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I found this module to be very interesting and despite feeling a little bit overwhelmed at first I soon settled in.  I think I will go over the module again in the next few days to make sure I have a good grasp of all the information.

Storytellers in my life.
Peter from the Albion Community Garden is a relatively new storyteller in my life but has come to be very important to me over the past few years.  He has awakened the desire in me to get growing in my own space.. I dont have a garden but i do have a large south facing balcony.
Peter is always happy to take time to talk about the community garden and show me around the various raised beds and growing projects.  Year on year it just gets better with new planting.  He also regularly posts photos and news on the gardens Facebook page and other media platforms.

My friend Mary who lives in Andalusia, Spain is also very inspirational to me.  We have known each other for forty years and I have been lucky to visit her on numerous occasions at her lovely cortijo in the Alpujjaran mountains south of Granada.
Her terraced garden there was full of fruit trees, olive trees and  a variety of vegetables, herbs and flowers.  Before the advent of email we would stay in touch by letters in which she would describe the changing seasons and the food she was enjoying from her own labours.  This inspires me to explore new cooking ideas.

Another long term friend of mine Gail, lives in Sussex and has a lovely garden backing onto open countryside.  Over the years she has made this space into a welcoming haven of flowers and vegetable planting.
She also has an allotment where she can grow on a bigger scale.  Whenever i visit she cooks lovely lunches using whatever is in season.  Beans, courgettes, tomatoes and my favourite padron peppers - although beware, these lovely piquant peppers sometimes produce the odd very fiery one and its a game of russian roulette as to who gets one!

These friends and storytellers in my life make me appreciate the joy of growing food and of cooking and sharing the results of that labour.  It is both restorative and therapeutic and gives me a sense of connection to the earth and people.  A far more rewarding experience than trawling the supermarket aisles.

Exploring what is meant by food.

RHUBARB  Every spring I eagerly await the new crop of rhubarb that Peter grows in the Albion Community Garden. I visit Peter only to be told to wait another week but the wait is well an truly worth it.  The lovely pink and green stems so full of flavour and juice are snapped off for me and I rush home to make a delicious crumble for my family.  Rhubarb is a plant that keeps on giving and will continue to grow rapidly throughout the summer yielding up its stems for so many to share.
I also preserve some of the rhubarb and my partner makes rhubarb infused gin (hic!).
I think it makes Peter just as happy as me to share the rhubarb and I of course share with him what I have made.

I love green beans and asparagus when they are in season but of course you can buy them all year round in the supermarket. I tend not to buy them as I dont think they taste as good as locally produce and I am concerned about the carbon footprint these products have, coming from South America, Africa and Indonesia etc. But i do realise that there are communites growing these foods who rely on the income for their survival.. Its a dilemma for me.

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It was great to meet my new colleagues at our first meeting on the 12th Jan.  We all seem so different with our own food stories to tell which fills me with anticipation for some interesting times ahead.
I am now going to enrol on the GVS course and will be posting about it soon.

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Researchers Group Meeting 26th Jan The Old Boat Comm Centre

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Researchers Group Meeting 26th Jan The Old Boat Comm Centre

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It was great to meet at The Old Boat Community Centre.  I felt that I already had a good rapport with our group from our initial Zoom meeting, but nothing can compare to getting together in person.
We are all very different in may ways but we share a common interest which will definitely make for an interesting working relationship.
I was interested to hear about others experience of the visual story telling module and the challenges it presented.  It was encouraging to hear that I wasnt alone with my initial struggles. Learning new ideas and information can be daunting especially when one has not been required to do so for a while.  The group can definitely help each other with this and it was good to feel the co-operation of my peers.

The tour of the community centre was of particular interest to me as I am actively involved in establishing a new community association in my area. Our resources are on a much smaller scale but i think there is much to learn from other organisations.

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First photo of our team taken at our first meeting in person at The Old Boat Community Centre.

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First photo of our team taken at our first meeting in person at The Old Boat Community Centre.

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This is me looking happier and warmer a couple of years ago in Asturias. I felt compelled to post this as I think I look so cold and bundled up in our group photo. 

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This is me looking happier and warmer a couple of years ago in Asturias. I felt compelled to post this as I think I look so cold and bundled up in our group photo. 

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Modules 2 & 3 How to create visual stories/ Concepts and Techniques

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Modules 2 & 3 How to create visual stories/ Concepts and Techniques

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These modules served as a a useful reminder in how to approach creating a visual story. I think they showed a simple yet structured approach to making a short video and provide an essential guide for anyone who has not used video or photographic techniques.

I already have some ideas for my visual story and I hope to collaborate with one of my colleagues on this.  I will make a story board to explain my ideas and share them with her and hopefully build on those ideas with feedback.
I have already discussed this with Peter Spence from Albion Community Garden and have gained his approval.  I hope to highlight some of the problems he has encountered running a community garden over the past few years.
I have experience in media, film and photography but more on the creative and production side. I hope to learn some new skills through this exercise in particular editing.

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It was very good to meet Jesse Hsu. Our first contact with the University of Sussex
I like the way this session was very much conversation led and it made for some interesting contributions from our team.
I enjoy our meetings as we can all learn from each other and support each other.
It was good to link up with Holly to discuss our ideas for our GVS video and we now have a plan as to how we approach this project. I am excited to see the end product.

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I will be working on a storyboard for the video which I will share with Holly, we discussed ideas for this and I think that together we will be able to produce an entertaining and informative film.

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I have posted this for general amusement. I made this a couple of days ago.  I was actually looking for a picture of Albion Community Garden but couldn’t find one. I will post one soon.

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I am looking forward to meeting up with fellow community researcher Holly Cranfield at Albion Community Garden. We are to discuss and explore ideas for our visual storytelling video project.
I was going to make a storyboard to take with me but I think I will make some sketches during our meeting as Holly has lots of ideas.
Added bonus is I also get to meet her two year old son 😃

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Module 5 - Ethics, consent and copyright

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Module 5 - Ethics, consent and copyright

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I went through this module after meeting up with Holly at Albion Community Garden.  It was Holly's first visit so we spent time looking around and i explained the background of the garden and showed her around. we discussed ideas for our video.  Meeting at the garden was very useful in putting things in context, it also helped in visualising our video project.
My previous work in the film and tv industry meant that I already have an understanding of ethics,consent and copyright but from a commercial viewpoint. I had not heard of Creative Commons and found this extremely interesting particularly in terms of sharing information and creativity for the common good.

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Storyboard so far

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My grandson Freddie trying out the bench. It’s definitely toddler size.

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This was an interesting session delivered by Jesse Hsu. it gave a good overview od the background to research ethics and the need for ongoing ethical considerations in all areas of research.

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I spent time at Albion community garden capturing video footage.  I met a new volunteer who was happy to participate.
Later I wrote the voice over dialogue and hope to be able to edit these over the video.

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Today Holly came to my flat to discuss our video project.  It was very productive and good to sit down face to face.  I think we have a much better idea of where we are going with this task.
we then travelled together to The Old Boat for the tasting survey session.
It was a fairly quiet afternoon but we both managed to complete a couple of surveys. It was good to work with Stephanie Motzek and I must say that I thought the vegetables tasted good too.
I wish I had taken some photos.

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Its been a while since I last wrote in my journal. it seems that we have been fraught  with various issues,
On a good note, Shelley, Holly and I took a train to Reading to meet up with a group of FoodSEquals project colleagues.
I was so pleased to meet with a diverse range of people and to exchange ideas and views on the complexity of our combined task.
The encounter was an enlightening experience and made me feel a sense of belonging to a complex and challenging research project.  It also prompted me to question my pre-conceived ideas.
It was refreshing to encounter a diverse group of individuals who were willing to share opinions and ideas about social, economic, ecologic and political issues.
I came away from this meeting hoping that we can re-convene. We have much more to discuss and I look forward to exchanging and sharing ideas with all involved in this worthy project.

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Parmentier de Confit du Canard.  Basically a a sort of cottage pie made with duck legs.
Apologies to non meat eaters.

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I read this document today, produced by Food Research Collaboration. It was well written in plain language to appeal to a broad range of reader (unlike many of the academic papers). In its introduction it sets out how its aim is to show how people working in food projects can make practical changes for future generations.

It succinctly covers the basics of climate change and explains about the different greenhouse gasses and how they are set to rise.  It also describes how much the food system is responsible for and thta by making changes we can avert the worst impacts of climate change.

I found it to be very informative and easy to read and comprehend. The examples of carbon emissions of various foods was quite shocking.  I am a cheese lover but i might try to reduce my familys consumption of it although I would find it hard to be totally dairy free (my son is dairy free but for dietary reasons and not choice).
The article concludes with suggestions on what we can do and how everyone needs to know what is happening and how to take action,- "Climate action is not something that should be done by some people 'to' other people".

I think that this document could be very useful to us in terms of using some of the content to promote discussion and raising awareness and also to help with putting together our own leaflet if needed.

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We had four participants, three female one male.  The group settled in quite quickly and were mostly very communicative and eager to express and share opinions.  I look forward to analysing the transcripts.  In hindsight I wish I had encouraged Valentina to join in more, she was Italian but had a good command of English.  I just wonder if she felt a bit left out at times.  If I encounter this in future I will be more aware of it.
The session seemed to fly by and I hope that it will yield some useful information.

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I have to admit that I hadn't read up about the event until we were on the train to London, I was however immediately intrigued as to what the guest speakers had to say about "What does climate justice look like in our food system".
On arrival we had the opportunity to meet other delegates whilst enjoying some food prepared and curated by Keke Kaur with the help Od Blueprint Architects.  Some of the food producers had stalls in the foyer and I enjoyed talking to them about their growing projects.  I was particularly interested to find out that one of the projects based on a similar sized social housing estate as The Albion Hill Estate also had problems recruiting resident volunteers. They too found that more than 50% of thier gardeners were from outside the estate.  As to why this is the case neither of us could say.
I was particularly keen to hear about the Feminist Green New Deal especially as to how more women and under represented minority groups might be afforded opportunities to work within the Green Sector and also about creating an improved care system to enable more women to get into the workplace.  I was disappointed that Ruth Jones MP was absent as I would have hoped that she might have some ideas and opinions to put forward.
I had not heard of Vandana Shiva previously and whilst I found the recorded interview with her to be interesting I feel that i need to find out more about her work.  I will endeavour to research her and source one of her books.
One of the speakers (I think it was Dee Woods) made a bold statement that it could be possible to feed our communities through local growing initiatives. I am not sure how realistic this is as I dont think that even if all the green spaces and spare land in London's vast metropolis were turned over to agriculture that they would provide  the quantities needed.  I am not suggesting though that we shouldn't continue to expand community growing projects throughout our towns and cities, I believe that these projects need to be supported and that our education system needs to ensure that the younger generation learn about the benefits of growing healthy and sustainable food.
It seemed that the talk had no sooner started than it ended.  I felt that it only touched on various issues but that it did leave me wanting to find out more.  I hope that others shared this sentiment as I feel that events like this can get people talking and asking questions about equality, sustainability and bringing about change to create a fairer food system.   I hope that we can build a strong network of like minded organisations and individuals who can work together and make the change happen

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Today we held the last of our Beans and Pulses workshops, I also facilitated at last weeks workshop at THe Phoenix Artspace.  They were both quite different as today we had an interpreter present as four of the five attendees were from Bangladesh. Using an interpreter made the process much slower as it was necessary to use shorter sentences and to wait while the interpreter explained to the group.  With this in mind we altered the plan slightly to accomodate this in order to keep the session within the timeframe allocated.
Despite these changes the group was very lively and produced some interesting data.  We realised after a while that we also needed the interpreter to translate the comments made by the only English speaking member of the group to include her remarks within the discussion.
A couple of key points made that particularly stood out for me was the general concern about rising costs and poorer quality in an imagined future scenario and also how government backed growing schemes might help to alleviate this.
Todays group opted for an International future scenario whereas last weeks chose British Beans.
Both groups currently eat beans regularly in their day to day diet.
Both groups discussed the need for guidance and education in how to cook with beans and to use a wider variety of them.

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Refelections on Fish Workshop Analysis 10.05.23

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Refelections on Fish Workshop Analysis 10.05.23

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I found the approach to the analysis to be better than the previous work on the first workshops.  I felt it was good that Jesse worked on this alone and then involved us to look at his initial findings and themes.  It allowed us all to have a say and to tweak the language used and to challenge his ideas.  As I was only involved in one of the Fish workshops my input was limited, it might have been useful to have read the transcripts from other sessions to help contextualise some of the findings.
It was also an opportunity to refresh in my mind what was discussed at the workshop and to think more deeply about the implications of attendees comments whilst unpicking what was their key concerns or concepts.
The analysis afforded us the opportunity to look at how we might take things forward and what we might like to find out more about.  To look at how we can best get a more in depth  response from the groups by adapting and refining our questioning process.

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It was a glorious day, the sun was shining and the countryside was looking its best with the Hawthorn in full blossom so I was full of anticipation for a lovely afternoon.  I hadn't been to Waterhall Golf Course before but had often driven past so I wasnt prepared for the stunning vista of the South Downs from the Clubhouse.  It was breathtaking, what a stunning backdrop for our Wellness afternoon.
Gradually we all arrived and the conversation was soon flowing, it was good to see some new and familiar faces and hear more about their work at BHFP.
After an al fresco lunch whilst taking in the views and chatting I took the opportunity to have a stroll around and noticed that the once manicured greens were already being taken over by wild grasses and plants- I was keen to hear about the re-wilding project.
We were greeted by a Ranger who worked for BHCC who had taken back the golf course and were now working on re-wilding the 120 acre site.
It was interesting to hear how they were approaching this task and also to learn that in a square metre of downland there can be up to 40 different species of flora.  Much of the scrub and hawthorn was being gradually cleared with the help of the volunteers.  Because the are had been ungrazed for decades the scrub had grown in the areas around the golf course and had  got out of hand.  Once cleared it was hoped that the native grasses and plants would be able to thrive with the help of a small herd of cows that would systematically graze over the site.
I look forward to seeing how this progresses over time and I intend to visit the site again soon.

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07.06.23 CR Meeting @ BHFP

Great to meet up with the full team in person. First time looking forward to many more in person get togethers.

Jesse showed us the format and protocol for Round 2 Fish Workshops.

Interesting new concept of working one to one with participant regarding the cards activity. I am interested to see how this works in practice.

We did a run through of all cards which highlighted need to explain some of them if need be.

I think this exercise is to examine what issues or aspirations are most/least important.

Note taking in these workshops is key to recording responses accurately.

I wonder whether the time allocated will be long enough.

Also am looking forward to being involved to see how this format works in practice.

It was interesting to hear other new CRs queries and comments. It’s a lot to take in but I am sure that it will all make sense on the day.

Personally I feel positive about this next phase of workshops and am glad that we now have a larger team of CRs with diverse backgrounds and experience. I think we will have some interesting and challenging months ahead. Bring it on 😀

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I met up with Sophia today to recruit participants for the next Fish workshops.  It was "their busy week" at St Georges Hall according to one of the volunteers there.  On arrival there was a queue of approx 20 people patiently waiting to be allowed in to select their groceries.  The tables were well stocked with a wide variety of food stuffs and other household items.
Thois was my first time working with Sophia and she was in good spirits and together I think we signed up 9 people.  We could have signed up more if we had another CR with us.
Sara Fernee was at MCM promoting her forthcoming event and giving out boxes of vegetable plants.
The time flew by and I hope that our sign ups all attend as they were a diverse range of people.

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I just read this article and until now I was completetly ignorant of the promised Horticulture Strategy and now I am feeling annoyed that the ministers promise has not been fulfilled.  This article clearly explains why this strstegy is neededand how disappointed and let down our fruit and veg growers are feeling.
Given that the land use for horticulture is much less than other farming and how much it can yield it seems to me that we need to be looking at improving our horticulture to provide healthy sustainable fruit and veg for our communities.

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Good to hear other CRs feedback on recruiting in person, although only three of us have done this so far. There is always something we can learn from each other. I will hopefully be following up by telephone to check that the MCM sign ups will be attending.
I havent sent out any digital info as yet, I need to have a meeting with Albion Life to discuss this for future recruitment.
I just sent a digital flyer to ALbion Life whatsapp group.  I am keen to tap into the Tarner Community for future recruitment.

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Great to hear feedback about the fish workshops round 2.  We all agreed it was a bit rushed and would have been better if 90mins.  This to be fed back to FE.
Also for future tasks need to ensure that we have better resources.  The card task for instance, cards too small and hard to read and also some very badly reproduced and almost illegible.  Ditto more post it notes.
However generally we all agreed that there was some good data gathered and personally i felt they went better than expected.
Also today Ali went through GDPR with the team and BHFP Policies. All very useful and good to refresh on various matters.

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Community Eatwell Scheme by Victoria Williams

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Community Eatwell Scheme by Victoria Williams

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This was fairly easy to read looking ibti the Community Eatwell pilt scheme. The pros and cons an alternatives.
Poorer neighborhoods having fewer fresh fruit and veg outlets per head of pop. and that high calorie processed foods are cheaper than healthier foods. Issues we have discussed in CR meetings many times.
The fact that 143 million advertising spend on promoting crisps, sugary drinks etc whereas Govt spent  a mere 5.2m on healthy eating camapign and 38m spent on NHS surgery.
The govet plan for a pilot scheme would be 2m and if successful could be rolled out across England and involving a Prescription programme sounds interesting but I am not sure it would work? The article says that the costs would be far greater if it were rolled out. It also asks if it is wise to "medicalise" fruit and veg consumption and how it might be difficult to set out what food would be available on prescription and maybe it would be simpler to incentivise food retailers to set up low cost/loyalty schemes.
In conclusion the article states that the scheme could be part of a range of interventions such as raising incomes, cutting junk food advertising, subsidising sustainable healthier farming etc.

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Spent much of todays CR Meeting reading this article, which I will definitely need to re-read to fully absorb some of the concepts discussed and to familiarise myself with some of the language and phrases.
Interesting statistics on legume production decline and also reaffirming info about nitrogen fixing.
Also interesting explanation of promissory narratives and food futures. How these can anticipate and change the trajectories of land use change and agricultural innovation.
Eco- pessimist
Techno-optimist

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This piece highlights the fact that good practice is not consistent in public sector food.
The problems are  that compliane with government buying standards is only about 50% and there is a clause in the standards which allows them to be ignored.  This seems fundamentally flawed.
The Buying standards do not reflect shift in public preference to better food.
There is no independent monitoring regime to allow public to see how our money is spent.
It seems that there is no control in general over public food sector.

The paper outlines  what needs to happen to change this.
Compliance and statutory regulation are imperative.
Improving buying standards
Reducing meat in favour of better products and less consumption.
More fruit and veg for not only infants.  Preference for UK and organically produced fruit and veg.
Improving and monitorung enforcement of regulation.
Allowing smaller producers access to public procurement contracts.

It is shocking to think that as a nation we have are not already implementing these strategies. How long would it take to implement change? How concerned are our public sector caterers and procurers?

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Having read this article from Nourish Scotland I then went on to research more info about the right to food campaign. I am currently reading about Ian Byrne who started the ca,npaign back in 2020 and want to find ot more as to how the campaign is progressing.
The overview by Michael Fakhri from the UN was easy to follow. Accessible, Adequate, Available. The government has a responsibilty to do everything in their power to achieve these onjectives.

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This Guardian Article mentions the mandatory food price controls of the 1970's and how Rishi Sunak is not proposing we do the same now or in the future in order to redu e inflation.  Leave it to the retailers to come to an agreement between themselves although it seems not all of them would want to get together on this.
If yhis were a success the government could take the glory for it and if it failed well just blame the retailers.
Increasing welfare benefits would be a better way forward in trying to tackle food poverty.

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I had been looking forward to attending this community event  for some time, not least because it was being organised by my former CR Colleague Sara Fernee but also because it was in Bevendean.  Having attended the Moulsecoomb Community Market on many occasions over the past months I was already aware of the great sense of community that this area of Brighton has and was eager to meet with more of its members.
The event was located on the big green area that runs through Bevendean at the top end where an orchard has been planted, the trees are still quite juvenile but it should look great in a few years and hopefully will yield some tasty fruits.
Me and my partner Ian arrived shortrly after the event started and were warmly welcomed by Sara who pointed out the various stalls and activities to us.  We made for one of the gazebos which was hosting a samosa making demonstration ( Ian and I love them) but just as Rabia (our hostess and chef) was about to fry the first batch the heavens opened and a very strong squall ensued.  Everyone ran for cover under the shelter of the half dozen or so gazebos and prayed to the weather gods!  it seemed that we would have to wait for the much anticipated samosas.  As the rainstorm abated I took time to explore the other activities and also to taste the curries on offer at the curry competiton stand.  these were very tasty and the chefs happily explained what the dishes were and exchanged  spicy chit chat with me and Ian.
I had an interesting talk with Sussex Surplus and then caught up with Sara whilst she constructed some fruit kebabs with a younger member of the community, sadly I didnt make one myself as I was already full from the curry.
We were then treated to a demonstration of teh Wonderbag by Charlotte Hastings from Therapy Kitchen.  Charlottes enthusiasm was most infectious and made me want to invest in a Wonderbag.  I f you havent heard of them please google it.  The bag is a great way to cook stews, soups etc using very little energy.  Unfortunately the bag isnt cheap (around £60) so might be out of reach for families on a tight budget for the initial outlay.
All too soon it was time for me and Ian to bid farewell to Sara, Rabia, Charlotte, Nikki, Phil and Josh and all the other friendly and welcoming people we had met.
I was impressed with how Sara and her team had organised this event.  It was informal but I could see that much thought and effort had gone into the planning and execution.  The various activities were interesting and engaging - well most of it was food  so thats got to be a winner!
Sadly the weather wasnt as we had hoped for and also the Womens FIFA World Cup match might have had an impact on visitor numbers (womens football has really taken off in the past few years - about time too). I will make sure to have a follow up chat with Sara to see how things went for the rest of the event.  Outdoor events are always a gamble especially with the British climate.
It did give me food for thought about how we could either piggy back on these type of events to increase community awareness of FoodSEqual or look to hold our own event in the future.  Maybe an indoor event with a cookery demonstration and some participatory activities, a brief survey with a small prize incentive, childrens activity?

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Have you ever bumped into yourself? Well that’s what I did when I had finally rid myself of my alcoholic husband of eight years. I was walking up the road and saw myself heading towards me, I wasn’t surprised at all and said to myself “Oh there you are, it’s been a long time.”. Of course it wasn’t really me but an apparition of my troubled mind, I felt my shoulders lift and I took in a deep breath and exhaled slowly then a feeling of relief and elation flooded over me.