Presentation
Adopting sustainable practices is seen as a symbol of the ecological transition, but also of the difficulty in making it happen against a backdrop of social fragmentation and political polarisation. Indeed, it involves significant changes to everyday life, which entail a variety of costs that do not have the same implications for all social classes. In the face of these challenges, purely economic, behavioural, cognitive or narrative approaches to change are not enough. They must be linked to a detailed understanding of citizens’ lifestyles, aspirations and constraints in order to identify pathways forward. This Issue Brief, which examines the case of healthy and sustainable food for those on low incomes, highlights the issue of security as an often overlooked or underestimated condition for social change: change can be facilitated by promoting access to new options whilst ensuring the security of existing ways of life.
Key Messages
- The shift towards more balanced, plant-based dietary habits is a prime example of the lifestyle changes required for the ecological transition. It offers undeniable collective (environment, public health, strategic autonomy) as well as individual benefits (cost savings, health). According to opinion polls, it is supported by the majority of the French population. Nevertheless, change is slow and difficult.
- At an individual level, changing habits entails a range of costs: financial, symbolic, time-related, social and cognitive. These costs represent risks that compound a situation already perceived as uncertain. Both the perception and the reality of these costs are more acute for the most low-income households. Consequently, even if change may seem desirable to them, implementing it—or even considering it—may prove impossible.
- Ensuring security in everyday life and creating opportunities for experimentation is therefore the cornerstone of the ecological transition project. This security must be addressed both materially (e.g. food vouchers, social leasing) and symbolically (values, aspirations), which can be achieved through the three-pronged approach of transforming environments, narratives and social policies, and support mechanisms for public action.
