five values barometer
TIME: 20 minutes
PURPOSE: To encourage the audience to share their perspective on which of the five values of
the Good Food Purchasing Program is most important, and engage the audience in learning
about the Good Food Purchasing Program from talking to each other. This exercise will be
useful in understanding the areas that participants are most interested in.
MATERIALS:
• Five pieces of paper
• One Marker
INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Write each of the five values that we will be covering in this toolkit on a different sheet of
paper: local economies, nutrition, valued workforce, animal welfare, and environmental
sustainability
2. Display the values around the room.
3. Point out to participants that they will see a sign for each of the five values.
4. Tell participants to “vote using their feet:” by standing next to a value that is most important
to them. Be sure they understand that they will be asked why that value is most important
to them.
5. Encourage them to think about personal experiences that have helped inform their decision.
Give everyone time to move around the room.
6. Once everyone has settled near a value category that they care about, ask participants to
share out:
a. What value category do you care most about? Why?
b. What have you experienced or seen that made you come to this conclusion?
c. Listen and thank each person for sharing.
d. Make sure you hear from at least one person in the various parts of the room, but best if
the audience can hear from multiple people from each area, not just one person. That
way we can understand the diversity of perspectives.
Rebekah Williams, “Five Values Barometer,” for the Massachusettes Avenue Project
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