The one word which keeps repeating itself in my head is ‘disconnect’. Disconnect in terms of how we buy our clothes to how we eat our food to how disconnected communities are. There just seems to be an absolute lack of consciousness behind what we do and why we are doing it. When was the last time I went into Zara and thought more about the person who’d made the clothes rather than how good (or horrendously bad) the clothes looked on me. Answer…never. It’s madness. But sitting behind a nice MacBook Air philosophising about life or being outraged by the latest documentary (True Cost) doesn’t get you very far so instead I've started volunteering at my local Food Cycle in Durham Chester Le Street.
Food Cycle aims to build communities by combining volunteers, surplus food and spare kitchen space to provide healthy meals for people at risk of food poverty and social isolation. It’s a fantastic charity and after volunteering there, one which I feel really does achieve its aims. Food waste has hit headlines recently with the opening of the first Real Junk Food Project supermarket in Leeds but until I started to look into food waste I hadn’t realised just how much food we waste – 7 million tonnes in the UK alone. Last week I went to a warehouse where food surplus from supermarkets is stored – you can’t quite believe it until you see it with your own eyes. It’s virtually a supermarket in itself with everything from organic gourmet sausages to the finest cheddar cheeses. Having lived in Uganda where there seems to be next to no food waste at all (there seems to be a use for everything and anything) I’ve been really shocked by it.
Being the only driver out of the three volunteers I was designated to go and pick up the surplus food from the supermarkets – there was 2 large crates from Sainsburys, 1 from Morrisons, 2 from Greggs, 2 from the local fruit and veg man and 16 loaves of bread. I expected the food to be slightly past its best but all of it was in perfectly good condition – all of it otherwise destined for the bin. With no idea what food you’ll be given by the supermarkets its sort of like Ready Steady Cook! with the slight caveat that you also have no idea how many people you have to cater for either…
An hour and a half later we served up butternut squash and carrot soup followed by ratatouille with pasta and fresh greens followed by fruit salad and banana smoothies to around 20 guests. What I enjoyed most wasn’t so much the cooking and serving food, it was more about the sense of community Food Cycle promotes. It also brings a massive sense of perspective and the realisation of how close to home a lot of issues are which we usually (and so wrongly) only connect to developing countries. I used to be horrified when I heard stories about how far kids used to walk to school in Uganda some up to 10 miles each way. On Saturday I ate dinner with Dan* who was around 17 and had WALKED 9 miles from Durham to get there. 9 miles in the pissing rain and he’d be walking back. He had been relocated from the YMCA in Chester Le Street to Durham after he’d been arrested by police stealing. He is now in shared accommodation with 2 other young guys, all of which have alcohol and substance abuse issues. He used to smoke up to 60 cigarettes a day and when I asked him how could he afford it he said ‘I know a tab house where I can get them for £3 a pack, cheap that isn’t it?’. He then pulled up his jumper showing self harm on both arms which he doesn’t know how it got there – he thinks it is probably the demons that try to get him in the night. How the hell has anyone like Dan got any chance in life? It really is complete luck of the draw which family you’re born into.
As I sit here in a lovely big house with a big garden and a supportive family, its easy to just go about my daily life and completely disconnect myself from what’s happening on my doorstep. I suppose that’s the worrying thing. And sadly I have no doubt that there are 1000s of Dans up and down the country. Rely on media reports and you’re left with damning headlines about those on benefits and with programmes such as Benefits Street it hardly helps. It’s easy to forget that behind those headlines are real people, just like Dan, who I very much doubt have asked to be there out of choice.
Food Cycle has hubs up and down the county and if anyone wants to spare a Wednesday evening I couldn’t recommend it more – all you have to do is sign up and watch a quick video see more at www.foodcycle.org.uk
