by Anne MacLennan
‘Talking about Food’ has a new name. At the meeting on 22 February, we discussed the purpose and vision of the group, the objectives and how we get there.
Considering the prevalent food system, there was acknowledgement of conventional unhealthy food, a crisis of physical, mental and social health and the cost, limited access and possible unattractiveness of healthy food to some. There’s a disconnect with nature, often not knowing where our food comes from, and adverse environmental impacts of waste food and packaging, with soil and animal health suffering from industrialised agriculture. Communities are fractured, so there is a need for re-connection.
There was a vision of a connected community with a thriving food hub, everyone can eat healthily, food is valued, and people can make a living from growing and selling food. People are growing their own and sharing the surplus, there is no food poverty and we are resilient to food shocks.
The purpose embraced the creation of opportunities to make healthy food accessible, using food as a connection, food security and resilience. It also included environmental health, tidying up and improving it for future generations, and helping us to grow our community.
Objectives along the way would be to encourage and support more local food production and raise awareness of the existing more sustainable local food sources than provided by supermarkets and some other food outlets. We want to be able to share healthy food with people who don’t typically access it, encouraging and supporting them to eat more healthily. This will require varying approaches for different groups eg schoolchildren, young adults, parents with young children or older adults.
We have ideas for various activities: a local food market in Broadford, visits to growing spaces, foraging walks, food preparation demonstrations, film screenings, and ideally engaging with schools. The food truck at the Hebridean will be in action again this year and with a greater capacity and sheltered area to meet and eat.
And finally, the name. It was about food, health and wellbeing, inspiring healthy food, a foundational system, rooted in nature, re-prioritising and reconnecting, for example with some of the more wholesome food habits of previous generations – our roots. We need to find and map a way forward, a new path or route, to branch out. It’s time to root again in a better way.
So, the new name is ReRoot.
The provisional subtitle is ‘Working together to create a more connected and healthy, sustainable and resilient food economy in Broadford and beyond.’
Come and join us. We’ll continue our monthly meetings, with a specific topic for discussion and a general catch-up on relevant news. We hope to have a speaker for the 21st March. Speaker and topic to be confirmed. For further info, contact anne@skyeclimateaction.org