We are Food Citizens: How thinking about ourselves differently can change the future of our food systems
“People having choices, rights and responsibilities around food is foundational to social justice. We can use our power to make a difference.” Beth Bell and Food Ethics Council invite us all to shift from a consumer to a citizen mindset.
By Beth Bell, Food Citizenship coordinator, Food Ethics Council
Photo: Faris Mohammed/Unsplash
Much of the important and lifesaving mutual aid that has exploded over the past two years has centred around food, feeding people and using the power of food to make and strengthen connections. We are having necessary conversations about the role of surplus food, the health and wellbeing of farmers and producers and the shameful blight of hunger in our communities. It has become ever more urgent to close the gap between affordable, good food, and sustainable, planet-healthy food, as COVID19 has exposed deep fault lines in our food systems.
Towards the end of last year, 18 months into the pandemic, I found myself burned out, frustrated and a bit lost. In a coaching session I was asked ‘when was the time you felt proudest of your work?’. I talked and talked about working with a small, passionate team on food justice, food access and food poverty five years ago. I talked about how hard it was, how distressing the things we heard were, but also how important it was, how the things we did then were still having an impact. About feeling valued and being given room to grow. About trust and communication. About anger, at the system and policies which were keeping people hungry, and I talked about love and gratitude for the people who were standing up and making a difference. I wanted to be one of them.
My coach paused for a long moment and said ‘Beth, you just came alive’. And it was true. Remembering that time made me able to think about the future, and what I wanted to do. And what I didn’t. Six months later I saw a job advertised with a temporary contract. That job was Food Citizenship Coordinator with the Food Ethics Council.
I have a picture from the Olafur Eliasson exhibition at the Tate pinned up by my desk.
I hesitated for one second thinking about job security and my pension and all that. And then I jumped. I applied. I got the job.
The Food Ethics Council is a quietly remarkable charity that works to accelerate the shift towards fair food systems that respect people, animals and the planet. It does this by asking challenging but fair questions, creating space for conversation, exploration and provocation and advising and guiding charities, businesses and policy makers on how to make the best ethical decisions on food and farming, all things considered.
In 2016, the Food Ethics Council, together with New Citizenship Project explored what a future Citizen food system would look like. This work examined what could happen if all the key players in the food system switched from a consumer to a citizen mindset; generating ideas and testing new approaches to Food Citizenship.
So, what is food citizenship, and why is it important? Food citizenship describes the beautiful belief that people naturally care about others, about animals and about the planet, and argues that we need meaningful power to make a difference to sustain and grow that instinct to care. How to nurture that power, and to make it meaningful, creative and joyful to exercise it is the opportunity and challenge for those of us interested in strengthening the movement.
It is maybe helpful here to say a little bit about how to be a food citizen. There are a thousand ways in truth. And I am wary of listing examples as firstly, people know their own circumstances and communities best. And secondly, a list can sometimes feel like the ‘only’ way, or the ‘approved’ way when in fact, I see food citizenship in action all the time, and often in ways I have never thought of. But I will give a couple of examples, as illustrations of what is possible.
Wefood, Denmark’s first surplus food supermarket sells goods that regular supermarkets can no longer sell due to overdue ‘best before’ dates, incorrect labels or damaged packaging. The products found in Wefood are still edible and safe to consume, and Wefood is very intentional in its messaging that it is for everyone. This idea, that food surplus can and should be used by everyone and is not just those experiencing hardship, is really important. Lots has been written about the use of surplus food to feed people in hunger and it is certainly not a simple yes/no question. But I would argue that just as we all have a responsibility to waste less food, we also all have a responsibility to use surplus food (while also campaigning for systemic changes in the food system that results in less food being wasted in the first place). Wefood aims to normalise the use of surplus food, putting it on everyone’s agenda (and table). Similarly, in the UK, the Community Fridge model aims to repurpose surplus food as a way to connect and feed communities, rescuing good quality, surplus food, free of charge, from local food retailers, producers, growers, restaurants and households.
I recently heard these approaches powerfully described as:
The message is not ‘you need this food’. It is ‘this food needs you’.
Isn’t that a beautiful way of framing it?
Importantly, food citizenship is not just for charities or individuals. Businesses too can choose to be led by ethics rather than profit alone, and there are a growing number of social enterprises and profit making traders who pride themselves on putting people and planet first. Sutton Community Farm is a community-owned farm in South London, started in 2010 to increase access to fresh, healthy, sustainable food and provide a shared space for people to cultivate skills, get exercise and make new friends. The farm is powered by local volunteers, who are also core to the decision making on the farm day to day and for the future. They are explicit about their values:
“Ethics underpin our community enterprise. The farm buys only organic veg, we pay other farmers a good price for their food, and we promote seasonality of produce. We reduce packaging and food waste, and recognise the value of short supply chains and local food economies”.
I recommend any organisation considering making a shift in their approach and messaging to start with the language they use to talk about what they do. The Food Ethics Council’s comms toolkit is a great, pragmatic and simple tool that It is aimed at organisations working across the UK food sector, although it is relevant to anyone wanting to engage citizens, rather than consumers.
We need to work collectively and collaboratively to build the belief we all have the power to make a positive change in our food systems, and that we all have the right to affordable, healthy and sustainable food. We are a vibrant, diverse collective of people, charities, farmers, producers, retailers and more, all working to empower people as citizens rather than consumers.
We are resilient, persistent, inclusive, trusting and hopeful. But we are also fired up at the injustices in our food chains and systems that mean that lots of people can't afford to eat well or participate in their communities. This must change.
People having choices, rights and responsibilities around food is foundational to social justice. We can use our power to make a difference.
We are food citizens.