Addressing food systems through consumers: SCP Thailand at the SFSP Conference

Ply Pirom, project manager for the Thai project component, presented project activities in Thailand. He shared insights on integrating demand and supply sides and directly connecting producers to consumers, e.g. in form of the "Eat Better" campaign, farmers' markets or market outlets in the retail sector. Our "Eat Better" campaign was launched as an awareness-raising initiative to ramp up social momentum towards a sustainable food system through the promotion of responsible consumption, behaviors, and attitudes, encouraging a change in how we eat, purchase, manage, and understand food. Alongside the Eat Better campaign, the teams strengthens farmers' markets as a tool to promote responsible consumption patterns to urban consumers. They make consumers think about what the value of food is and its production. Farmers markets can be a catalyzer for food system sustainability. It helps consumers and producers meet and connect with each other. Consumers receive direct experiences and are able to ask questions, learn, and understand, gaining real information about food production directly from the producers through the farmers' market. During the past few years, more and more consumers are being drawn to farmers' and local markets due to an increasing demand for natural, organic food and local products. This upward trend depicts a rising consciousness among consumers who are more concerned with not just what they eat and consume, but where and how it has been produced as well. This "locally produced" market differentiation strategy results in higher value gains for farmers, while meeting the demand for healthier foods, which in turn can drive the adoption of environmentally sound farming practices.