A Conceptual Framework Proposal Regarding the Engagement of Hotels in the Modern Fight against Unsustainable Food Practices

Abstract

The ecological crisis that emerged rapidly in the 2000s because of vertiginous economic growth is still one of the dominant themes today. This unprecedented phenomenon has led to intense political-economic and social tensions over reconsidering the priorities of “post-industrial capitalism”. The main issues here are increasing inequalities in the distribution of resources and high dependence on non-renewable energies. In response, valuable policies have been developed with the intention of creating new economic models that satisfy environmental and ecological needs. However, the literature shows that the effectiveness of the global schemes proposed to achieve sustainable behaviors and techniques has been very low. In the hospitality sector, particularly in the food and beverage department, pollution and consumption of scarce resources remain issues. In this paper, we propose a structural framework for analyzing the commitment of hotels regarding sustainable practices in the F&B department, centered on standards set by relevant institutions. To enhance understanding, an extension of the theory of planned behavior (TPB) is proposed. The use of this conceptual framework will enable us firstly to gain a perception of how a hotel acts through its F&B administrator in the light of relevant standard practices. Secondly, it will allow us to understand the role of the common internal and external factors behind the theories describing the behavior adopted. In this way, this research aims to contribute to a global understanding of the factors that influence the commitment of hotels to sustainable practices in their F&B department.