COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF CONSUMERS OF ORGANIC VEGETABLES AND FRUITS IN SPAIN AND PORTUGAL

Abstract

Presently, new patterns of food consumption associated to the so-called organic foods have been detected. The spread of post-materialist values, ecological awareness, environmental conservation, as well as the recent economic crisis that has impacted most European countries have fostered the emergence of new forms of consumption of organic products based on a model of sustainable production. In this context, the production and consumption of organic vegetables and fruits proves to be a strategy for quality in food consumption and also as a way of saving in the acquisition of fresh and healthy foods. The following scientific contribution makes a comparative descriptive statistical study of the sociodemographic characteristics of the different types of consumers of organic fruits and vegetables in Spain and Portugal. A description of the pro-environment practices in this typology of consumers is also shown. We resort to a quantitative strategy through the use of data that belongs to the ISSP Environment (2010, Portugal) and ISSP (2010, Spain) surveys. The technique used is the bivariate analysis and the tree segmentation analysis through the CHAID algorithm. The main results show the influence of education, income and environment in the characterization of the different types of consumers of organic fruits and vegetables in Spain and Portugal.