Our Food Conversations for the Food Farming and Countryside Commission programme
Last month we held four ‘Food Conversation’ workshops as part of the Arun & Chichester Good Food Fortnight, giving residents a voice in what is important to them about food and what they think needs to change. These sessions formed part of the Food, Farming and Countryside Commission’s (FFCC) national Food Conversation programme and we will share anonymous summaries to inform the FFCC in its efforts to influence the Government and businesses to create a better food system.
We thoroughly enjoyed meeting, eating, learning and chatting with local people in Petworth, Chichester City, Bognor Regis and Littlehampton across the Good Food Fortnight, and a big thank you to the brilliant venues that hosted and chefs that provided our food. We chose places that are vital community hubs in their respective locations – the Sylvia Beaufoy Centre in Petworth, Jam Café in Chichester, Makerspace in Bognor and Creative Heart in Littlehampton. We had wonderful spaces and lovely meals to accompany our chat, including a delicious plant-based feast from Tina Catering in Petworth, pizza and crudites from Jam Café, nostalgic breakfast baps and cakes from Creative Heart and a delicious buffet from Makerspace & F.E.D. CIC in Bognor.
It was great to have space and time focused on important issues which affect everyone, but sometimes feel too big to address. We had a range of different views and priorities expressed during the sessions, but there was an overall sense of overwhelm around the decisions that have to be made at every food shop or meal we eat, a distrust of how food is marketed to us, a concern for the health implications of our industrialised food system alongside recognition that our local food producers are not sufficiently supported.
We are aware that many people could not attend our local sessions because they were all during weekday mornings, so we would like to arrange an afternoon or evening online version of the Food Conversation in January. If you would like to attend one of these online, please register your interest and availability here.
Read on for a summary of the things people wanted to see happen to improve the food system and if you want to be part of the conversation get in touch today.
Top recommendations from Petworth:
- Making farming pay for farmers, through subsidies or other methods.
- Decrease the amount of imported food/ increase the amount grown locally.
- Control industrial farming, it does too much damage.
- Increase the amount of choice in local convenience stores
- Do more to promote cookery skills, domestic science and budgeting, especially in schools.
- Have more varieties in sizes sold – for example, single people find it difficult to buy chicken (in packs of 3 breasts) or sausages (in packs of 8 sausages)- too much if you don’t have enough freezer space.
- ‘We need to go backwards’ and lose the big companies – support innovation in newer companies working differently and embracing circular economy e.g. Dash water, wonky fruit.
Top recommendations from Bognor Regis
- The Government could lead change on labelling (size of labels, origin of ingredients, standards and clarity of standards on what terms mean, limits on intensive farming)
- Improve pay, conditions and security for farmers in the UK.
- Act to improve food security in the UK – it is risky that we rely so much on imported food.
- Improve availability and pricing on smaller portions for single households.
- Make better-quality food more affordable.
- Establishing more community meals, particularly for single households, to share resources, recipes, ingredients and reduce social isolation and increase motivation to cook from scratch.
Top recommendations from Chichester
- Ban toxic additives and colours, including ones which cause hyperactivity in children.
- Make it easier for people to buy or grow fresh food on a daily basis, working around the busy working lives.
- A better deal for farmers, with fair pay, contracts and conditions for workers.
- Legislate to stop the pollution caused by farming, which is damaging rivers and animal health.
- Create trustworthy labelling with clear standards and definitions, including “Free Range,” UPFs, GMOs, what is given to livestock and fish including hormones, and clarity on what chemicals are sprayed on food. Give people the information to make an informed choice.
- Improve animal welfare standards – particularly regarding intensive farming of chickens.
- Address concerns regarding pollution and health – what goes into our rivers and animals goes into us, improve the water pollution controls.
Top recommendations from Littlehampton
- Learning to cook should be part of the curriculum and schools should have the facilities to do so.
- Government to take action to increase trust in the food system and enable people to make better choices. Proper definitions and labelling, less chemicals, less artificial sweeteners.
- Consider if some foods should be protected in terms of price and quality to ensure that good food is affordable.
- Government to review and put restrictions on excess profits made by food industry, addressing the issue of high food prices alongside record profits by supermarkets, for example.
- Action to make farming a more reliable source of income, with better guarantees for payment, contracts and conditions.
