Introducing behaviour changes towards sustainable food consumption

Transcription

1 Introducing behaviour changes towards sustainable food consumption By Kate Power, Copenhagen Resource Institute (CRI) 3 December 2010 Key words: habits, norms and values, make the sustainable choice the easy choice, motivational alliances with health Food choices are deeply embedded in social norms, personal values, habits and aspirations; intervening to change dietary behaviour is a difficult and controversial area. The overlap between healthy diets and sustainable diets is a useful starting point. Social norms will need to change if European diets are to become environmentally sustainable. Our behaviour is motivated by a mix of social-psychological drivers (social norms, values, attitudes, identity, habits etc) and infrastructural drivers (prices, regulations, availability, technology, advertising etc). Changing behaviour is notoriously challenging, and changing food habits is particularly difficult, partly because food tends to be such an emotive issue, bound up with our cultural and personal perceptions of what a normal diet is. Social norms do change over time, as with attitudes to drinkdriving, or smoking; such changes in normal practices can be lead by governments, as well as being promoted by businesses and civil society. Which behaviour changes are needed? Suggested key behaviour goals (Defra, 2007) are: a diet with less environmental impact (less meat and dairy); less food waste at home; purchasing sustainable fish; purchasing more seasonal and local food; purchasing more certified food e.g. organic. Meat and dairy products have the biggest environmental burden, accounting for about half of all foodrelated emissions. However, the technical abatement available today could only cut the total environmental impact from livestock production by about 20% in order to achieve more significant reductions in environmental impacts, a reduction in consumption of meat and dairy is necessary (see also KU on Food and GHG ). It may not be possible for developed countries to reduce the impacts from food consumption by 80%, the figure suggested by the Committee on Climate Change (2008) because food is essential in a way that, (for example) private cars are not. Page 1

2 INTRODUCING BEHAVIOUR CHANGES Defra s research indicates that adopting a low-impact diet is unpopular with most people, and that reducing dairy consumption is even less popular than eating less meat; there are strong habits, values and social norms around consuming animal products. It is easier to change people s purchasing habits than their diets; reducing food waste and buying more seasonal and local food is generally a more acceptable goal than eating a low-impact diet. People are eating out more; interventions need to address sustainable eating at restaurants as well as in the home. How can behaviour be changed? Consumers need more than information in order to change their behaviour sustainable choices can be promoted through infrastructure and pricing policies, as well as promoting social norms that make sustainable choices normal and desirable for mainstream society. Studying past successes in promoting sustainable behaviour (e.g. NCC and SDC 2006) shows that green consumers on their own are rarely able to change mainstream product markets choice editing by regulators, retailers and manufacturers has driven the change in most cases. Make it realistic for people to change: Remove barriers to sustainable behaviour: governments (and businesses) can ensure that prices are affordable, products are easily available, and that information is simple and clear. Use choice-editing: the process of removing the least sustainable products from the market place, so that consumers are left to choose from a range of more sustainable products. For example, governments can ban damaging products or ingredients (e.g. inefficient light bulbs), or enforce minimum standards for products (e.g. efficiency standards for washing machines); businesses can choose to not stock the least sustainable products (e.g. fish that are listed as endangered species). This approach ensures that the responsibility for achieving sustainable consumption is not entirely borne by consumers. Target groups / communities rather than individuals: People act, learn and change as part of their social groups rather than as individuals: changing what is socially acceptable (e.g. by targeting workplaces, schools, etc) makes it easier for people to adopt new behaviours. When acting as part of a group, people are reassured that their actions will make a difference. Community-based social marketing can be effective at changing behaviour, through removing barriers to change (practical and social) and highlighting the benefits. Target more effectively: Different people respond to different messengers, so a range of messengers is required e.g. governments, businesses, charities, media. Using consumer segmentation models (see e.g. Defra 2008) may help with selecting appropriate interventions for various target audiences. Clarify confusing issues, such as the over-focus on food miles (the impact of production, storage or domestic transport may be more significant, depending on the product). Page 2

3 KATE POWER, CRI Focus on the most significant environmental improvement that can be made: by switching between food categories (i.e. less meat and dairy, more vegetables) rather than switching within categories. Policy instruments and strategies Most existing policy focuses on efficient production, although there are some policy interventions aimed at changing consumer behaviour: Certified food labelling e.g. organic; locally produced. Food waste campaigns e.g. Love Food Hate Waste in the UK. Sustainable fish consumption e.g. Marine Stewardship Council, an international NGO. Key options can be promoted by all stakeholders: For high-impact food-categories, promote the concept of less but better e.g. higher quality meat and dairy products, consumed in lower quantities. Promote synergies between healthy diets and low-impact diets. This could protect profitability for producers and retailers. Promote choice-editing for sustainable products e.g. sustainable fish. Governments can influence consumer behaviour through: pricing, promoting sustainable social norms, national / regional standards, legislation, information, leadership, regulating advertising, supporting civil society and industry initiatives. Serve healthy, sustainable food throughout the public sector e.g. meals in schools, prisons, hospitals, authority offices, events. Differentiated VAT e.g. higher for high-impact food, lower for eco-labelled food. Businesses / food retailers can influence consumer choice through: pricing, availability, information and labelling, choice-editing. Reducing impact of ready meals and packaged food. Limiting offers on high-impact food categories and perishable items. Civil society can influence consumer behaviour through: campaigns, practical projects (e.g. community gardens), information, standards and monitoring (e.g. Fair Trade Foundation), increasing public acceptance of policies. Civil society has an important role to play in promoting new social norms that facilitate behaviour and culture change through their campaigning work e.g. the shift towards dolphin-friendly tuna: following an NGO-led consumer boycott of tuna products in the late 1980s, over 90% of tuna sold in the UK is now dolphin friendly. Page 3

4 INTRODUCING BEHAVIOUR CHANGES Scientific References Derby, B.M., Levy, A.S., Do Food labels Work? In: Blum, P.N., Gundlach, G.T., (ed.): Handbook of Marketing and Society, pp Frey, S., Barrett, J., The Footprint of Scotland s Diet. The environmental burden of what we eat, Stockholm Environment Institute, WWF, Aberdeenshire Council, Aberdeen City Council, North Lanarkshire Partnership: 13. Gaheer,, S., Influencing Behavioural Change and Public Engagement in Sustainable Development and Living Sustainably. East Midlands Regional Assembly. Garnett, T., Livestock-related greenhouse gas emissions: impacts and options for policy makers. Food Climate Research Network, University of Surrey, UK. Jackson, B., Lee-Wolf, C., Higginson, F., Wallace, J., Agathou, N., Strategies for Reducing the Climate Impacts of Red Meat/Dairy Consumption in the UK. Imperial College, London. Jackson, T., Motivating sustainable consumption. Centre for Environmental Strategy, University of Surrey, UK. Kramer, J.K., Moll, H.C., Nonhebel, S., Wilting, H.C., Greenhouse gas emissions related to Dutch food consumption. Energy Policy, 27, MacMillan, T.. Durrant, R Livestock consumption and climate change. A framework for dialogue, Food Ethics Council and WWF-UK, Brighton. p Mont, O., Power, K., The Role of Formal and Informal Forces in Shaping Consumption and Implications for a Sustainable Society. Part I Sustainability, 2(5): Power, K., Mont, O., The Role of Formal and Informal Forces in Shaping Consumption and Implications for a Sustainable Society. Part II. Sustainability, 2(5): Schäfer, M., Herde, A., Kropp, C., Life events as turning points for sustainable nutrition, in: Lahlou, S.; Emmert, S. (ed.): SCORE proceedings: SCP cases in the field of Food, Mobility, and Housing, n.p., pp Scott, F., Phillips, R., Cutting our carbs: food and the environment. Green Alliance, London. Tukker, A., Bausch-Goldbohm, S., Verheijden, M., de Koning, A., Kleijn, R., Wolf, O., Pérez Domínguez, I., Environmental Impacts of Diet Changes in the EU, Joint Research Centre, Seville. ftp://ftp.jrc.es/pub/eurdoc/jrc50544.pdf Weidema, B.P., Wesnaes, M., Hemansen, J., Kristensen, T., Halberg, N., Environmental improvement potentials of meat and dairy products. Joint Research Centre, Institute for Prospective Technological Studies, Seville. ftp://ftp.jrc.es/pub/eurdoc/jrc46650.pdf National Cabinet Office, Food Matters: Towards a Strategy for the 21st Century. UK Government Strategy Office, London. Page 4

5 KATE POWER, CRI Committee on Climate Change, Building a low-carbon economy - the UK s contribution to tackling climate change. The Stationary Office, London, UK. ClimateChange.pdf Defra, Promoting Pro-Environmental Behaviours. Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, UK. report.pdf Defra, Public Understanding of Sustainable Food Consumption. Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, UK. Food Ethics Council, Food Distribution: An Ethical Agenda. UK. NCC, Green grocers. How supermarkets can help make green shopping easier. National Consumer Council, London. NCC and SDC, I will if you will - Towards sustainable consumption. National Consumer Council and Sustainable Development Commission, London. EU European Commission, Environmental impacts of products (EIPRO): Analysis of the life cycle environmental impacts related to the total final consumption of the EU25. European Commission Technical Report EUR EN, Brussels. International OECD, Household Behaviour and the Environment: Reviewing the evidence. Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development, Paris. Websites ETC/SCP: (Country fact sheets on SCP/food and drink) Community-based social marketing: Page 5