Individual irresponsibility – that’s the reason we’re all overweight, unhealthy and eating unsustainable diets, right? If you agreed with the dominant political messaging of the last few years, then you’d answer yes.

But there’s a growing recognition that our environment – the shops and food available in our neighbourhoods, the advertising we see, how different foods are costed and displayed, etc – is the main driver of dietary habits.

As the recent House of Lords’ Food, Diet and Obesity Committee stated; “all income groups fail to meet dietary recommendations. This is not because of a collective loss of willpower. In recent decades, unhealthy, often highly processed foods have become widely accessible, heavily marketed and often cheaper than healthier alternatives.”

How then, do we move from placing all our bets on individual behavioural change to building a world where healthy and sustainable diets are the easy and normal choice for everyone, regardless of location, income and other cultural factors? And how can political discourse be encouraged towards leadership and action?

Our two speakers, Lauren Leak-Smith and Ed Whincup, work for the Behavioural Insights Team (BIT) – originally established as a research unit within the UK government and now an independent consultancy working on behavioural change, globally.

The webinar will be chaired by Jez Fredenburgh, Knowledge Exchange Fellow at the AFN Network+, with support from Prof Neil Ward, AFN co-lead. Both are based in the Environment Department at the University of East Anglia.

About Lauren:

Lauren Leak-Smith is a Senior Advisor in BIT’s Energy, Environment & Sustainability team. She has over 5 years experience in applied behavioural science, leading projects across energy, environmental, consumer and business policy. Lauren has previously held roles in Ofgem’s behavioural insights unit, and at a start-up consulting private sector clients on the application of BI. She holds a MSc in Psychology from the University of St Andrews and a BSc in Marketing Management from Lancaster University.

About Ed:

Ed Whincup is a Senior Advisor in BIT’s Energy, Environment & Sustainability team. He leads on projects across a range of policy areas both in the UK and internationally, including sustainable diets, food waste, transport, energy use, energy efficiency, and public acceptability relating to Net Zero policies. Ed holds a MSc in Business & Organisational Psychology from UCL and a Bachelor of Psychology (with Honours) from Macquarie University.

About the webinar series:

This webinar is part of a monthly series run by AFN Network+ which explores net zero in 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. The series is organised by Jez Fredenburgh, our Knowledge Exchange Fellow, and Prof Neil Ward, AFN Co-lead and Professor of rural geography. Jez and Neil are based in the School of Environmental Sciences, and the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, at the University of East Anglia.