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 stupidmike@fifediet.co.ukhttp://fifediet.co.uk/