Food citizenship: a communications toolkit
A tool of the Food Ethics Council
The language we use has a significant impact on how we define ourselves and others, what powers we think we have and what values we adhere to. For those of us working across food and farming, language also has the power to engage our audiences as active participants, so we can move away from the traditional relationship between the ‘producer of knowledge’ and the ‘consumer of knowledge’. As food citizens, we are all equally knowledgeable; we simply bring different perspectives and ideas to the common cause.
This toolkit sits alongside our report ‘Harnessing the power of food citizenship’. It is aimed at organisations working across the UK food sector, although it is relevant to anyone wanting to engage citizens, rather than consumers.
Here we share ingredients to help you engage your audience as food citizens, including key communication principles, strategies to try out, language traps to avoid and case studies to explore. As always, use what resonates and what is feasible now, rather than try to do everything at once. There are no perfect examples of ‘good’ food citizenship. Test and revise your approach over a period of time. This is an ongoing process.
Find out more about the Food Citizenship programme and join the movement here.