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Understanding sustainable food consumption among older adults remains challenging because sustainability-related attitudes are shaped by intertwined environmental, cultural, and behavioral factors that vary across generations. Older adult consumers are an important group with developed food habits and long-term consumption experiences, but their sustainability orientations and behavioral patterns have been insufficiently explored, especially in Central and Eastern Europe. This work aims to fill this gap by investigating the structure and diversity of sustainability-related food attitudes and practices of Hungarian consumers aged 60 years and over.

Data were collected through a face-to-face questionnaire survey of older adult Hungarian consumers’ sustainability-related food attitudes and practices (N=313). Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was used to derive the latent dimensions underlying sustainability orientation from the common variance of the observed variables. Moreover, descriptive analysis, cross-tabulation, Spearman correlation, and comparative analyses examined differences in sustainable food consumption patterns among older adults.

The findings show that older adults’ sustainability orientations are multidimensional and cannot be condensed into a single behavioral pattern. PCA revealed three dimensions: “Resource Conservation Behavior”, “Environmental Sustainability Orientation”, and “Local and Seasonal Food Consumption Orientation”. Resource Conservation Behavior showed the highest mean score (M=4.40, SD=0.82 on a 1–5 scale), followed by Environmental Sustainability Orientation (M=3.85, SD=1.01), and Local and Seasonal Food Consumption Orientation (M=3.81, SD=1.06). Place of residence showed a significant association with sustainability orientations: older consumers living in villages and towns showed a higher willingness to conserve resources than those living in the capital or county seats.

This study adds to the knowledge on sustainable food consumption among older adults by demonstrating how sustainability orientations appear in everyday food practices. Based on the results, sustainability communication and interventions targeting older adults should consider age-specific characteristics, established food consumption values, and behavioral diversity.