Webinar: De-escalating the Food Fight – Trust, language and the future of food system change
23 June @ 16:00 – 17:00
We often assume that transforming the food system is mainly a technical challenge that can be addressed by finding the right innovation, setting the right target, or measuring the right metric. Yet change that looks entirely feasible on paper stalls again and again. Jack Bobo argues that the hardest problem in our food system is not technical but social. It comes down to trust, and the language we use to talk to one another.
People bring deeply held and often conflicting priorities to the food system, and the words we choose to talk about those differences matter enormously. The same point, framed one way, opens minds to shared problem-solving; framed another, it puts people on the defensive before the conversation has even begun. The speaker opens or closes the mind of the audience, and the language we use defines how wide a coalition we can build.
So how do we talk about food in ways that bring people together rather than drive them apart? What does it take to de-escalate the tension so we can get on with the work? And how can the way we frame an issue open minds rather than entrench positions?
This webinar continues our resilience series, which has moved from international supply-chain risk and the shocks our food system faces, through what community-led resilience looks like in practice, towards a question that underpins all of it: how does change actually happen? Jack’s session looks at the role of trust and language in shaping what is possible.
About Jack: Jack Bobo is a food futurist and Executive Director of the UCLA Rothman Family Institute for Food Studies. He previously led the Food Systems Institute at the University of Nottingham and spent more than a decade as a senior advisor on global food policy at the US State Department. He is the author of Why Smart People Make Bad Food Choices, which explores how our food environment and behavioural science shape the choices we make. Much of his current work focuses on trust, polarisation and communication: how the framing and language we use can either deepen division in the food system or unlock collaboration.
About Stefan (Chair): Stefan Kepinski is a co-founder and Director of Root and Reason, and Professor and Head of the School of Biology at the University of Leeds. A plant biologist, his research on root architecture has led to patented technologies for more sustainable crop production, reducing reliance on synthetic fertiliser and increasing the carbon stored in soils. Stefan is also Associate Director of the University’s Global Food and Environment Institute and Chair of the Agricultural Universities Council UK.
About this webinar series
This webinar is part of a monthly series run by Root and Reason (formerly AFN Network+) which explores the transformation of the UK agri-food system with leading movers and shakers. Expect deep and varied insight from across the sector, including farmers, scientists, policy analysts, community leaders, retailers, politicians, businesses and health professionals.