Sharing is caring

As part of our project we need to share our findings with our cohort at uni. Today we'll be telling them all the things we have been doing and sharing our blog with them for the first time. It's exciting and a little bit nerve wracking!

Yesterday we made a decision about exactly what our solution to the issue of food sustainability is. We decided that the most important thing is for people to experience a connect with where and how food is grown. So part of the solution is just to share our blog with as many people as possible. The other part is for people to have the same experience that we have had, particularly about growing their own food.

So today we will be handing out little packs of seeds from the Jane St Community Garden at West End. They are packaged in brown paper so everything is recycled and biodegradable. It also has a link to our blog so everyone can find out more about our journey and more importantly, food sustainability.

We'll be encouraging our fellow students to comment on our learning through the blog and share their own journey and connections with growing their food.

Fingers crossed it all goes well!

Sharing a meal - how food can help community connection

I went out for dinner with a couple of friends last night. This used to be something I did regularly, but being a student and not earning money this year, has made it a rare occurrence.  Apart from eating some fantastic Greek food, my friends and I shared personal stories, talked about politics and mostly had a really good laugh. I came home feeling relaxed and connected to a world broader than this little computer and my uni work. It's made me think about how important food is in bringing people together.  A lot of cultural and special events are organised around food. If you look at major religions in the world, the majority of them have some rules or rituals that include food.

So food provides more than just sustenance. But do we still connect as much as we used to around food?
I don't know about others. but my partner and I are in the bad habit of often eating in front of the TV. I know,  it's not a great thing to do,  but it seems to be a time to catch up on current affairs and to zone out for a while. I wonder how many other families in the Western world eat in front of the TV. I guess TV dinners weren't invented for nothing!

Every now and then we make a conscious choice to leave the TV turned off. It's amazing how much more connected and calm we feel as we catch up on the current affairs of our own lives.
So how does this fit into food sustainability? It's something we're looking at in relation to culture and identity (that's related to SOSE in case you didn't notice!). That's why we have an In Our Kitchen page, to explore our connections to food and to share some of the yummy recipes we love to share with our friends and family.