Gastronomy and sustainability : a study of the role of the Michelin Green Star sustainability award in food system transformation

Abstract

In 2020, the renowned Michelin Guide started to award restaurants for sustainability. This award is called The Green Star (GS); chefs and restaurants who follow or want to follow the Michelin starred system are in general known for their willingness to seek luxurious and high-quality products to cook. The fact that a Michelin star is given based on the level of sustainability of a restaurant and their chefs, could create a paradigm shift within the restaurant industry.

This change of paradigm in fine dining could bring other kinds of restaurants, customers and farmers onto more sustainable pathways. The main objective of this paper is to shine a light on the different actors’ perceptions about this award and the role that chefs have, and how the award can contribute to sustainability in the restaurant industry in order to illuminate certain aspects in the debate regarding the transformation of the food system. This is stated through the following research question: What characterises actors’ perceptions of sustainability and transformative potential of the Michelin Green Star?

In order to address these possible changes and the transformative capacity of the GS, thirty-two semi-structured interviews were conducted with different actors from three different countries in Europe: the Netherlands, Spain and Norway. The latter is the focus of this research; interviews in Spain and the Netherlands were conducted for comparison with Norway.

This thesis addresses a knowledge gap regarding the relevance of sustainability awards in within fine dining and the overall food system transformation. The sample for this study includes Michelin starred-restauranteurs and chefs, other restauranteurs and chefs, food and wine producers, consumers, culinarians, and other potential game-changers in food systems transformations.