Nourish Scotland is crowdfunding for our Good Food Nation campaign. In the countdown to deadline day (11 December) we’ll be publishing a blog every day to make the case that supporting this crowdfunder is a really good idea that you should tell everyone you know about.
Today we’re thinking about a #GoodFoodNation for our communities…
The tastes, smells, and texture of our history is intimately intertwined with food.
Food is the good times and the bad. Food is with our families and our friends, our colleagues or our neighbours, the people on the bus or in the cinema. It is also the people in the shop or in the cafe, the people on the farm, in the factory, in Scotland, in Brazil – literally everyone. What’s your earliest food memory?
Food is a universal cultural identifier: it’s an important part of social and community life; it’s an important part of global life. Food is a big deal.
Food has also for many people in Scotland become an entirely isolating experience. Don’t blame the children: we’re going to need more than cooking classes to fix this one – it’s a structural problem, and it is happening in many ways all at once.
As the cost of living has steadily increased and the value of our incomes become more strained, our most basic human need has been compromised.
As a small and powerful number of retailers and caterers have consolidated the scene and the offering, the diversity in our built food environment has steadily been eroded.
As the climate changes the conditions for food production have grown more unfavourable the world over, setting the foundations for a hostile food future.
The Good Food Nation Bill is a once in a generation opportunity to transform the way we do food. At Nourish Scotland we believe that food is everyone’s business. Communities of place and interest finally have an opportunity to shape the direction of travel.
Kitchen Table Talks at Nourish Scotland’s Members and Supporters Evening 2017
Consultation on the Good Food Nation Bill is expected to start in 2018, we’re crowdfunding to make it easy for everyone to get a seat at the table.
One of the things we’ll use the cash raised for is Kitchen Table Talks. This is something our friends over in Canada perfected – an accessible tool that makes it easy for everyone to get involved in thinking about food policy. We want thousands of people to participate, but are a small NGO and have no dedicated funding for this work.
The priorities we establish in the Good Food Nation Bill will shape our food culture and communities for generations to come – will it be grounded in human rights and environmental justice? You decide.