Practices
How can we understand the impact of SWITCH activities?
By The SWITCH Team
How can we tell whether people are truly embracing healthier and more sustainable lifestyles through SWITCH activities?
This question lies at the heart of the SWITCH Food Hubs’ work. Rather than assuming that success is fixed or universal, SWITCH recognises that impact is dynamic and shaped by context. The central aim is not simply to ask whether activities work, but to understand why they work, for whom, and under which circumstances.
To explore this, SWITCH combines qualitative interviews with a method known as realist evaluation and a comprehensive psychosocial survey. Together, these tools help uncover the behavioural change mechanisms behind people’s relationship with food. The survey examines four core psychosocial concepts: food access, dietary attitudes, coping capacities, and perceptions of one’s food network. These concepts are grounded in the Salutogenic Model of Health, which focuses on the factors that promote wellbeing rather than merely preventing illness. From this perspective, health is a dynamic process shaped by both personal and social resources. In food systems, this means recognising that eating habits are influenced not only by individual choice, but also by access to supportive environments, resources, and opportunities for participation.
Food access goes beyond the physical presence of shops. It considers whether healthy and sustainable food is affordable, convenient, and comfortable to obtain.
Dietary attitudes explore people’s food choices and values, such as vegetable consumption, efforts to reduce meat intake, attention to portion sizes, and preferences for local or regional products, alongside concerns about health, affordability, mood, and conviviality.
Coping capacities focus on whether individuals feel motivated and capable of navigating their food environment. When people understand their circumstances, believe they can manage them, and find meaning in change, they are more likely to adopt healthier habits. Feelings of autonomy, competence, and belonging further strengthen this process.
Finally, SWITCH evaluates the effectiveness of change-maker networks. Strong collaboration, shared ownership, openness to diverse perspectives, flexibility, and the inclusion of new voices all contribute to lasting impact.
Now embedded in selected Hub activities, the psychosocial assessment generates insights into individual, social, and environmental drivers of change — helping shape future food policies and more sustainable foodscapes.
This article has been adapted from the SWITCH Magazine: Edition 2.