Chapter 20 Appetite for change: an exploration of attitudes towards dietary change in support of a sustainable food future

Abstract

When considering how to plan for a more sustainable food future we need to decide whether we are willing and able to continue to grow and rear the food that we choose to eat now; or whether we need to plan for a gradual shift in consumer and dietary behaviour to support initiatives aimed at increasing food security and reducing the detrimental impact of food production on the environment and our health. This chapter considers the findings that arose from qualitative data gathered in 2010 through a number of focus groups in the City of Sheffield in Northern England. These groups explored levels of knowledge about environmental issues relating to food and ascertained the level to which people felt willing and able to consider dietary change in order to support a more sustainable food future. The picture that emerges from the focus groups is that there is an overall acceptance of and support for the need to change behaviour in order to reduce the environmental impact of modern lifestyles; but that this generally positive view is severely compromised by the belief that individual contributions are a ‘drop in the ocean’ and concerns about the agent of this change. Participants felt that they and others would adapt their consumer behaviour in response to changes in product availability and price; but felt less willing or able to make ‘good’ choices when faced with so many readily available ‘bad’ ones.