SEE SOIL SOUNDS: A Bristol Case Study

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to present my research progress at the Brunel University of London Social and Political Sciences PGR Conference, acting as an excellent sounding board for comments and feedback on my work since September last year. This is part of my position as a doctoral researcher with the UK Food Systems - Centre for Doctoral Training.

Henry & Cring (2013) note that in the public's perception, soil is often associated with terms such as 'soiled', 'dirt', and 'dirtbag', carrying negative connotations that overlook its importance. This is the foundation of my research project, which will examine how a multi-level soil campaign influences public perceptions on urban food waste management and soil health to drive change. 

The literature review is broken down into six sections, drawing upon literature on global sustainability, food policy, soil science, waste management, education, and behaviour change to achieve this.

Food system development post-WW2 followed the green revolution, prioritising feeding a rapidly growing population by maximising calorific output at the lowest financial cost. The widespread adoption of food systems using artificial fertilisers, high-yielding seed stocks, and chemical pesticides led to intensive food systems and unprecedented yields. This paved the way for the dominance of the global industrial food system today (Puig de la Bellacasa, 2015). This has failed to provide adequate nutrition for all, and it has also contributed to environmental degradation and biodiversity loss (Wezel et al., 2020).

After a brief overview of today's food system and how we got here, the review discusses how increasing urbanisation has resulted in increased disconnection from nature across society. This has led to waste management systems far removed from nature's cycles and recently established circular economy policies. Previous unifunctional approaches have resulted in unintended consequences. Therefore, moving forward, it is proposed that we create multifunctional responses to the current polycrisis facing humanity.

Despite the advancement of soil science research, its complexity has hindered action at educational, community, and policy levels (Johnson et al., 2022). Coupled with increasing urbanisation, most people live disconnected from nature, with soil science knowledge remaining mostly within the academic community. Without connection, soil is undervalued and is prone to mismanagement, remaining a secondary issue in urban planning policies (McBratney et al., 2014; Guilland et al., 2018). Academics call for campaigns to improve public perceptions of soil (Brevik et al., 2018).

This provides an opportunity for multifunctional innovations within urban waste management systems that tackle food waste, soil health, and community cohesion simultaneously. Existing case studies, including Surabaya in Indonesia, showcase how a city of 3 million inhabitants has adopted a citywide food composting scheme to reduce food waste in landfills and improve soil health. The author proposes that other cities worldwide adopt their model.

This journey through the literature establishes that our food systems contribute to the climate crisis despite evidence suggesting they can become a solution. Despite knowledge within the literature discussing the importance of soils, this does not translate to an understanding within wider society. Building on existing research, this project will establish and evaluate a Bristol, UK-based, multi-level behaviour change intervention addressing urban food waste, soil health, and human health to explore how fostering our relationship with soils and the wider food system can enable broader system change.

As far as I’ve found, this will be the first study to use an academic framework for evaluating the impact of soil awareness campaigns. However, Brevik et al (2018, 2020) suggest drawing on literature from other disciplines.

Boulet et al. (2021) examined 118 studies investigating micro, meso, and macro-level factors involved in food waste behaviours. Eighty-five studies provided primarily quantitative analysis, while twenty-five focused on qualitative research. Only eight studies utilised both quantitative and qualitative research methods. They suggest that models employing individual-level factors to predict behaviour, such as the theory of planned behaviour, only partially account for actual behaviour outcomes (Jorgensen, Boulet, & Hoek, 2020). However, numerous studies have demonstrated the gap between an individual’s intentions and actions (Graham-Rowe et al., 2015; Russell et al., 2017; Stefan et al., 2013; Toma, Costa-Font, & Thompson, 2017).

This leads to my research question:

How could a multi-level soil campaign influence public perceptions on urban food waste management and soil health to drive change?

In 2015, I chose not to enrol in soil-related modules during my undergraduate degree, as I found soil uninteresting. However, I am now pursuing a PhD in this subject. What occurred during the ten years between then and now to transform my perceptions of soil? I have engaged in various experiences within the food system, from assisting in the garden as a child to working at an independent whole foods retailer, serving as a chef at a city farm, and studying geography, sustainable development, and UK food systems. Additionally, I have been running food education workshops from 2019 to the present. These experiences have taken me on a journey of exploration within the food system, which ultimately depends on soil.

While academia has certainly shaped this path, it remains inaccessible to many due to a wide array of systemic barriers. My personal relationship with soil has developed most through sensory experiences and hands-on engagement, which also seems to engage others effectively. Those interested in exploring the more academic aspects of soil are often soil scientists themselves or regularly engage with soil. Therefore, I aim to replicate these sensory experiences with soil for a broader audience to see if it prompts a similar shift in perception towards soil.

Drawing on my experiences, I will develop a series of sensory events designed to be run in various communities across the City of Bristol, United Kingdom. Participants will engage with soil through a sensory experience, including the sounds of soil captured by contact microphones, the visuals of soil observed through a microscope, the smell and feel of soil, and the taste of local food grown in nearby soil.

This research project will use a critical realist epistemology, suggesting humans lack complete knowledge of reality. This approach is appropriate as it aims to understand how a multi-level campaign could influence the public's perceptions of soil. 

Due to the absence of existing research evaluating soil campaigns, a bricolage approach will be used (Pratt et al., 2020). The existing literature supports this, suggesting drawing upon methodologies from different disciplines (Boulet et al., 2018; 2020). This has led me to explore the following interventions and methods to answer my research question.

1. Multi-level intervention design

Alternative household food waste collection service (FWC)

See Soil Sounds Sensory Workshops (SSS)

2. Pre/post surveys

Quantitative and qualitative questions

3. Semi-structured interviews

4. Thematic analysis 

It would be great to get any general thoughts, comments, and feedback on my work so far.