@phdthesis{Nehme2023, author = {Nehme, Sarkis}, title = {Sustainability assessment of bread production : the case of artisan bakeries in Germany}, doi = {10.26127/BTUOpen-6516}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:co1-opus4-65169}, school = {BTU Cottbus - Senftenberg}, year = {2023}, abstract = {Background: Food sustainability is becoming increasingly important for the achievement of sustainable development goals, especially in light of recent global challenges of climate change, geopolitical conflict and the increasing vulnerability of food systems. The world is emphasising the importance of holistic approaches to agriculture and food systems to tackle these challenges. Germany's Sustainable Development Strategy for 2030 associates SDGs 2, 3 12 and 15 with sustainable agriculture and food systems as crucial elements to achieve these goals. However, with the lack of knowledge in this area, and the scarcity of tools to monitor and assess food sustainability, it has become crucial to investigate potential holistic approaches and frameworks to assess the sustainability of food systems. Purpose: This study uses the national framework of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as the only available valid holistic framework, to explore the sustainability of the bread system in Germany. It operationalises the SDGs to bakery level to identify significant indicators that could, potentially, be used to assess the sustainability of artisan bakeries, and identify to which SDGs the bakeries contribute. Methods: This study utilises a mixed-methods research design to address the multi-disciplinary nature of the food sustainability concept. It critically evaluates the SDG framework and identifies a set of indicators, which are expanded with further indicators to address the cultural dimension of bread as a cultural heritage. To collect data, a 26-item questionnaire was issued to 586 artisan bakeries with a response rate of 8.8\% (n = 52); the 52 bakeries own 562 branches. This was followed by interviews with an acceptance rate of 19\% (n = 10). Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyse the quantitative data, while the interviews were transcribed from German to English and coded using NVivo 11. Results: Sustainable bread is redefined from a holistic perspective encompassing theory, policies and artisan bakeries. The results confirm that bakeries positively contribute to bread sustainability in Germany, as well as towards achieving the national SDGs. Progress areas include energy efficiency, sustainable packaging, local procurement, heritage promotion, waste reduction and ecolabels. Interestingly, individual bakeries appear to be slightly more sustainable than chains due to their flexibility in adapting to new practices and their use of organic products; however, chain bakeries are slightly less sustainable, but are proven to be more efficient in terms of productivity and market reach.}, subject = {Food sustainability; Sustainable bread; Sustainability assessment; German bread; Lebensmittelnachhaltigkeit; Nachhaltigkeitsbewertung; Handwerksb{\"a}ckereien; Deutsches Brot; Nachhaltige Lebensmittel; Deutschland; B{\"a}ckerhandwerk; Brotherstellung; Nachhaltigkeit; Vereinte Nationen: Agenda 2030 f{\"u}r nachhaltige Entwicklung}, language = {en} }