When we heard that the Gathering Table Summit would be happening in Bristol, and that it would be taking place over Food Justice Fortnight, we couldn’t believe our luck! We’d been taking part in the excellent ‘How to be an anti-racist food organisation’ training held by Sustain and Eating Better, and jumped at the opportunity to share some of the journey we’ve been on in Bristol in recent years.
As an organisation dedicated to addressing food insecurity in a city with a hugely diverse range of food cultures, the topic of ‘culturally appropriate food’ is always high on our agenda. It has become more widely accepted that accessing foods that are relevant and familiar to their culture, religion and backgrounds is essential for people’s health and wellbeing. We welcome this shift, and while having access to the right ingredients is key, it’s important to remember that food is so much more than the items we cook with. Culture is the enactment of an identity, so if we are to see true racial justice in the food system, we need to make meaningful space for people to practise their food cultures and tell their stories openly and freely.
Like most things we do at Feeding Bristol, we wanted this session to be collaborative, so we invited some friends, old and new, who do incredible work in different parts of the community food system in Bristol. We were joined by Jasmine Tippett whose work is focused on community education and integration, Fozia Ismail - journalist, chef and mixed-media artist, and Manu Maunganidze – the wearer of many hats, including youth work, community advocacy and creative changemaking. The session was led by our director, Ped Asgarian, who focused on his knowledge and experience in equitable growing and agroecology.
With a facilitator on each table, the room was divided into four key areas of the food system: education, media, food spaces, and food growing. Each group was given questions to help them imagine the future of these areas where culture and identity play more central roles. We began by thinking about 100 years from now, then in 10 years, to finally think about what values we could implement within the next year.
Workshop questions included
- You wake up in 2125. Colonialism is studied in school like ancient history. What does your table’s part of the food system look like? How is food culture & identity centred in this part of the food system?
- It’s 2035 and your group is tasked with designing a new teaching kitchen/food publication/community café/community allotment that makes space for a wide range of food cultures and identities. Draw, write or design your ideas!
- It’s Food Justice Fortnight 2026, and you’re discussing the values and beliefs that you’ve implemented into your organisation or community to be inclusive of all food cultures and identities.
We wanted participants to feel hopeful and empowered, reflecting the equitable and just food system that we want to see in many years’ time, but also thinking about how grounding our steps to take us there begins now. At the end, we brought each group’s sheet of paper together to create a circular food system, one where each aspect is interlinked and where our future is driven by values such as inclusivity, welcome, solidarity and community.
We wanted to think creatively but also explore the real tangible changes we can make within our own sphere of influence. When we think about the food system, our focus is often on more of the logistical, practical aspects, but the whole system is driven by our human needs - which culture and identity can’t be separated from. Like we’d heard at the powerful panel discussion earlier that day, to bringing about true racial justice can feel like an unreachable task when you think about how deeply embedded colonialism is in our food system, and while there is a lot of work to do, it starts with changing our mindsets and ways of seeing things. Decolonialising our minds is about recognising there is an abundance of food and resources for everyone, and that we can bring more care and joy to the way we do things if we put people’s experiences.
