Sustainable Consumption, the Middle Classes and Agri-food Ethics in the Global South

可持续消费、中产阶级和南方国家的农业食品道德

基本信息

批准号：
ES/R005303/1
负责人：
Alex Hughes
金额：
$ 75.27万
依托单位：
Newcastle University
依托单位国家：
英国
项目类别：
Research Grant
财政年份：
2018
资助国家：
英国
起止时间：
2018 至无数据
项目状态：
已结题

来源：
https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=ES%2FR005303%2F1
关键词：
Sustainable Consumption Middle Classes Agri

项目摘要

Sustainable food consumption spaces and practices in the global South are of critical importance yet remain under-researched and poorly understood because most studies assume that ethical consumers are situated in the global North. Expanding middle class consumption in global South countries is seen simultaneously as providing a potential stimulus to global economic growth and a threat to environmental sustainability. The UN's Sustainable Development Goal 12 (Ensure Sustainable Consumption and Production) recognises the need to support developing countries in strengthening their technological capacity to enable more sustainable patterns of consumption, to promote sustainable public procurement practices, and to ensure that consumers have the relevant information and awareness for sustainable lifestyles. In response, this research evaluates the mobilisation and practice of sustainable consumption in the global South through an examination of systems of food provision and regulation, everyday consumer habits, and trends and fashions in food consumption. It draws on case study research in Brazil, China, and South Africa, where there is robust evidence of large and growing middle classes. The research is essential to understand how sustainable food consumption is mobilised and practised in distinct global South contexts, how this might be affected during times of increasing political instability and social precarity, and how this relates to the wider context of global population growth and globalising consumerism. Pilot research in the case study countries suggests that digital technologies are increasingly interwoven into societies and food systems as follows: consumers share, receive information about, purchase and review food online; food retail companies optimise their distribution with the help of IT technology; and state procurement systems increasingly move online. Recognising these realities, the research provides an innovative investigation of the interconnectedness of online and offline spaces of sustainable food consumption in the global South.The research is organised into four phases. The first focuses on institutional and cultural drivers of sustainable food consumption. It analyses policy and media reports, business strategies, codes, campaigns and initiatives in the policy and popular domain. Key informant interviews are conducted with government departments responsible for food procurement and standards, campaigners, and leading food retailers, wholesalers and restaurateurs. The second phase, focusing on consumer habits and everyday trends, comprises ethnographic research in middle-class residential areas of Guangzhou, Rio de Janeiro and Johannesburg. Interviews address household food consumption practices, judgments about 'good' food, and popular influences on food ethics and environmental values. Digital ethnographies examine the online practices of consumers, including how they collect information, shop or review online, and the influence of social media on ethical judgment and creating markets for sustainable foods. Accompanied shopping interviews and co-cooking sessions capture the nuances of food choices, moral judgments, engagement with government and corporate ethical initiatives, and the ordinary ethics of food purchase and use. The third phase, focusing on fashion and trends, uses text mining of social media to trace lines of influence in sustainable food consumption. To widen the reach of the research, and provide material with traction with policy and commercial actors, the final phase gathers quantitative data through a web-based survey of the drivers of sustainable food consumption and the behavioural intentions arising from these. The research is an innovative analysis of different global South contexts in which shifts towards sustainable food consumption are likely to have global impact. The three case studies offer comparisons of the potential of different drivers of food sustainability.

全球南部的可持续食品消费空间和实践至关重要，但仍未进行研究和了解不足，因为大多数研究都认为道德消费者位于全球北部。在全球南部国家的扩大中产阶级消费量同时被视为为全球经济增长和对环境可持续性的威胁提供了潜在的刺激。联合国的可持续发展目标12（确保可持续的消费和生产）认识到有必要支持发展中国家加强其技术能力，以增强其可持续的消费方式，促进可持续的公共采购实践，并确保消费者对可持续生活的相关信息和认识。作为回应，这项研究通过检查食品提供和调节系统，日常消费者习惯以及食品消费的趋势和时尚，评估了全球南部可持续消费的动员和实践。它借鉴了在巴西，中国和南非的案例研究，那里有大量和增长的中产阶级的证据。这项研究对于了解如何在不同的全球南部背景下动员和实践可持续的食品消费至关重要，在日益增加的政治动荡和社会持久性时期可能会影响这可能会受到影响，以及这与全球人口增长和全球化消费主义的更广泛背景如何相关。案例研究国家 /地区的试点研究表明，数字技术越来越多地将其交织到社会和食品系统中：消费者共享，接收有关，在线购买和审查食品的信息；食品零售公司在IT技术的帮助下优化其分销；国家采购系统越来越在线移动。认识到这些现实，该研究对全球南部的在线和离线粮食消耗空间的相互联系进行了创新的研究，该研究分为四个阶段。第一个重点是可持续食品消费的机构和文化驱动力。它分析了政策和媒体报告，业务策略，代码，广告系列和倡议，并在政策和大众领域中进行了分析。主要的线人访谈是针对负责食品采购和标准，活动家以及领先的食品零售商，批发商和餐馆老板的政府部门进行的。第二阶段的重点是消费者习惯和日常趋势，包括在广州，里约热内卢和约翰内斯堡的中产阶级住宅区的人种学研究。访谈涉及家庭食品消费实践，对“好”食品的判断以及对粮食伦理和环境价值观的流行影响。数字民族志检查消费者的在线实践，包括他们如何在线收集信息，购物或审查，以及社交媒体对道德判断和为可持续食品创造市场的影响。伴随的购物访谈和共同烹饪会议捕捉了食物选择，道德判断，与政府和公司道德计划的互动以及食品购买和使用的普通伦理的细微差别。第三阶段的重点是时尚和趋势，使用社交媒体的文本挖掘来追踪可持续食品消费中的影响线。为了扩大研究的范围，并通过对政策和商业参与者的牵引力提供材料，最后阶段通过基于网络的可持续食品消费驱动因素以及这些行为意图的基于网络的调查来收集定量数据。这项研究是对不同全球南部环境的创新分析，在这种分析中，向可持续食品消费的转变可能会产生全球影响。这三个案例研究提供了粮食可持续性不同驱动因素的潜力的比较。