Meat Your Persona
What was the challenge?
We are facing an unprecedented climate crisis and the food system is a major contributor to this. Reducing our meat consumption is the single biggest way each of us can lessen our impact on the planet, and at the same time potentially reduce our risk of certain diseases. But public understanding and mobilisation around the impact of what we eat is lacking. Researchers from LEAP (Livestock, Environment and People) at the University of Oxford commissioned us to connect with a broad public audience through a public engagement activity that would raise awareness about the environmental and health impact of individual’s food choices whilst also gaining valuable insight into eating behaviours.
What did we do?
Working with the LEAP project team we investigated the ways in which people think about meat and dairy in their diet and the effects their consumption has on the environment. We identified their most relevant research and evidence to use, and routes to the most useful insight capture.
Inspired by current food marketing trends we developed a concept that was inclusive, welcoming and non-judgemental, and created a pop-up installation with 2D, 3D and digital content for audiences to explore. Meat Your Persona was designed to support in-depth conversations between the public and researchers through a step-by-step process that helped navigation of the topic through a personal lens, encouraging visitors to reflect on their own eating habits before putting the research into context and posing ‘would you rather’ decisions.
The steps were delivered through card-based activities, and visitors were able to take away with them a suite of cards tailored to their behaviours. Research has shown that making action plans and stating intentions can go a long way to affect behaviour change, so visitors were also invited to make a pledge before they left the stand – these ranged from ‘I will swap beef for chicken’ to ‘I will host a meat-free meal’.
The installation popped-up for one week in June 2019 in Westgate Shopping Centre in Oxford. During this time 155 people made pledges to reduce their meat consumption and the LEAP website received over 4,000 new visits. Of the visitors surveyed 37% of responses used language that in independent evaluation showed they were transformed by their experience.
As well as bringing this important issue to a wider public audience, the information we gathered has helped the team at LEAP to develop new insights to inform their research. The success of the installation has led to further discussions to develop a national tour for Meat Your Persona in 2021.
