Disability in South Africa
Disability has been coming up more and more in the media, which overall has been good for a cause many choose to ignore. But with it comes the problems of portrayal and prejudice. In South Africa, there is no distinction between disabled people and people who are disabled. This does not seem so significant, but for people who are disabled, this is the difference between being seen for their disability and not for being a person.
At first, I wanted to do something to promote thinking about disability as differently abled through WhatsApp stories. Having normal people who happen to be disabled talk about their day. This way people can see how normal they are. How they live their lives just like we do. But the situation in South Africa is more difficult. South Africa is not an accessible country.
Infrastructure is expensive. I looked at different methods to show how accessibility is for everyone. By looking at things that we all use, I want to promote investing in accessible design. If we make it more visible, in a way the general populace can relate to. Everyone likes having ramps, subtitles, ergonomic grips and elevators in buildings.
The brand challenge?
People see the design to enable the differently abled as a win-lose proposition. If you design something for them you can’t use it. Changing the perception of accessibility design will get more people to invest in it.
Food waste in South Africa
Food is one of the most essential things in our lives, yet tonnes of it ends up in landfills. This is relatable for every living human being since we all need to eat.
The FAO (Food and Agriculture Organisation) studied the food supply chain “in relation to the prospects for feeding a population of nine billion by 2050.” (Parfitt, et al., 2010) This article looked at the current state of food waste as indications of sustainability. The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the united nations identified the reduction of post-harvest losses as part of the solution in addressing world hunger in 1974. There has been little progress in creating the solution.
There are many reasons food is thrown away. There are what Parfitt et all calls unavoidable losses but these are far less than the 33% of waste being created today. There are many problems, from farmers that need to conform to the same international standards to not having the infrastructure, technology or innovation to meet these standards. Developing countries have even more limited access to resources to produce effectively. It is a case of efficiency over effectiveness. It is more efficient to produce more and throw away what is not going to sell than to develop a process to limit losses. This is not sustainable.
An example would be how developing countries are expected to grow the same produce even when their climate is not suitable. For example, swisschard is seen as a less desirable than spinach yet it suites the South African climate better. The nutritional value of both is very high, where Spinach has slightly higher nutritional value in certain aspects. In South Africa, both are sold as Spinach. Swisschard is the sustainable choice but is less desirable when compared to international standards. This is the case for many variants of plants in developing countries.
We live in a globalised world where exports is a major income for developing countries. Thus it is a necessity that they conform to international standards. A lot of South Africa’s produce is thrown away simply because people try and fain to reach unrealistic standards.
“Retailers’ and consumers’ demand for ‘cosmetically perfect’ produce has created significant post-harvest losses through ‘out-grades’.” (Parfitt, et al., 2010) This is true in every step in the supply chain. There is a demand for “perfection”. In South Africa specifically, the amount of food that is thrown away due to standards is staggering. People do not understand that this demand is not natural. Thus, retailers do not sell ‘imperfect food’. South African post-consumer waste only accounts for 5% of food waste, but our buying behaviour is one of the main reasons that food is wasted in the supply chain.
“The majority of studies show that as the proportion of income spent on food declines, food waste increases.” (Parfitt, et al., 2010)
Another aspect to look at is the perception of the value of food in consumers; this quote basically says that the richer you are, the more food you waste. Although the food waste for consumers is 5% of the total, this is still a sizable amount. The value of food between the rich and poor is different. A poorer person cannot afford to waste food, while a richer person can. This is an important distinction. If there are only slight consequences (like feelings of guilt), why would a person take more care to ensure that they do not waste food?
Statistics show that the most food waste is created in the Fruit and Veg sector with 4 500 000 mil tonnes of waste and Cereals (rice, wheat, rye) coming in second with more than 2 600 000 mil of waste per year. Million’s tonnes of food waste is created every year. (Oelofse, 2014)
Insights
When there is a lack of infrastructure, education and resources people will produce more to make up the slack. This means they up efficiency and ignore effectiveness.
Demand for ‘cosmetically perfect’ food means those that don’t reach the standard is thrown away.
The richer you are, the less you value food.
Concept Ideation
Support the building and research of agricultural infrastructure and development of education. This would be the best method of minimising food waste, but depends entirely on investment. The campaign needs to force corporate buyers to invest in it. At first I wanted to do a simple name and shame, by showing how much waste is made per retailer in the fruit and veg sector. This is rather difficult without statistics, which many corporates like to hide. People are unaware of the waste created by their favourite brands. Another problem with this is that people hate the ‘blame game’ and is tired of it. This is not a solution to the problem.
We need to create a demand for these products, so consumers will buy these products. There is nothing like making a profit to get retailers to act. If we create a market for imperfect producem, retailers will supply the demand.
Goal is to change to the perspective: make buying the cosmetically imperfect food itself desirable.
Become a rebel – don’t follow the norm. Be that person who has the most creative meals. The word rebel is both a positive and negative for this campaign.
- Pro’s is that people like being different.
- Con’s is that the act of rebellion is usually an agressive act against institution. Making a meal is not a rebellious act.
Give a meal a makeover. The idea is that people make a meal with this produce, to show how good it looks when you make something with it. Baically earning bragging rights.
- Pro’s is that this is highly educational and will show people that this produce is good to eat.
- Con’s is that you are still saying it is not good enough.
Become a culinary misfit. This idea mixes elements from the previous idea. You rebel by being a misfit and choosing to not follow the standard. You show this by making a meal with a single weird looking ingredient and posting it on social media. This shows you being unique while being educational and showing that the food is good to eat.
Strategic Platform
What is the brand challenge?
Make cosmetically imperfect food desirable.
Who is the target market?
Consumers who buy food from larger retail stores.
- above 24 (When people start living on their own)
- and owns a phone for social media to be effective
What is your key insight?
Consumers want cosmetically perfect food.
What is your key message?
Become a culinary misfit: post a meal made with a radish with attitude
Become a culinary misfit: post a meal made with a potato with charm
Become a culinary misfit: post a meal made with a carrot with sex appeal
Become a culinary misfit: post a meal made with a naartjies with inner beauty.
How will you solve the problem?
Creating a campaign where people share meals made with imperfect foods as centrepieces. Using Instagram, the hotbed for narcissism to send a message of “flaws” meaning different and not being better or worse by using foods as a metaphor.
The Kickstarter campaign will be to get people to change their perception of cosmetically imperfect food from not good enough to “more interesting”. To get the label of a Culinary Misfit that battles against the standard of society will be seen as a badge of honour.
Working with Checkers, the store will create a space where you can buy this cosmetically imperfect fruit and veg. The in-store activation will include the space where you can buy the food and take pictures of it. While you are there you can use your phone to see what you can make with the produce by looking at the social media feed or online recipes.
Another aspect will be the social media campaign where you share a meal made with whatever you have. The most creative meal will win a fully stocked fridge. The top contenders with the most delicious meals will have their recipes added to their website and they will receive a gift voucher to buy from any Checkers store for the next year.
The activation video will be a simple explanation of the competition using an example.
Rationale
Executions:
A poster to grab attention to the new competition and to ensure people will not just walk away. You want them to look at the produce and decide that they want to try. This poster would hang from the baskets that hold the produce to gain attention.
A short text animation to explain how you would enter the competition. This animation uses text to illustrate the personality of the naartjie that follows. This animation is copy driven and meant for people who saw the social media banners to learn more information.
References
WWF South Africa, 2017. Food Loss and Waste: Facts and Futures. [Online]
Available at: http://awsassets.wwf.org.za/downloads/WWF_Food_Loss_and_Waste_WEB.pdf
[Accessed 29 08 2018].
Checkers, 2018. Recipes. [Online]
Available at: https://www.checkers.co.za/content/checkers/en/recipes.html?course=All&occasion=all&ingredient=Fruit%20and%20Vegetables&offset=24
[Accessed 29 08 2018].
FreeIcon, 2013-2018. Facebook free icon. [Online]
Available at: https://www.flaticon.com/free-icon/facebook_1051258
[Accessed 29 08 2018].
FreeIcon, 2013-2018. Instagram free icon. [Online]
Available at: https://www.flaticon.com/free-icon/instagram_1051258
[Accessed 29 08 2018].
Oelofse, D. S. H., 2014. Food waste in South Africa Understanding the Magnitude: Water Footprint and Cost. THE VISION ZERO WASTE HANDBOOK, pp. 64-69.
Parfitt, J., Barthel, M. & Macnaughton, S., 2010. Food waste within food supply chains: quantification and potential for change to 2050. Philosophical transactions of The Royal Society, p. 3065–3081.
Thomas, J., 2018. Swiss Chard vs. Spinach Nutrition. [Online]
Available at: https://healthyeating.sfgate.com/swiss-chard-vs-spinach-nutrition-1626.html
[Accessed 29 08 2018].
Vlog No Copyright Music. (2018). Ikson – New Day (Vlog No Copyright Music). [Online Video]. 27 May 2017. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVA-9JHwbFY&t=0s&list=PLd9a6mSscF8BUdaOkUOXY47w-ilVPA3Ai&index=4. [Accessed: 29 August 2018].