New alliance centers culture as weapon against the global food crisis

What people eat, the way they eat, where, and with whom are all influenced to some degree by the culture around them; yet that link between food and culture is underexamined and underutilized amid a global food crisis, say experts. The Food Culture Alliance, which launched late last year, could change that. “Food is part of the fabric of life. Fabric of life is our culture and ways of doing things,” explained Elaine Rush, a professor of nutrition at the Auckland University of Technology in New Zealand. Food culture is “rooted in personal beliefs, societal norms, and popular culture,” according to the Alliance, and is a driver in consumption patterns. The consortium, launched in November of 2023, centers around using food culture in ways that haven’t been explored before to transform food systems. As it stands, the world has enough food to feed 10 billion people healthily and sustainably, but not if the current model stays in place. As a negative example, Rush cited TV advertisements promoting ultra-processed foods, which feed into higher rates of noncommunicable diseases. Cooking TV shows, such as Masterchef, also promote the notion that produce should be available year-round but meeting this demand generates more carbon emissions, said Teresa Davis, co-convenor of the Australian Food, Society, and Culture Network at the University of Sydney. Much of this demand is driven by the private sector, which spends money to shape people’s preferences, said Dr. Eva Monterrosa, co-founder of the Alliance and program lead of consumer demand generation at the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition, or GAIN. The public health sector lacks an equivalent solution and means of influencing food culture, she said, explaining the impetus for creating the Alliance. Launched as a joint initiative from GAIN, the EAT Foundation, and the Global Business School Network, it aims to produce research on how food culture be best utilized and then work initially with Kenya, India, and Indonesia to create food culture strategies in line with its framework. This identifies “levers of change” for food culture that include shaping narratives, addressing social identity, changing beliefs, and strengthening culinary systems. From idea to implementation In practice, that might mean working with scriptwriters, musicians, or media to create storytelling concepts, support food technology, or bust myths via workshops, said Monterrosa, adding that as the 2030 Sustainable Development Goal deadline approaches — which encompasses SDGs on climate, hunger, and health — there is a need to find new ways of transforming the food system. “One of the biggest impetuses is that we can’t be afraid of trying different things,” she said. There is already evidence to show that using culture can impact public health; the hope is simply to emulate that. For example, it was used to make it less socially acceptable to smoke in public places, said Nick Smith, research officer at the Riddet Institute, which focuses on strategic scientific research in food. In another example, the TV show MTV Shuga triggered a change in sexual and reproductive health, said Monterrosa — HIV-centered storylines meant those who viewed were more likely to get tested for sexually transmitted infections. Similar successful cultural tools could impact diet and planetary health, said Smith. In practice, that might mean more TV shows focused on where food comes from and how it is made, or more opportunities for young people to learn to cook or grow their own food. The Alliance’s initial research is funded by a multidonor grant awarded to GAIN but “there’s no money right now for the next stage of the work to explore what it would take to implement all of these actions,” said Monterrosa. And ideas for implementing a food culture strategy should come from grassroots organizations rather than a global alliance because of the need for change at the community level, said Davis. With that in mind, she suggested the creation of an alliance more focused on countries creating initiatives that celebrate local traditions around food might be more effective. While Monterrosa said she “acknowledges” that the alliance may be perceived as a top-down model, she explained that the idea is for each alliance member country to find local partners and work with them as part of their national strategies. “It’s local folks who are deciding and who understand their own culture as well so it’s not some initiative that’s telling them what to do,” she said. “We just give them the tools and they can figure out how to use them,” she said.