Conscious Consumers

SOMETHING SMELLS A LITTLE FISHY.... 05 August 2009

It's the end of the line for our Conscious Consumers. They've told us why they're planning to make more than a few changes in the kitchen and the supermarket from now on.

Last year Kiss got involved with Sam Branson for Kiss the Planet. We followed Sam as he trekked around the arctic wilderness, listening as he described experiences that we could never imagine. Sam and his team survived in -35 degrees, had to deal with bears appearing on camp and saw first hand the effects our lifestyles are having on the fragile Arctic environment.

This project was part of a broader Kiss initiative to engage our listeners about environmental issues, we gave them 100 eco tips and asked them how they want to make a change.

Environmental concerns are something that has become increasingly important to Kiss listeners. Latest results from TGI show that over a million listeners across the network plan to make lifestyle compromises in order to benefit the environment. Further to this 1.8 million listeners agree that everyone should be recycling and 1.3 million listeners are reducing the energy they use. These stats certainly suggest that Kiss the Planet has helped developed a greater pool of ethical consumers across the UK. With such issues prominent in the minds of a Kiss listener a propensity to go organic has also become a new lifestyle feature. TGI shows that 923,000 listeners are buying organic meat, 891,000 are buying organic dairy and 1.2 million are buying organic fruit and veg. With this in mind it will not surprise you to know that in particular our Conscious Consumers are rather, well, conscious about most of things they buy. Indeed, ethical, health and moral concerns ring loud in their ears. Therefore, it wasn’t surprising that that these listeners were particularly affected by the recent groundbreaking documentary ‘The End of the Line’. This hard hitting film has been shocking audiences over the last few months taking a global look at the real price of seafood. Any moral viewer would be shocked to discover their fishy indulgence is laced with the foul taste of guilt. Although shown in only a handful of cinemas across the UK, this documentary has made an impact and it’s not surprising our Conscious Consumers were at the front of the cinema queue.

We wanted to talk to a few of them so we could hear for ourselves their feelings after watching this documentary and as with Kiss the Planet, give our listeners their say. 

Here are their thoughts…..

Name/Age/Occupation? Marianne, 27, Senior PR Executive. 

Own your own home? No

Own your own car? Yes

Have kids? No

Last piece of clothing bought? A dress from Topshop

Last CD you bought or downloaded? Basement Jaxx: The Singles

Favourite Kiss DJ or show? The Rehab, and I often listen to Jez Welham when I'm in the Gym

I went to see the ‘End of line’ at the Odeon in Panton Street. A colleague suggested it to me after work one evening; she knew it was my cup of tea as we had spent hours in discussion after viewing ‘The Inconvenient Truth’.

I love eating fish and have always felt smug with my well balanced diet, knowing the rich benefits of a Mediterranean, fish heavy menu. I also felt that I acted as ethically as possible, always avoiding cod and checking my tins of tuna for line and pole caught methods. As I should have expected, my efforts are not nearly enough. I was shocked by how little I knew.

It was amazing to see Fishermen across America and Europe giving up their livelihoods, unable to work in this industry as it currently stands. They all know what is happening is wrong but they can’t stop it so they’ve had to leave a life’s work behind in order to sleep at night. You then see that in Japan the fishing industry have stepped up their game in fishing for Bluefin tuna which is on the brink of extinction. They are over fishing it on purpose and just freezing a massive excess so that when it finally does become extinct they’ll make sky high profits!

I enjoy watching documentaries like the ‘End of the line’, the facts are purposefully shocking to get a good reaction, so it can feel a little like watching a long episode of Panorama, but they are also educational. The facts in this film were clear for us to see despite the dramatic undertones

‘The End of the Line’ was great to give me the bigger picture of the world’s sea life but it also made me rethink my own lifestyle. I’d always considered myself a food lover, yet my knowledge of commercial fishing is so limited. I’ve never thought about hooks, baits or guts, and the only fish I really see are swimming in butter or batter! It was good to get a short education in the consequences of my healthy yet selfish lifestyle.

I think in future I will always go organic when it comes to fish and perhaps do a little research on the sustainable ones that I can buy as I really am not that clued up. I know Pollock is always a good choice over Cod, so simple changes are easy to make, its just making more of them.

I don’t think I could give up eating fish completely but this has certainly changed my way of thinking about what I eat. My love affair with food will look beyond the kitchen in future!

Name/Age/Occupation? Gabriel, 25, Ecology PHD Student

Own your own home? No

Own your own car? No

Have kids? No

Last piece of clothing you bought? Some Fred Perry shorts

Last CD you bought or downloaded? Studio One Kings

Favourite Kiss DJ or show? David Rodigan or Ali B, usually from the Kube

I saw the documentary “The End of the Line” a couple of weeks ago and loved every minute of it. I found the scientific content very informative, without being bombarded with facts. The cinematic representation of the book, carrying the same title, was breathtaking. I have always had a strong passion for the conservation of the natural world, and have never had a problem conceiving the beauty, complexity and yet the fragility of our oceans. This film lived up to all my expectations of my perception of the book.

The cinematography was outstanding; graphically portraying to the layman the devastating and tragic consequences of the commercial fishing industry, which supplies our already over-populous planet with an abundance of fish and sea food. The most striking image, and one that has remained with me ever since the movie, is that of a giant metal beam being dropped on to the savannah of Africa. This environment is populated by lions, zebra, giraffes and rhino, which are all killed by this gigantic metal beam which ploughs through their environment, indiscriminately swallowing everything in its path, and flinging it, into a net attached to its base. Much to my horror, the movie explains, this would be the land equivalent of a common fishing method called “beam-trawling” used to catch bottom living creatures like Dover sole, Langoustine and Scallops. But, because this occurs under the reflective surface of the water we are typically blind to its destruction.   

I also found equally shocking the footage of “purse-seine netting”, a far too common method of catching one of the most popular eating fish on our planet, the Tuna. The video portrayal of purse-seine netting showed how a net 10 km long and 1km deep, scooped every living animal out of the sea as the ropes that control it were tightened, in much the same way as you or I would tighten the string on our sack of marbles as a child. In this net were Tuna; but the by-catch included Dolphins, Sharks, Whales, and Turtles among other endangered species.

This film really brought home the blatant disregard for our planet that the majority of the world’s population must have to allow such atrocities to continue, unchallenged by the majority. A sombering thought.

These Concious Consumers were amazed by what they saw and I'm sure, with the TGI stats so high on environmental concerns, the rest of our listeners may harbour similar reactions and thoughts.

The Times recently reported ‘the menu of Nobu restaurant in London has started to carry the message: “Bluefin tuna is an environmentally threatened species. Please ask your server for an alternative.”…a fascinating example of commercial and moral wire-walking’. Indeed if you want to stand up for what’s right you can’t do it from the sidelines. Our Conscious Consumers know that, and Kiss know that too. We gave you the chance to have your say through Kiss the Planet and we saw how many of you want to change. Now this documentary has sparked excitement again and we get the impression that this won’t be the last in the environmental changes that affect Kiss listeners.