“My role is Calderdale Food Network Coordinator – its my responsibility to bring together all of those within our region who have a connection with food or where food and nutrition has an impact on health and the sustainability and wellbeing of the region. The vision for Calderdale is accessible to all. So within that, inclusion is absolutely key, and recognising diversity is key. So, we're looking to support and promote a sustainable food economy and to celebrate good food”
Good projects don’t put you in a position where you feel less worthy than someone else…
What does inclusivity and diversity mean in relation to your work in Calderdale?
“We'd like to create access to good healthy foods, which then has an impact immediately on well-being and lifestyle, throughout the region. This good food culture- is not just for white educated people who have already learned the benefits and have access, either to land, to finances, to their social situation, but it's about actually creating that culture to become essential thinking across all of Calderdale so it's accessible to everybody.
We recognise that the food system is rife with unacceptable racism and racial injustice. “This is for you and its about you” etc. Our work is about encouraging everyone’s voice in how we take it forward. It's very much a bottom up approach, and it's very much about listening. It's about trying to encourage people to bring their message through in the way they best know because we do have a great deal of diversity within the region, and one size doesn't fit all.”
The one common language we all speak is food. Everybody, regardless of their circumstance, their colour, their ability, their money, their education, it doesn't make any difference -We all eat! Food is a wonderful way of breaking down barriers
What do you think the key problems are that we face in meeting people's differences and including marginalised people in Calderdale?
“The challenges are accessing diverse communities, diverse individuals, individuals from a range of different backgrounds and cultures, etc. and abilities. The second challenge, and it's becoming bigger is making sure that when we have got access to good food or when we have good local producers, (and there are a lot of them), that's shared throughout the region. Equality is key to us. Trying to eradicate food poverty within the region, trying to recognise that fundamentally at the basis of all policies we've got to see that we do have huge anomalies, and discrepancies around life expectancy, around overall health, mental and physical, and that much of that is related to diet and access to good food.”
It's essential to have a structure that is sustainable. So access to money and directing of funding and finances in various ways has always been a challenge, and they remain one. And sadly because of COVID-19 it has become a bigger challenge, because rightly, funding is going into different reactive responses rather than a proactive more long term response.
Education is a challenge. The hard thing is to encourage people who are unconfident about learning and haven't had the learning opportunities to actually up-skill and build their knowledge, and their experience, in a way that's right for them; in a kind of a small, slow, but steady way.
You briefly mentioned successful stories like Freegan Boxes, and Incredible Edible. What are the key things about those two projects that you think address inclusivity and diversity?
“I think that what's really important is that if you choose to participate in any of those things you don't have to commit to being somewhere at a certain times every day; you show up if you can, you don't show up if you can't. You can do it in a way that suits you. You can find a group that you are comfortable with. So I think that the first thing, probably, is to make the entry level very, very easy and very, very non-committal, and very, very supportive.
I think it takes away the stigma that some people might see in accessing something that they feel is either leftover or free. And I think one of the challenges we have with accessing good food is creating that healthy attitude with that and just because it's not being used and being sold at the top price in the market, doesn't mean it's not good quality, and it doesn't put you in a situation where actually you're less worthy than somebody else.
So many people back off because they are so afraid that something will be expected out of them that they can't deliver and at some point they will feel that they are a failure. The one common language we all speak is food. Everybody, regardless of their circumstance, their colour, their ability, their money, their education, it doesn't make any difference -We all eat! Food is a wonderful way of breaking down barriers, and in countries all over the world if you're sharing a meal, even if it's a bowl of rice, it is a fantastic way of bringing community together.”
I certainly think everybody has felt at some point a genuine fear of the unknown and how they can take life forward
“Judgement is actually the most destructive word. When it comes to tackling inclusion and diversity I think that's where the crux of all wars - whether religious or whether they're to do with diversity or anything, they're all about judgments. It's the assumption that somehow our choices are better than somebody else's. And I think that's the key to moving everything forward is to recognise that we are all right in our own way and we all do things differently. But at the same time there are much more commonalities than there are differences.
Everybody's word matters, everybody's lifestyle matters, everybody's opinion matters, and everybody's feeling matters. I think once you decide that you know that that we're all right, even though we may disagree slightly, I think it makes it far easier to move forward and to have a completely inclusive and diverse society.
The best way for us is to show people and encourage them to introduce, slowly but surely, a little bit more of what's good for you. And then the ability to be able to source it is key.”
So in terms of the recent COVID-19 lockdown stuff, what do you think has significantly changed for working in food and food poverty?
“There are lots of people who will access things online and campaigns that are accessed from your home, but many, many, many, many people, need the message to come to them.
And there are many people dying at the moment who have other health difficulties, who are not accessing the medical care they need because of the closure of the surgeries and a fear around going into settings like that. Some of the issues relate to food. Health issues such as diabetes, and obesity, and heart related issues, are becoming worse. And being ignored, unfortunately, because the fundamental access to health professionals, is just not there. So, they're all huge challenges for us at the moment. And I think they could be the key ones.
I think there's a profound fear, even if it's sometimes underlying among all elements of society about the fact that our world has changed dramatically.
I certainly think everybody has felt at some point a genuine fear of the unknown and how they can take life forward. ”
I think it's really, really key that we celebrate. I think that's what's important is celebrating good actions that are happening and making access to that information so that everybody knows it's happening.
What are your main ideas for impacting diversity, inclusivity and food in Calderdale?
“I think that fundamental to bring forward is the need now to launch the Calderdale Food Charter properly.
We are very keen to facilitate projects which focus on creating skills, and knowledge and understanding, because, while on the one hand it's important for us it's great that we've managed to work with Fairshare, so they are now operational throughout Calderdale; it's great that we have the Real Junk Food Project and other similar initiatives, like community fridges. In addition to making those things accessible to people, it's really important for long term improvements that we give people the skills, the knowledge and the understanding to actually be able to make the changes more long term for themselves.
I think we also need to engage with some of the established successful businesses throughout Calderdale on a big scale, not necessarily through the food related, but to maybe share some of their time on a monthly basis to some of the more local small producers that need help. It might be financing help, it might be helping do a bit of marketing or just some way to strengthen their capacity, really.”
“I've worked with a lot of children who were very, very, very much marginalised. But one of the things we did was we went to the farm a lot, we went horse riding a lot, we grew with them. We did all of those things and the way progress is made in those settings is beyond anything. You can't even describe it, it's been incredible. You know within a day, you've got a change in attitude, which can't be replicated through doing anything else. Fingers crossed, we will try to encourage systemic change so that when there are opportunities to promote something, to put power behind something, to put money behind something that goes into those types of projects which are 100%, inclusive and accessible.
That has to be the key. And that has an impact with multiple messages, you know, like you said before food is associated with mental health and health inequalities. You can address all those through one project, but the key is, it is free for all, and there's an invitation now without commitment. You walk in and you experience something, and you become part of the community, without significant expectations and you create those expectations yourself by that engagement. Great! .”
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