Welcome to Veg Fest!

Welcome all! Please do ask your questions here as we go

hi there, will it be possible to share these slides after?

Yes, this session is being recorded and will be shared next week

I'm interested in the positive framing research. What evidence is there for this? I've been interested for a long time in the negative effects of shaming (which is often done via our welfare system) on the effectiveness of an intervention. Do they have any research on this?

totally - I got some really negative feedback from NESTA (of all the organisations!) on the "paternalistic" nudge aspects of our programme

and also the health lottery

I'm particularly interested in shame research

So interesting. How can we use behaviour change specifically to increase veg consumption? Some examples of success would be great.

Hi Hannah, do you have any insight into those people who are eating more meat - is this because they were eating out less over lockdown?

hi Amber, we have evidence that we increase veg consumption almost 40%. www.bagsoftaste.org

As a foodservice wholesaler, we saw a significant increase our sales of beef steaks during August. The Eat Out to Help Out scheme made the more expensive protein cuts affordable to a higher number of diners who took advantage of the scheme.

I would say that we achieve this veg increase 2 main ways: we provide dishes that are apparently meat based but contain large proportions of veg, effectively using meat as a flavouring, and we also get people to try great vegetarian food which they then realise are genuine options in their diets & families.Also, our programme is widely advertised as clearly containing meat. Because a keen meat eater is rarely going to join a vegetarian programme. You have to meet them where they are.

after all, if you can reduce the meat in your meals by half, then you are actually eating half the meat that you were before. That's the same as half your family turning vegetarian. Without anyone actually turning vegetarian.

You note that people are more influenced/motivated by health recently. How can support people without causing guilt or stigma (re: Toby's point earlier)?

The industry collaboration is heavily weighted towards retailers which is expected. Any intention to work more with restaurant chains?

thanks Hannah!

@Alicia Weston - this sounds like a really great way to encourage people to try more veg/pant-based meals and realise that they can be just as satisfying/tasty!

do sign up for the rest of the week Veg Fest sessions: https://foodfoundation.org.uk/event/veg-fest/

yes @Lucy - though we have had some disapproval from some vegetarians/sustainability people - go figure :-) they prefer that we're entirely vegetarian

@Alicia small steps are far better than no steps surely?! It's challenging to completely change a diet overnight for many reasons. Suppose you'll never please everyone! :)

yes, we work with people in food poverty and there are a lot of barriers. You can see more about these here: https://bit.ly/BoTVenn

you need to help them get over these barriers first before you can even really attempt to change their diets

we always do "health by stealth"

Frankly, if you're eating takeaways every day, you're hardly going to be tempted by healthy stuff. Yet those are the people that you most want to reach

We found that when we marketed our course as a healthy eating cooking course, the people that attended ate HALF the amount of takeaways as our usual cohorts

so clearly it's appealing to those that are already interested in healthy eating and putting off those that aren't interested. We normally market as "better than the takeaway"

establishing social norms is really important:-)

people hate to be in the bottom of any league table :-)

https://foodfoundation.org.uk/event/veg-fest/ has all the info on the 3 sessions left this Veg Fest week!

Great point Toby on sustainability metrics for supermarkets. Food Foundation have started to do some of this - see https://foodfoundation.org.uk/plating-up-progress-home-page/supermarkets/