Sustainable livelihood our contribution

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Sustainable livelihood-our contribution

• Helena Shanahan
• Department of
• Food, Health and Environment
• Göteborg University

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Idle and non-profit-making, Im lying among
buttercups and cowslips, the mobile switched off,
my dairy closed. Euphoric about just being,
embedded in the ancient, mystical phenomenon
called Life. Im reflecting the best things in
life are free. That the body is healthy and the
heart is beating that I am capable of giving and
receiving love. The beauty of the summer meadow
becomes a happy protest giving the finger to all
the worlds number-crunching pedants(Edman, S.
(2005). Göteborgs-Posten, July 9, 2005, p 2,
authorss translation)
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Livelihoods

• can be seen as encompassing activities aiming at
  survival, and improving living conditions and
  well-being, as well as improving the environment

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sustainable livelihood

• is a stage when time spent for earning ones
  livelihood is in balance with consumption needed
  for life satisfaction
• (Sanne 2002)

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Sustainable livelihood...

• has ecological, economic and social dimensions

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Gross Domestic Product and Life Satisfaction
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Changes during the last 30 years

Stress
Working condition
Better life
Family life
Time for leisure activities
Economy
t
Economy
S
Security
Human relations
Generally
Environment
Enviroment
Sanne 2002
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Some figures, Sweden

• 73 women 77 men in paid employment
• 44 days for women, men 37 days, paid sick leave
  in 1999
• 18 of household work done by men
• 70 experience lack of time
• 20 of unemployment in young age groups

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Unsustainable consumption
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Emission CO2 from private consumption 1993-1999

Indirect other countries Indirect domestic Direct
Year
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Ecological footprint
The of area of productive land that is needed to
support the consumption of resources and dispose
the waste that is generated for a given
population.
The World 2,3 ha Asia Africa 1,4
ha Göteborg 4,0 ha The USA 9,6 ha
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Over-consumption of clothing
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Super size Everything! 7-Eleven soda 1980 32
ounces 2000 64 ounces McDonalds French
fries 1980 4 ounces 2000 7 ounces Supermarkets
1972 24,038 square feet 2000 44,072 square feet
Wired, December 2002, 65
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Some research projects
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Changes in food consumption

• legumes
• egg
• fowl
• vegetables
• fruit, berries, jam
• fish
• pork
• lamb

• 132
• 97
• 55
• 86
• 25
• 22
• -30
• 22

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One year after..

• We have not change any food habits? but
  changes had occurred!
• Feedback of own behaviour
• Self-production
• Children became vegetarians
• Supporting each other
• Greater supply and exposure
• Mad cow disease
• Media attention to bad animal husbandry

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How did it happen.

• Self-regulating market
• New legislation
• Increased supply
• New preferred product qualities
• Increased consciousness
• Lower price
• Changing social norms
• Piece of mind

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Households and environmental behaviour

• Household environmental behaviour is very complex
• Households attitudes and values can change
  depending on the context
• Households living under the same conditions can
  act very differently
• Changes can first be expected when barriers to
  action are low enough for inexpensive action that
  are ready at hand

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• Designing and Evaluating the Impact of
  Environmental Information in Food Service
  Institutions and the Food Wholesale Sector
• The foundation for Strategic Environmental
  Research (MISTRA)

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Participating researchers

• Social science
• Home Economics
• Psychology
• Business Economics
• Science
• Sustainable agriculture
• System ecology

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Overall aimTo contribute to knowledge crucial
for establishing patterns of food production and
consumption with lower resource use and emission
levels.
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Part of the food-supply system investigated
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Purpose

• To gain knowledge about how environmental
  information is perceived and used in food service
  institutions and the food wholesale sector

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Different phases

• Identify needs and practices of suppliers,
  producers corporate customers in relation to
  environmental information
• Perform quantitative analyses with
  LCA-perspective for various food products
• Develop scenarios for discussing the role of
  environmental information

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• How do different actors perceive and use
  environmental information?
• What different ways of seeing environmental
  information are there and what affects this
  different perspectives?

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The financial perspective

• Focus on cost
• To subordinate environmental considerations to
  financial realities

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The regulatory perspective

• Focus on regulations
• To follow rules and guidelines
• To trust the judgement of others

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The demand compliance perspective

• Focus on compliance
• To listen to customers and consumers
• To make financial adjustments

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The quality control perspective

• Focus on documentation
• To documents the quality of food
• To focus on food and product safety
• To examine suppliers

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Results

• Purchasers lack information about other parts of
  the food supply system.
• Purchasers request environmental information to a
  low degree.
• Purchasers find it difficult to make
  environmental friendly purchase decisions.
• Price and absence of hazardous substances most
  important when making purchase decisions.
• Environmental information in the food system is
  to a great extent a question if
  inter-organisational communication.

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Purpose of LCA-bases assessment

• Investigate products with different place of
  origin
• Investigate fresh and processed products
• Focusing on systems which could be affected by
  choices by purchasers
• Contribute to the general knowledge of
  environmental impact of foods

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Resources(raw material, energy) (Lagerberg-Fogelbe
rg, 2006)
Prod/dist of material
Prod/distr off fuel and el
Crop/breed
Processning
Sysystem border
Handling storing, retail
Handling storing, wholesale level
Storing preparing, catering
Storing preparation, catering
Eco-sphere
Emission to air, water andland
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Carrot(Lagerberg-Fogelberg, 2006)
Energy use
Global warming potential
(kg CO2-ecv)
(MJ fuek el)
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Carrot (Lagerberg-Fogelberg, 2006)
Land use
(m2)
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Carrot (Lagerberg-Fogelberg, 2006)
Water use
(liter)
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Some conclusions

• If Environmental Product Information (EPD) would
  be available today it would have marginal
  importance.
• In a conflict situation when making purchase
  decisions price would be the winner over
  environmental protection.
• Need for a transparent information system based
  on producer-specific data system.
• The system is too complex to predict whether
  simplified strategies such as location will be
  optimal.

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CHEAP?
EXPENSIVE?
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MenuTool
http//concreteit.dyndns.org/dotnetnuke
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BubolzSontag 1993
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• Recharge home economics education
  interdisciplinary learning about global survival
  questions with focus on food and meals, social
  relations, housing and consumer perspective. Make
  the subject obligatory throughout the compulsory
  school system!  

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• Strengthen the role of the Swedish Consumer
  Agency in stimulating sustainable development!

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• Increase resources for consumer research related
  to sustainable consumption and livelihood!

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• Exchange materialistic for immaterial
  consumption when possible, i.e. buy services not
  products!

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Thank You!