Short documentaries can be a powerful way to engage people in social issues while challenging assumptions and prejudices, new research suggests.
This study assesses the impact of a film that emerged from a participatory food research project that aimed to explore creative ways to better understand the food experiences of vulnerable communities.
Originally developed in 2019, it collects the voices of six individuals experiencing food insecurity and documents the dilemmas they face on a daily basis.
We also heard from frontline workers at food banks and other emergency food providers who are working tirelessly to feed vulnerable people during times of crisis.
Writing in the journal Sociological Research Online, the authors say the study provides a visual representation of the reality of food insecurity for those who have the ability to promote change in the food system.
Reaching a broad public audience, it continues to be used regularly as a knowledge exchange resource by public health workers, educators, non-governmental organizations, and others.
As food prices and household costs continue to rise, they say the message it contains, and the challenges it highlights, are perhaps more relevant than ever.
Dr Claire Pettinger, Associate Professor of Public Health Nutrition at the University of Plymouth, has spent many years researching how food poverty affects vulnerable people across Plymouth. She developed the vision for Food: On the Margins in Plymouth and is the lead author of the new study.