Is quality one aspect of sustainability or is quality an all-encompassing term? This dossier provides a contemporary, holistic concept for the assessment of food quality and highlights the differences between organic and conventional food based on selected aspects of sustainability and various examples.

The expectations regarding organic food are high: organic food should be pesticide-free, tasty and healthy, and be processed in an environmentally friendly and socially responsible way. Animal welfare and site- and species-specific husbandry, as well as the prohibition of synthetic pesticides, mineral fertilisers, genetic engineering and synthetic ingredients in organic farming should be reflected in the quality of organic food. These expectations make it clear that the quality of food cannot be reduced to just the individual characteristics of the product, but must include the entire process from the field to the plate. Therefore, in today’s understanding of the term, food quality includes not only regional added value, quality assurance, fair trade and sustainability, but also energy consumption and production and processing techniques. Quality and sustainability are closely intertwined.