RETHINKING FOOD: CO-CREATING CITIZEN SCIENCE FOR SUSTAINABILITY TRANSITIONS

Abstract

Transforming human food practices to be more sustainable is not straightforward. The human food system and international sustainability advice are both global in scope. Whereas food practices are locally situated and personal. ReThinking Food grapples with this challenge, using co-creative citizen science and the Future 50 Foods Report. The research involves cooking with; sharing food, recipes and stories; surveys, interviews, online and in-person activities. Through these actions, participants exchange knowledges with the food, their families and each other; become agents of change in their social groups and workplaces. They enact agency, shifting scales from human to nonhuman; near to far; from one-to-few-to-many. Building on this insight, we propose a hybrid engagement strategy for fostering connections across scales, from the personal to the planetary. The strategy strengthens the effectiveness of bottom-up societal transformation efforts.