THE FIFE DIET - A LOCAL FOOD EXPERIMENT What Works in Behaviour Change? Edinburgh June 2010 Who am...
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Transcript of THE FIFE DIET - A LOCAL FOOD EXPERIMENT What Works in Behaviour Change? Edinburgh June 2010 Who am...
THE FIFE DIET - A LOCAL FOOD EXPERIMENTWhat Works in Behaviour Change? Edinburgh June 2010
• Who am I?
• A brief overview of the Fife Diet
• What has worked in our project
• Some Obstacles to Change
• Asking a different question
Who Am I?
Mike Small BA, MA, FRSAProgramming the Big Tent Festival (23-25 July, Falkland, Fife)
Teach on UNESCO Chair of Sustainable Development at Turin UniversityDirector, Fife Diet project, Scottish Government Climate Challenge Fund
supported local food experiment
A brief overview of the Fife Diet
• Started from a sense that there was something fundamentally wrong with the food system
• Aims to combine populism with honesty and clarity about climate change
• Developed from an informal network to a movement for change around food (2007-2010)
• We held a series of talks around food hosted by people in their own communities
• Began to map the region for producers and develop a network
• Publishing carbon foodprint reports on 100 research volunteers and now all members (1000+)
• Aims to deliver stronger communities through enhanced local economy, healthier unprocessed fresh food and food with lower carbon impact
Our 5 Pledges for Low Carbon Sustainable Food
• Eat local (defined regionally)
• Eat less meat
• Eat more organic
• Reduce food waste
• Compost More
What has worked in our project
• Eating together• Being ambitious• Being honest about the
realities of change required
• Motivating through pledges
• Bringing people together at live events
• Social Media• Not engaging in
‘general awareness rising’
• Looking after children• Not being patronising• Combining global
picture with local realities and practicalities
Our members have a carbon foodprint between 10-40%
below the UK average on food. Source: Fife Diet Carbon Report, June 2010
10 Rules for Communicating on Climate Change
• Big picture• Technically correct• Be cool• Only stories work• Optimism• Glory button• Change is for all• We need more
heroes• Personal circle
Source: futerra
Obstacles to Change that is Sustained, Credible and Immediate:
Surround sound, hegemenony of increment and techno-babble
The Daily Mail bag campaign- “a British family on their weekly shop - but their bags could be killing our wildlife”
Surround Sound
Hegemony of Increment
• Adopt little steps• Adopt marketing
strategies• Focus on green
consumerism• Create offers which
are easy, painless• Use non-
environmental motivations
• Use celebrity endorsements (‘Nicole Ritchie loves the planet’)
Source: Meeting Environmental Challenges: The Role of Human Identity, Tom Crompton WWF
Techno-babble – ‘top-kill’
Asking a different question
• Is ‘our’ behaviour the problem? Depends who we are.
• Farmers? Supermarket CEOs? Public procurement officers? Pesticide salesmen? DEFRA? Monsanto?
• To what extent do we truly believe that consumer behaviour will change society?
• When are we going to legislate? There is no point in asking people to change their behaviour if their whole social environment makes this extremely difficult.
It’s about the ecology [email protected]://fifediet.co.uk/