Abstract
Abstract The dataset Sustainability performance of certified and non-certified food (https://www.doi.org/10.15454/OP51SJ) contains 25 indicators of economic, environmental, and social performance, estimated for 27 certified food value chains and their 27 conventional reference products. The indicators are estimated at different levels of the value chain: farm level, processing level, and retail level. It also contains the raw data based on which the indicators are estimated, its source, and the completed spreadsheet calculators for the following indicators: carbon footprint and food miles. This article describes the common method and indicators used to collect data for the twenty-seven certified products and their conventional counterparts. It presents the assumptions and choices, the process of data collection, and the indicator estimation methods designed to assess the three sustainability dimensions within a reasonable time constraint. That is: three person-months for each food quality scheme and its non-certified reference product. Several prioritisations were set regarding data collection (indicator, variable, value chain level) together with a level of representativeness specific to each variable and product type (country and sector). Technical details on how relatively common variables (e.g., number of animals per hectare) are combined into indicators (e.g., carbon footprint) are provided in the full documentation of the dataset.
Highlights
Introduction and Research ProblemEU and national food quality policies have witnessed recent reforms
Overview of Indicators and Minimal Systematic Comparison The choice of indicators was made on the basis of the safa methodology (Sustainability Assessment of Food and Agriculture systems) developed by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2013) to measure the sustainability of food production. safa provides guidelines on how to consider each sustainability dimension, including which indicators could be via free access bellassen et al
Our method defines all necessary data and variables, and provides associated calculators or aggregation methods, together with a data storage and source traceability system. – Because they were designed to be collected for a single firm, many safa indicators require a substantial amount of data. This makes it difficult to cover more than a few indicators for an entire value chain within 3 person-months
Summary
EU and national food quality policies have witnessed recent reforms. In 2007, the EU agreed on a new Council Regulation (Council Regulation (ec) No 834/2007) setting out the principles, aims, and overarching rules of organic production and defining how organic products were to be labelled. Supporting Food Quality Schemes (fqs s) – here understood as Protected Designation of Origin (pdo), Protected Geographical Indications (pgi) and organic products – is regarded as consistent with Europe 2020 policy priorities for ‘sustainable and inclusive growth’, which seek to achieve competitive and high employment economies (economically sustainable) delivering social and territorial cohesion (socially sustainable), while paying attention to the burden placed on the environment and natural resources (environmentally sustainable). The sampling design is paired: 27 certified – pdo, pgi, or organic – products and 27 reference products (products similar to the certified value chain but not certified) This raw data allows for the estimation of 25 performance indicators covering the three sustainability pillars: 9 economic indicators, 7 environmental indicators and 9 social indicators
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