Introducing your new Food Citizenship Coordinator
Our first post from Beth Bell, new coordinator on her plans ahead.
We all have something to offer
In hard times, it is easy to spot all the things that are going wrong and identify what is missing. How can we build on the positive things that already exist within a community instead?
Reviving the heart of communities with START
START is an asset-based approach to community development. Here is an interview with regeneration practitioner Alister Shaw to find out more.
Resistance is fertile: Citizen action on land access
Shared Assets is a think tank building a land system which serves the common good. Consultancy Coordinator Tom Carman argues that alleviating inequities in access to land is essential in building more just and sustainable food systems and unpacks different actions we can take to ensure the fairer distribution of land.
Challenging Trespass: An interview with Nick Hayes
Currently the public is unable to access 92% of land and 97% of waterways in England by laws of trespass. Here Helene Schulze interviews writer-activist Nick Hayes on how trespass laws relate to land ownership and what citizens can do.
Building community food resilience amidst a global pandemic
Amidst the chaos, innovation can emerge. The COVID-19 pandemic has shown the fragility of our food systems, but it is also showing the light through the cracks. Much can be learned from the major shifts we have been experiencing, as long as we know where to look. When looking at food ‘first respondents’, we can […]
Two food stories during the pandemic
During the past few months of lockdown, the forces of consumerism and food citizenship have collided and shifted more than ever. This has been particularly true for organisations focused on emergency food aid. They have been facing their own challenges when trying to shift from treating people as consumers, who receive a service and food […]
Understanding poverty and poor diets
The barriers to cooking for people in poverty are complex and multiple. Too often resulting poor diets are thought to be an outcome of no cooking skills or lack of motivation. Alicia Weston from Bags of Taste, unpacks some of these more complex reasons and how they have been exacerbated under the pandemic and lockdown.
Resilience begins with a seed
As we move through the pandemic, we are thinking about how we can #BuildBackBetter and embed food citizenship thinking as we build and strengthen resilient food systems moving forward. Helene Schulze is co-director of the London Freedom Seed Bank and regional coordinator for the Seed Sovereignty Programme of the Gaia Foundation. Here she unpacks the […]
Food citizenship in Bristol’s response to COVID-19
Across the country there has been an outpouring of food responses to the COVID-19 crisis in the last few weeks. From innovative emergency food provision programmes to ensure vulnerable people are fed, to novel food distributions channels to support local businesses, community organisations, businesses, local authorities and citizens are stepping up. How can we ensure […]