism could contribute to a better future. A number of scholars comment on the COVID-19 crisis as an opportunity to re-think tourism in terms of sustainability, social and ecological justice (e.g. Gössling, Scott, & Hall, 2020; Higgins-Desbiolles, 2020). Most considerations tend to focus on recovery strategies, challenges of over-tourism and highcarbon travels and the necessity of a global shift. Reflections on the origin of the COVID-19 crisis seem to be lacking. As in other recent epidemic outbreaks, e.g. the swine flu in 2009, the origin of the COVID-19 pandemic stems from animal sources, more precisely from the use of animals for food (Wu, Chen, & Chan, 2020). This research note argues that reflections on animal-derived food are relevant to a re-consideration of food tourism.<p>

<p>This note starts by describing the link between animal-derived food and the sustainable development goals (SDGs) concerning health (SDG3) and climate action (SDG13), and reflecting on the ethical dimension of sustainability. It continues by commenting on the possibility to study food in tourism adopting an ecofeminist perspective. It concludes with the identification of three research areas for future studies.