Laura Berman photography for the Global Alliance (2020)

How to change counterproductive narratives

Narratives matter because they get accepted as truth and thereby influence how we think and what we do. Counterproductive narratives, such as “we need to double food production by 2050,” maximize yields, or only privilege foremost scientific evidence in decision-making (read more here at Devex), breed counterproductive behaviour and can do incalculable harm. They lead us toward false solutions and away from the inspiring, creative, and necessary solutions to challenging global issues such as climate change, migration, and the need for healthier diets advocated for by farmers, consumers, organizations, institutions, governments, businesses, funders, and investors.

Many leading experts on systems change argue that changing narratives is one of the most powerful leverage points to change a system, and one of the most difficult. For almost a decade, the Global Alliance has explored, analyzed, and rewritten narratives in collaboration with a host of partners in an effort to 1) understand our basic assumptions about food systems, 2) challenge the prevailing narratives that are inaccurate and/or harmful, 3) and, move food systems transformation toward more equity, security, and sustainability based on new narratives. Given how entrenched narratives are, narrative change requires patience, persistence, and trial and error.

So, here are four lessons from the work the Global Alliance has done in order to influence the field of narrative change:

1. Identify harmful or untrue narratives
   The first step is doing the hard work of scrutinizing commonly held assumptions and beliefs. For the Global Alliance this required a deliberate approach to identifying harmful narratives and a collaborative process to ensure that others with different worldviews and/or expertise were able to help identify false statements and uncover blindspots. Having a set of principles, such as diversity and equity, to guide these discussions is a critical tool to reveal the deeper short-comings of often accepted statements. For example, the Global Alliance held multistakeholder meetings and interviews to identify prevailing health narratives that promote “yield-first,” productivity-centric, and symptom-driven (rather than preventative health) solutions, such as “We” feed the world, often driven by the Global North where food is often seen as a commodity, and profits and yields are the only measure of success.
2. Write a new narrative
   The future belongs to visionary new narratives that are attractive, relevant, well-supported, powerful, and viable. Our recent efforts to develop a new narrative around food and health, challenging the perception that increased food production is the only solution to hunger, is an example of what is possible. It focuses on empowering the world to feed itself and to nourish a growing global population well while ensuring human, ecological, and animal health. It aims to challenge assumptions and ‘solutions’ that are actually detrimental to sustainable food systems and human health. For example, this new narrative exposes and calls into question the claim that responsibility to eat sustainability falls on the individual without addressing food availability, or the marketing individuals are exposed to, or the price of food.
3. Find influential allies
   Connected to the above, to ensure we crafted a vision that would resonate across issues, sectors, and geographies, the Global Alliance interviewed a range of stakeholders from around the world to identify the dominant issues and mindsets shaping how food systems are managed. This process flagged numerous commonalities and demonstrated the critical role of messaging and information management in the eyes of the public that influence policy and research agendas. It both helped inform our 7 Calls to Action (critical, interconnected pathways to transform food systems) and served to identify influential allies with common cause where efforts could be aligned. For example, the Global Alliance teamed up with the World Health Organization to publish an OpEd to explain the urgent need for a radical change in our current food systems and the challenges to ensure a safe, resilient, sustainable, and equitable future of food.
4. Be persistent, persuasive, and patient
   Systems-thinker and environmentalist Donella Meadows once advocated that the way to cast doubt on harmful prevailing narratives is to “question them, over and over, with as much documentation, clarity, and persuasiveness as possible, in the most visible public forums.” The media and advertising industries are huge machines that play a powerful role in the distribution and amplification of narratives. At the Global Alliance, we work to engage the press and commentators in dialogue about damaging narratives and building familiarity with alternative ways of seeing in order to influence change. Equally, we work to create space where narratives can be scrutinized by diverse stakeholders, without rancor or backlash. In a world of polarization and online echo chambers, it has never been more important to bring together diverse perspectives on shared issues, even if it’s a complex, daunting, and long-term task.

With the UN Food Systems Summit taking place this week and COP26 just weeks away, global attention on the centrality of our food systems to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals is mounting. This year, we have a unique opportunity to keep challenging our assumptions and rewrite the story that will shape the future of the world: will you answer this call to action?

If you want to find out more about how to transform food systems, take a look at our seven bold Calls to Action which we believe are critical pathways for creating a better future of food.