the "what"What is my engagement project all about? For our project, Grace and I drew inspiration from a course we took last semester titled "The Political Economy of Food" (SOAN 295). After taking this class and gaining various insights on how people interact with food, we decided it was necessary to look deeper into the levels of the food system as well as the decisions we make at the grocery store. I believe that food is one of the most intimate ways in which we interact with our environment on a day to day basis. This being said, most of us are very separated from the food system... many people care less about where their food comes from and more about getting the best deal. But over the last two decades, individuals in general have become more concerned with the consumer choices they make, as they realize their choices impact themselves, others, and may even have the potential to impact the food system itself. Inspired by contemporary environmental thinker Michael Maniates, and his piece "Individualization: Buy a Bike, Plant a Tree, Save the World?" (2001), Grace and I became interested in the different ways individuals can engage in environmental action. Why do people engage in individual action, when collective action has become more popular? Is there any point in completing small environmentally conscious actions everyday if they don't make a big impact anyway?
The "Who"The diagram above is a stakeholder map that outlines who our possible stakeholders will be. We have decided to focus on three main levels of the food system: production/processing, distribution/market, final product/consumers. The "difference" in this engagement project are the various levels of stakeholders, which fit into these three categories. We want to find out what individuals at each of these levels think about the power of the consumer dollar. Ideally, we will engage with local farmers, store owners/managers, and consumers. Additionally, we plan to engage with these individuals who interact with different "types" of stores. For example, Fred Meyer (a national chain), People's Food Co-Op (a local food cooperative), and aMylk (a local almond milk company, accessible through delivery only). Engaging with individuals at a variety of stores will allow us to reach a wider scale of stakeholders, which will help to avoid bias and decrease the likelihood of resistance from unaccounted stakeholders down the line. These three stores represent varying scales (national brand products, local Foodshed products, and a local brand). Within each of these companies, we will identify individuals from the following categories: production/processing, owner/employee, and consumer/customer. The "how"To figure out how we will carry out our engagement project, we looked to Proctor and Fellows' article, "Models of Environmental Communication". This paper outlines the three key models of environmental communication: deficit, framing, and dialogic. Each of these models of communication have their strengths and weakness, for more information on each of these models please reference my last post. Grace and I are planning on including the dialogic model in our project, which is considered the contemporary model of environmental communication. This model will allow us to create a two-way dialogue between different levels of stakeholders within the food system. To encourage open communication and incorporate the dialogic model, Grace and I have been working to develop questions that get to the heart of the issue without assuming a "right" or "wrong" answer. I believe the question that is core to our project is "what is the power of the consumer dollar?". This question could be asked of the different levels of stakeholders (producer, distributor, consumer) and produce varying responses. We also believe that a sort of values survey would be an effective method for collecting information on how individuals regard environmental action at all levels of the food system. Questions a values survey could include: "Does the threat of climate change impact your consumer choices?" "Do you believe ecologically conscious spending makes a difference?" "Have your spending habits changed since the release of the most recent IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) report?" After recording the answers of all stakeholders, we will carry out content analysis to identify patterns and groups that share similar opinions. This will allow us to gain a better understanding of how each level of stakeholder approaches and regards environmental action. The "Goal"After taking The Political Economy of Food, I felt that I was left with a lot of loose ends regarding what consumer responsibility towards improving the food system and influencing environmental degradation in this sector. Are we supposed to focus on individual action, or focus on making institutional change? Or should we look at environmental action as a spectrum? Our goal with this project is to engage in conversation with different levels of stakeholders within the food system. Through these various levels of engagement, we hope to gain a better understanding of the role of the consumer dollar along the production chain. If we are able to identify and isolate how people perceive this role, we can communicate our results to all involved stakeholders to develop a wider understanding of the actions individuals can take at each level to participate in environmental action. Works CitedDavenport, Coral. “Major Climate Report Describes a Strong Risk of Crisis as Early as 2040.” The New York Times, October 15, 2018, sec. Climate. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/07/climate/ipcc-climate-report-2040.html.
Eagleton-Pierce, Dr Matthew. “ON INDIVIDUALISM IN THE NEOLIBERAL PERIOD,” n.d., 11. Hollander, Gail M. “Re-Naturalizing Sugar: Narratives of Place, Production and Consumption.” Social & Cultural Geography 4, no. 1 (March 2003): 59. https://doi.org/10.1080/1464936032000049315. Lindstrom, Martin, Martin Lindstrom, and Martin Lindstrom. “The Psychology Behind The Sweet Spots Of Pricing.” Fast Company, March 27, 2012. https://www.fastcompany.com/1826172/psychology-behind-sweet-spots-pricing. Maniates, Michael F. “Individualization: Plant a Tree, Buy a Bike, Save the World?” Global Environmental Politics 1, no. 3 (August 2001): 31–52. https://doi.org/10.1162/152638001316881395. Hollander, Gail M. “Re-Naturalizing Sugar: Narratives of Place, Production and Consumption.” Social & Cultural Geography 4, no. 1 (March 2003): 59. https://doi.org/10.1080/1464936032000049315. “Brewing Justice: Fair Trade Coffee, Sustainability, and Survival Ch. 1 ‘A Movement or a Market?’” Accessed February 19, 2019. https://content.ucpress.edu/chapters/10607001.ch01.pdf. “Global Warming of 1.5 oC —.” Accessed February 19, 2019. https://www.ipcc.ch/sr15/.
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