We are now in a follow-on phase of this work funded by Bangor University’s ESRC Impact Acceleration Account
Food Values is the focus of an action research project which started in September 2014. The project is jointly run by Jane Powell at the Organic Centre Wales and Sophie Wynne-Jones at the Department of Geography and Earth Sciences, both at Aberystwyth University – working with the Public Interest Research Centre http://publicinterest.org.uk/
Through this blog we will post regular updates on the project’s aims and progress.
Food security and sustainability are key challenges for this generation. Whilst research is advancing rapidly into the technical dimensions of agricultural productivity, less attention has been paid to the social questions around how food is produced and consumed. At the same time, concerns over food waste, well-being and poverty have gained increasing traction. Across all of these issues a focus on values, identity and emotion are critical to ensure effective communication and governance can be advanced. The ‘Food Values’ project has tackled this head-on, aiming to rethink the way food education is delivered by exploring the importance of values as a centrepoint of progressive social change.
The report is designed to provide some useful pointers for educators, community leaders and policy makers, and to contribute towards building the Wales that we as a community of food educationalists and practitioners would like to see. It tackles the following questions:
1. How can values inform the delivery of successful food education events?
2. What are the implications of a values approach for the wider food system?
3. How does the Welsh Government’s existing food policy engage with and reflect values?
The details of our five case studies here: Case Studies
Our full policy analysis is here: Policy Evaluation