Development and validity evidence of a food citizenship measure among Brazilian consumers

Abstract

Consumer mobilization to access healthy and quality foods can positively impact the planet. This fact aligns with food citizenship, which recognizes practices, rights, and obligations related to accessing healthy and sustainable food by conscious, collaborative, and politically active individuals. Despite their growing relevance, few studies systematically focus on these consumers’ profiles. This study aims to develop and test a measure of food citizenship attitude, which can be analyzed with food citizenship behaviours (declared or intended). Items were raised through literature analysis and refined via expert validation. An online survey among Brazilian consumers (n = 329) tested the food citizenship measure based on 11 declared and intentional behaviours. Exploratory factor analysis verified the validity of the internal structure, allowing the identification of the dimensions of food citizenship. Structural equation modeling and generalized estimating equations provided further insights. Findings suggest the potential of this measure to assess food citizenship behaviour. The measure also demonstrated its potential to sufficiently detect differences between declared and behavioural intentions over time, indicating its potential for replication and testing in longitudinal studies. The study thus provides insights into how food citizenship attitudes can be measured and linked to behaviours, offering a tool to refine and use to understand consumers, develop public policies, and drive practices that depend on or benefit from the emergence of food citizens.