Ten keys to better communicate the need for changing the food model

The Agròpolis participatory space organises a workshop for learning what communication needs to be like if it is to help to transform our food system.

Sessió formativa sobre comunicació de l'espai Agròpolis
31/05/2023 - 10:05 h - City Council Ajuntament de Barcelona

The Fàbrica del Sol gave a presentation this 19 May of a new educational day event from the Agròpolis participatory space, a public-community meeting point where civil society, the economic fabric, universities and the public authorities work together to transform the food system through food sovereignty and agroecology.

It is therefore organising several activities and day events throughout the year to promote such collaboration as well as educational sessions for learning new tools and resources that help to bring about progress in the food model’s transformation. ‘How to communicate for changing the food culture’ is the most recent of these educational sessions.

This last day event was divided into two parts: the first for reflection and discussion, with Anna Villagordo, an expert in environmental and creative communication, Albert Vinyals, a lecturer in consumer psychology, and Josep Sucarrats, the Director of the magazine Arrels, taking part; and the second, more practical part, with a creative-communication workshop run by the Apòstrof cooperative, for learning how to make campaigns more attractive and effective.

The day event’s conclusions are summarised below:

  1. Communications should not focus on putting the entire responsibility of conscious consumption on individuals, as it is the system itself that should make conscious consumption possible. Nor can we leave it exclusively in the hands of just conscious consumers.
  2. We need to understand and co-exist with contradictions. According to Josep Sucarrats, we will thereby communicate better since we’ll be doing it through empathy and experience, and not from the moral high ground.
  3. We need to try and change our perspective and way of thinking. We have interiorised, to a considerable extent, the theory on the benefits of conscious consumption, but we have to try and explain things differently to be more accessible and reach more people.
  4. Communicating saying you are killing the future is no longer effective. Sustainability is today. We have a tendency to communicate blaming a very specific product: the carbon footprint, plastic and so on. But, as Anna Villagordo explains, “we’ve got to stop making communication tunnels”.
  5. Communication needs to take account of the impact of consumer psychology on changing food culture. Albert Vinyals explains that psychological and social factors influence people’s food choices. That’s why understanding consumers’ motivations and barriers can help with designing communication messages that are more effective and adapted to consumers’ needs and their individual values.
  6. The emotions we can use when communicating are surprise, especially when we have few presumptions, and positive emotions, such as love and happiness, as they link and generate memories. By contrast, we sometimes convey fear, anger or disgust when talking from a conscious consumption perspective, but these are problematic emotions that alienate people.
  7. Humour and self-criticism are very powerful communication tools that go viral more easily, are remembered and attract attention.
  8. When it comes to thinking up campaigns, it is important to build up a narrative, create a story that connects with the public’s emotions to achieve greater impact.
  9. We’ve got to accept that there are people who, when they go out shopping, just buy. They don’t want to relate to others. They don’t want to do anything political.
  10. Communication only represents a small part in the shopping process. Which is why it’s crucial to take care of the entire process, from attract someone as a client to the end. We need to assess users’ experiences and accompany them throughout life.

If you were unable to attend, you can see the session here.

Sessió formativa sobre comunicació de l'espai Agròpolis