The multidisciplinary research of the joint research unit relates to food systems, examining the interactions between supply systems, food environments, food behaviour, their consequences and their drivers.

As a social science and public health nutrition unit, our research unit focuses in particular on the political and socio-economic drivers, whereas other research units work on the environmental and demographic drivers.

One particularity of the unit is its expertise in terms of qualitative and quantitative-data collection, with training courses organised on data quality.

The scientific thrust of the MoISA unit is developed around 3 research groups:

Organizations and Actor Strategies (OSA)

The first research group addresses the strategies of agricultural and agri-food businesses as well as consumer purchasing practices, with a particular focus on bio-economic and digital transitions. The overriding objective is to understand how consumer demand and entrepreneurial initiatives alter stakeholder practices, the associated results in terms of economic and social performance and the food environments with a view to providing entrepreneurs and actors accompanying their development with a better understanding of these performances.

Regulations

This second research group analyses and accompanies public, private and collective regulations with a view to promoting more sustainable agricultural and food systems. It explains the development of regulation methods and the forms of coordination, analysing the diversity and hybridisation of these methods as well as their effects at different levels, in particular with regard to consumers’ food environments.

Sustainable Food and Nutrition Security (SAND)

The final research group addresses the factors – both individual and those linked to the social, economic, physical and political environment – impacting food consumption and the nutritional status of the populations, and in particular the most vulnerable groups, in order to improve interventions and influence public policies relating to the sustainability and food nutritional security of populations.