Man Food - Exploring men's opportunities for 'Becoming an ecological citizen' through protein-related food practices

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Current global trends in meat consumption are unsustainable, with large-scale livestock production carrying significant environmental costs - greenhouse gas emissions, land and water usage, and animal health and welfare concerns. Man Food is a project that brings together community partners with university researchers to explore questions around food and the environment, specifically in relation to men's consumption practices. The project is not about directly changing men's behaviour, but rather about seeing if there are different ways in which men can relate to food that might benefit health, lifestyle and the environment.It comes out of two previous projects looking at food and community, and involves a series of food workshops with men, the production of a new art performance, a toolkit for organisations that addresses the project's central concerns, and a series of discussion lunches as part of Healthy City Week in Bristol. Researchers Emma Roe and Paul Hurley are employing an approach they call "becoming an ecological citizen", as a way of thinking about the individual's relationship to the environment as one of citizenship rather than purely of (ethical) consumerism. It employs a hands-on and creative approach to connect people to issues like food through activities like cooking and eating. This enables different conversations to take place that might enable people to rethink their practices and beliefs around food. In the context of Man Food, we are interested in how this approach might be applied to men, in thinking about protein diversification - eating a range of protein like vegetables, beans, eggs and fish, as well as / instead of meat - to support organisations keen to address men's food choices in relation to personal health and environmentally-motivated behaviours.The university researchers will work in partnership with Windmill Hill City Farm, a charity that provides educational, recreational and therapeutic activities by giving the local community opportunities to experience farming in the heart of the city. Along with Knowle West Health Park's group Man Alive, the farm will be involved in the development of a series of food workshops with men from a range of backgrounds across Bristol. Man Food will also have an artist working on the project, who will use video and other approaches to creatively respond to ideas emerging in the interactive workshops. These will form the basis of an art performance created for the At-Bristol planetarium, a video of which will also be available on the Man Food website. Over the course of the project, the team will develop the 'becoming an ecological citizen' approach in specific relation to men and protein, and will produce a toolkit, available digitally, for other organisations wanting to explore similar ideas and activities. Central to the researchers' way of working is to be in dialogue with WHCF and KWHP, to ensure outputs like the toolkit and workshops are the most relevant and useful they can be.The team will also work to open up conversations around this subject (from this project as well as from the learning from previous projects on which it builds), through public discussion events called Man Food Picnics, during Healthy City Week. It will also extend conversations through social media and through relationships with other organisations, like At-Bristol, Flexitarian Bristol, Hubbub, The Matthew Tree Project and The Edible Landscape Movement.