As part of this assignment, I plan to speak in support of activities related to the reduction of food waste. It is proposed to organize a special campaign that would attract the attention of a sufficient number of the public to the problem of food waste. This issue is relevant to the course because it is directly related to the environment. Food waste on an industrial scale is a biological threat to the environment. Therefore, food waste is a sign of the unsettledness of the world around us, which we can try to eliminate as part of a social campaign.
For me, the irregular distribution of food is a clear sign of inequality in society and a consequence of the injustice of the surrounding world. As part of this campaign, it is required to determine the demographics and develop a message that could make the audience take care of the problem. Stimulating the behavior which reduces the amount of food waste is the guideline and the main idea of this campaign.
Presumably, to effectively implement such a social initiative, the campaign should be targeted at adolescents and students of schools and universities. Adolescents are, on the one hand, a receptive audience for the implementation of initiatives. On the other hand, addressing teenagers is how the problem of food waste can be influenced in the long term. Judging by similar campaigns carried out in Portugal, the effect of them is not immediately noticeable (Pinto et al., 2018). However, the dissemination of the social agenda through advertising slogans reaches the audience gradually, which is why the dissemination of information must be distributed over time. Campaigns lasting two or three months should be enough as a first step to influence the habits and perceptions of the audience.
Stakeholders, that is, people directly involved in this action plan, are volunteers who are ready to participate in the project. Other stakeholders are the administration of those educational institutions that are ready to provide a platform for the implementation of the campaign becomes the stakeholders. For additional financial support, it would make sense to involve one of the organizations involved in the distribution of food waste. Dreaming Out Loud, for example, is dedicated to providing food to those in need, minimizing waste and creating a more sustainable social balance (Volunteer, 2022). The organization can both contribute to providing valuable, factually accurate information about the problem and offer schoolchildren and students participation in volunteer programs. Professionally and personally, this collaboration has the potential to make a deep impression on me, opening up perspectives on the power of volunteerism and collective initiative for the best.
Undoubtedly, this task has managed to change my ideas of the distribution of goods, recalling that in many cities, the amount of food is excessive, while the poor and even starving segments of the population remain prevalent. In this tragic social context, the work of volunteers and social services seems to me an extremely valuable concept. State initiatives that lack attention to particular hotbeds of social problems are not enough. That is why I felt it necessary to constantly draw the attention of the younger generation to these problems and involve them in social initiatives that could improve the world around us. Despite my long-standing awareness of this problem, the task made it possible to look at it as at least partially solvable.
References
Pinto, R. S., dos Santos Pinto, R. M., Melos, F. F. S., Campos, S. S., & Cordovil, C. M. (2018). A simple awareness campaign to promote food waste reduction in a University canteen.Waste Management, 76, 28-38. Web.
Dreaming out loud. Volunteer. (2022). Web.