The Role of the Media in Increasing Awareness of Food Security and Sustainability

This reference module looks at two main aspects of media effects. On the one hand, it discusses the media coverage of food security and sustainability and the relationship between media content and social, economic and political actors. On the other hand, it presents the consequences of media content on individuals’ perceptions, attitudes and behaviour. Studies on media coverage examine mainly four topics related to food: food security and food crises such as the mad cow epidemic, genetically modified (GM) food, obesity and, to a much lesser extent, the impact of climate change on food sustainability. Media coverage is however not homogeneous, indeed the reporting varies from positive (e.g. organic food) to negative terms (e.g. genetically modified food) and some issues are framed as individual decisions (obesity) and others to social processes (e.g. climate change). While the solutions proposed by the media are systematically related to the political system and cultural context. Secondly, the discussion of the media effects on individuals’ risk perceptions, awareness, attitudes and food behaviour is organized around the fourfold distinction between information sources, transmitter, content of the message and receiver. In conclusion, media seem to be one of the most effective channel through which the food risk is amplified and food behavior is affected. However, the impact of media depends on both individual and contextual level variables, such as individual predisposition, trust in media reporting and in public institutions and perception of risk, as well as on the comprehensibility of scientific argument reported in the media.