Food Value Chain Consultations
Individual Consumption
Food Value Chain Consultations Workshop 4: Individual Consumption
This workshop was the fourth of the five consultative workshops and comprised of representatives from private companies, civil society, governments, scientific and technical organisations, and the United Nations and other intergovernmental organisations. The key messages, the presentation from the workshop as well as the full list of participants is available in the workshop report.
Initiatives
A number of best practices and initiatives were shared during the workshop regarding the role of individual consumption in working towards a more sustainable value chain.
Influencing Individual Consumption - Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition
The Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition's (GAIN) work is mainly focused on developing countries, mostly in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. When looking at individual consumption in these regions, they observed several things.
GAIN believe that the influence of information and knowledge is overestimated in consumer behaviour. The real issue is motivation; if people want to eat differently, they will find a way to do so. For instance, how young people in western countries are eating vegetarian more frequently. But it is also important to look at the supply side as well as policies and regulations. Unless the supply and demand side work in concert, it will be difficult to make significant changes.
Empowering Consumers for Sustainable Action - Consumers International
Consumers have a big role to play in the process of sustainable consumption and production. Delivering a lasting transformation of consumption patterns requires engaging with the structures and incentives that shape consumer behaviour. While marketplace constraints persist, consumer action at the point of purchase can make limited progress, but will never be enough to demonstrate widespread demand. However, consumers can be empowered to demonstrate this demand in other ways – such as by advocating for consumer rights in the marketplace, and by helping shape regulation.
Consumers International argue that these solutions work best when they hold consumers responsible and empower them to take charge, not just through individual choices when purchasing but also by bringing strong consumer rights to every stage of the value chain.
Consumers International
Mi Código Verde - Fundación Chile
The Mi Código Verde (My Green Code) platform provides information on the environmental and social attributes of products. The attributes considered are waste, water, providers, biodiversity, chemicals, energy, social welfare and animal welfare.
It is based on a life-cycle approach, analysis and prioritisation of hotspots of the entire production chain where the main social and environmental impacts are generated.
The Southern African Sustainable Seafood Initiative - WWF South Africa
SASSI (Southern African Sustainable Seafood Initiative), started in 2004. The research work at the start of this initiative focused specifically on the environmental impact of eating unsustainable fish. They found that consumers were not aware they were eating unsustainable food that was of conservation concern or overexploited.
Therefore, the initiative has 3 main objectives: to increase awareness and shift choices, to discourage consumers from choosing illegal and unsustainable food and to guide consumers towards more environmentally friendly choices.
