Consumer-citizens as Leaders of Change : Case Food Waste

263 Leading Change in a Complex World: Transdisciplinary Perspectives Consumer-Citizens as Leaders of Change: The Case of Food Waste CHAPTER 14 Consumer-Citizens as Leaders of Change: The Case of Food Waste ELINA NÄRVÄNEN, MALLA MATTILA & NINA MESIRANTA Takeaways for Leading Change We examine consumer-citizens and their roles in leading change in the context of food waste reduction. Food waste is one of the “wicked problems” facing society, businesses and consumers alike. It provides an interesting case for the LFC approach because it is a complex and dynamic issue where multiple actors and interests are at stake. In this chapter, we take the consumer-citizen’s perspective and explore the roles they can adopt regarding the issue of reducing food waste. The chapter provides an overview of consumer-citizenship and identifies a continuum of roles: choice-maker, carrier-of-practice, and leader of change. The characteristics of these roles are illustrated by drawing empirical insights from the Wastebusters research project examining consumer-citizens as active reducers of food waste. The continuum demonstrates that consumercitizens’ food waste reduction involves an evolutionary change from making more sustainable purchasing decisions, to reconfiguring everyday life practices, and finally mobilising other consumers to join the movement. In their relational leadership roles, consumer-citizens also have the ability to affect the system as a whole. The chapter argues that in order to address the food waste issue, moving away from top-down, informational policies and expert-led campaigns toward participatory grassroots and bottom-up ways of engaging consumer-citizens is necessary. 264 Leading Change in a Complex World: Transdisciplinary Perspectives Consumer-Citizens as Leaders of Change: The Case of Food Waste I n this chapter, we focus on the issue of food waste, one of the biggest global sustainability challenges. Food waste can be described as a “wicked problem” (Reinecke & Ansari, 2016; Weber & Khademian, 2008) for many reasons. It is a complex issue involving a great paradox: as people keep throwing away edible food, others are suffering from starvation and hunger. Due to the complexity and inefficiency of the food system as a whole, surplus food is most often not consumed. It has been estimated that if we could cut the amount of food currently being lost or wasted by just one fourth, this amount would be sufficient to feed 870 million hungry people (FAO, 2017b). The environmental effects of food waste are also considerable: in Finland, the annual CO2 emissions from household food waste are equivalent to the emissions of 100 000 cars (Lund, 2015). Food waste is a wicked problem because many stakeholders are involved, ranging from individual consumer households to retailers, manufacturers, farmers, politicians, NGOs and companies. Political awareness of the food waste issue is increasing. However, in the UN’s Goals of Sustainable Development (United Nations, 2017) and at the EU level (European Commission, 2017), interests relating to the issue are divergent and sometimes conflicting. Various studies point to the role of households in producing food waste as significant; especially in developed countries (Gustavsson, Cederberg, Sonesson, van Otterdijk, & Meybeck, 2011). Consumer-citizens therefore can play a key role when looking for possible solutions to the problem. The consumer-citizen as a leader of change embraces sustainability and collective well-being in addition to or instead of maximising their selfinterest in the market (Gabriel & Lang, 2015; Jacobsen, 2017). There are various examples of how consumer-citizens are taking leadership roles in transforming their everyday lives and the lives of others by advocating more sustainable food consumption practices. This includes prevention and reduction of food waste. The purpose of this chapter is to describe and analyse the roles of consumer-citizens in food waste reduction. The role adopted by consumer-citizens is an example of bottomup relational leadership where ultimately, The purpose of this chapter is to describe and analyse the roles of consumer-citizens in food waste reduction. 265 Leading Change in a Complex World: Transdisciplinary Perspectives Consumer-Citizens as Leaders of Change: The Case of Food Waste consumer-citizens try to influence the social order (the existing food system) through transforming their own and others’ consumption-related values, attitudes and behaviours. The chapter draws insights from the Wastebusters research project examining consumer-citizens as active reducers of food waste. The threeyear project (2016–2019) is carried out at the University of Tampere, Faculty of Management, and funded by Emil Aaltonen Foundation. Our findings are based on qualitative research materials regarding food waste reduction, including interviews (e.g. with consumers, food bloggers, and company representatives), an expert panel as well as documents about consumer food waste campaigns and food waste-related operating or business models in Finland and abroad. We begin by introducing the sustainability challenge of food waste and the consumer-citizen concept. We then present a continuum of consumercitizens’ roles in the context of food waste reduction. The continuum is a typology of ideal types that can also overlap. Constructing a typology is a commonly used strategy in qualitative research to understand the different characteristics related to a complex phenomenon such as consumercitizenship. Yet, the typology we present is not exhaustive and further roles or hybrids of different roles may exist in the real world. The section includes examples of initiatives and solutions that mobilise consumercitizens to reduce food waste. The chapter concludes with a reflection on the key implications of the chapter in relation to the leadership for change approach and its main themes: a complex world, relational leadership, and dynamic change. Food Waste as a Sustainability Challenge Food waste can be defined as “any food, and inedible parts of food, removed from the food supply chain to be recovered or disposed” (Östergren et al., 2014). The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) has estimated that globally about one third of food produced for human nutrition is lost or wasted, piling up to about 1.3 billion tonnes of food per year (Gustavsson et al., 2011). In the EU, food waste is estimated 266 Leading Change in a Complex World: Transdisciplinary Perspectives Consumer-Citizens as Leaders of Change: The Case of Food Waste to be about 88 million tonnes per year; equivalent to 173 kilograms of food waste per person (Stenmarck, Jensen, Quested, & Moates, 2016). In developed countries, food waste occurs mostly at the consumer and retail level of the food system. In developing countries food is lost mostly at earlier stages, during post-harvest (Gustavsson et al., 2011). Food waste creates environmental and economic, but also social and ethical concerns. From an environmental perspective, the carbon footprint of food waste is almost equal (87%) to global road transport emissions. If food waste was a country, it would rank third in greenhouse gas emissions (FAO, 2015). However, the size of carbon footprint varies depending on where in the supply chain the food waste occurs as well as the type of food wasted. The later in the supply chain the food waste occurs, the greater carbon footprint. Reducing food waste in the later stages of food supply chain, namely at retailers and households, is especially impactful for the environment. Even though wasted meat, for example, constitutes less than five per cent of total food waste, it contributes to over 20% of the total carbon footprint of food waste (FAO, 2015). Economically, the direct financial costs of food waste amount to about USD 1 trillion each year. When factoring in the indirect environmental costs (the lost value of ecosystems) and social (the loss of well-being associated with natural resource degradation), the full costs reach USD 2.6 trillion globally each year (FAO, 2017a). It is also morally questionable to waste food while people suffer from hunger. In the next section, we focus on the roles of consumer-citizens as potential leaders of change in the food waste issue. Even though the problem of food waste cannot be solved by any one actor alone, focusing on consumers is important because their preferences, attitudes and behaviours influence the food system. We utilise the concept of consumercitizen to provide a view of the world where consumption and citizenship are not seen as opposites but as thoroughly inter-linked and overlapping. This unleashes the potential for consumer-citizens to lead the charge toward more sustainability and overall well-being. Food waste creates environmental and economic, but also social and ethical concerns. 267 Leading Change in a Complex World: Transdisciplinary Perspectives Consumer-Citizens as Leaders of Change: The Case of Food Waste From Consumers to Consumer-Citizens The development of the modern consumer society has led to a situation where the current levels of consumption are too high for the next generation to sustain. This has resulted in stark ecological consequences. Environmental issues have become increasingly visible in society. As consumers become more aware of the environmental effects of their actions, they feel increasing pressure to make changes in their consumption habits. Consumer and citizen roles have traditionally been portrayed as opposites – consumers maximise self-interest in the market, consuming more and more in order to satisfy neverending needs created by consumer culture. Citizens, on the other hand, care about the wellbeing of others and try to behave morally, taking responsibility for their actions (Gabriel & Lang, 2015; Trentmann, 2007). Today these seemingly contradictory roles are increasingly intertwined. The hybrid term which refers to this configuration is consumer-citizen (or citizen-consumer) (Gabriel & Lang, 2015; Jacobsen, 2017; Johnston, 2008; Jubas, 2007). There are two reasons for why consumer-citizens should be analysed as a hybrid. First, consumption has for a long time been conceptualised as more than rational utility maximisation. Through consumption, consumers build their identities and maintain social relationships. Consumption provides a language of symbols and meanings with which we communicate with others and understand the world around us (Moisander & Valtonen, 2006). As societal and personal values shift toward an emphasis on sustainability, consumption provides an important forum for people to express these values and meanings in their daily lives. In other words, you increasingly are what you eat, wear, drive and use. Second, there has been a shift in what activities are considered as political. Civil participation is moving beyond the formal domain of the state and voting behaviours. This points to a renaissance for civil society (Trentmann, 2007). Neoliberal ideology further emphasises responsibilising consumers – obligating them to enact their lives through independent and free consumption choices rather than as directed by the government or other central authority (Giesler & Veresiu, 2014). There is a variety of examples of behaviours of consumer-citizens related to sustainable consumption and political consumerism. These 268 Leading Change in a Complex World: Transdisciplinary Perspectives Consumer-Citizens as Leaders of Change: The Case of Food Waste can be broadly positioned within three roles. The first role reflects the consumer-citizen’s role as a choice-maker. This involves making different, more sustainable purchase decisions, such as, for example, buying fair trade or organic products (Prothero, McDonagh, & Dobscha, 2010, p. 153). In political consumerism, the marketplace is seen as a political arena where each consumer “votes” through buying or non-buying. Consumer boycotts punish companies for unsustainable behaviour, for example, Néstle boycotts. “Buycotts”, like “carrotmobs”, reward companies for sustainable behaviour (Micheletti, 2003). This view, however, has been criticised as too narrow, because it focuses on purchasing and emphasises individual agency in changing the system (Southerton & Evans, 2017). The second role focuses on consumer-citizens changing their everyday life consumption practices more holistically. Examples of behaviours include mending things instead of buying them new, buying and selling second-hand, or joining a slow food movement (Chaudhury & Albinsson, 2015; Southerton & Evans, 2017). This role draws from a practice theoretical understanding of consumers (Shove, 2010; Warde, 2014). Here, consumers are seen as (re)performing different practices and routines embedded in social and cultural contexts. The focus is extended from the consumer as “shopper” toward their everyday lives where things are appropriated in use and ultimately removed from use through disposal behaviours. All of these interlinked activities are highly dependent on social norms, values and related cultural meanings, practical, embodied knowledge, and the material world (Warde, 2014). From this perspective, the key to changing consumption behaviour lies not in individual choices made by consumers but rather in disrupting and dismantling unsustainable consumption practices and reassembling them in a more sustainable manner (Shove, 2010). For instance, when joining the slow food movement, consumercitizens gradually start to amend their everyday practices and routines, while also improving their civic mindedness (Chaudhury & Albinsson, 2015). The third role reflects consumer-citizens as leaders of change. This role draws from the new forms of political consumerism (Stolle & Micheletti, 2013). Concerned consumer-citizens may engage in different activities to try to change not only their own behaviour but also that of others and of society more broadly; for example, through utilising social media. The activities of 269 Leading Change in a Complex World: Transdisciplinary Perspectives Consumer-Citizens as Leaders of Change: The Case of Food Waste consumer-citizens who adopt this role no longer affect only their own lives, communities and social networks. As leaders of change, consumer-citizens commit increasing amounts of time and effort to mobilising other people, whether through establishing their own grassroots social movements or joining alternative lifestyle movements like voluntary simplicity and cultural jamming (Cherrier, 2009), or freeganism (Barnard, 2011). Using these concepts, we identify three roles of consumer-citizens: choice-makers, carriers of practices and leaders of change. These are illustrated in Figure 1.The circles are presented as overlapping because the latter roles also incorporate previous roles. The identified roles are ideal types in a typology constructed to make sense of a complex phenomenon. In the real world, they are not mutually exhaustive and may also overlap. Next, the identified roles are elaborated in more detail, together with examples of initiatives and solutions that mobilise consumer-citizens to reduce food waste. Consumer-Citizens as Choice-Makers The first role designates consumer-citizens as choice-makers. They are autonomic actors who pursue individual interests, but seek sustainability by making changes in their consumption decisions. They make discrete consumption choices related to food waste, such as choosing to buy foodstuffs near their expiry dates at discount (vs. choosing something with a longer expiry period) or by buying leftover meals at discount from restaurants through mobile applications (e.g. the ResQ Club service or similar). Here, food waste reduction ultimately concerns individual sustainable consumption choices. Individual consumption behaviour is influenced by increased awareness of the issue of food waste. The consumer-citizen becomes aware of the problem of food waste and has a positive attitude toward reducing it, but at a very general level. The consumer-citizen as choice-maker participates in food waste reduction through purchasing acts that may help to reduce retailers’ or restaurants’ food waste. However, the consumer-citizen may not recognise the full complexity of the issue. Even if consumer-citizens try to avoid wasting food in their everyday 270 Leading Change in a Complex World: Transdisciplinary Perspectives Consumer-Citizens as Leaders of Change: The Case of Food Waste FIGURE 1. Consumer-citizen continuum in reducing food waste CONSUMERCITIZENS AS... CHOICEMAKERS CARRIERS OF PRACTICES LEADERS OF CHANGE SCALE OF CHANGE Attitudes and individual behaviour + Communities and groups + System level STANCE TOWARD FOOD SYSTEM Accepting, unreflective Questioning, reflective Critical, reflective STANCE TOWARD CHANGE Making individual changes Willing and capable to critically evaluate and change daily food consumption related routines Engaging in actively changing food consumption practices of other consumers or the system as a whole HOW ARE CONSUMERS ACTIVATED? Receive factual information from governmental bodies, other institutions and experts Use own embodied knowledge and receive information from experts and communities Engage in actively changing other consumers’ practices by making invisible issues visible and leveraging upon information and experience EXAMPLES Buying foodstuffs near their expiry dates; buying leftover meals from a restaurant by using ResQ Club (or other similar) application Stop throwing expired food items in the bin; planning what to buy before going to grocery; offering leftover food to e�g� friends and co-workers Bringing food waste into popular culture through movies; influential leaders of food waste movements; dumpster diving/ freeganism + = includes earlier presented category/categories 271 Leading Change in a Complex World: Transdisciplinary Perspectives Consumer-Citizens as Leaders of Change: The Case of Food Waste lives, as choice-makers they are not reflective of the everyday routines and practices of how food waste occurs. Hence, the choice-maker more or less accepts the food system as it is. Discrete acts do not affect the food system as a whole. Many food waste related campaigns are based on the idea that giving (expert-led) information about food waste will lead to increased awareness of the issue and further to positive attitudes toward reducing food waste (see also Evans, Welch, & Swaffield, 2017). For instance, a Finnish “Waste week” campaign, organised annually by a non-governmental organisation, focuses on educating consumers about the effects of food waste (for other similar campaigns, see Aschemann-Witzel et al., 2017). It promotes action by organising events, disseminating information about food waste, and encouraging companies, public organisations and other parties to battle against food waste together with consumers. The problem with campaigns relying on attitude change is that there is a recognised attitude-behaviour gap particularly in sustainability issues – having the intention to do something does not necessarily lead to action (Shove, 2010). This issue is addressed through a practical and theoretical understanding of consumers underlying the second role of consumer-citizens discussed below. Consumer-Citizens as Carriers of Practices The second role denotes consumer-citizens as carriers of practices. Here, consumers are seen as (re)performing different practices and routines in their everyday lives. Consumption is seen as broader than mere purchasing behaviour, and includes the phases of use and disposition. Individual consumption behaviours do not necessarily depend upon conscious and deliberate choice but instead, on participating in socially learnt practices depending on upon cultural meanings, values and understandings (Shove, 2010). 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Göteborg, Sweden: SIK The Swedish Institute for Food and Biotechnology. Retrieved from https:// www.eu-fusions.org/phocadownload/Publications/FUSIONS%20 Definitional%20Framework%20for%20Food%20Waste%202014.pdf Leading Change in a Complex World: Transdisciplinary Perspectives Copyright © 2019 Tampere University Press and the authors Edited by Anni Kangas, Johanna Kujala, Anna Heikkinen, Antti Lönnqvist, Harri Laihonen and Julia Bethwaite Tampere: Tampere University Press