Staff Perspective – by Shazna Hussain
On International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste (29 September), Shazna Hussain from our Food Lives programme, shares her experience as a community researcher in Tower Hamlets and what needs to change to reduce food waste.
Food Lives is part of a Wen programme to explore what food means to people in the local area of Tower Hamlets. As community researchers for the programme, both Sajna and I went out into the community with open minds and hungry for knowledge and stories. It took us some time to develop relationships, trust and rapport with the Tower Hamlets residents, stall holders and shop owners we met.We reassured them we were not there to dictate to them what to eat and not eat, we had to reassure the stall holders and shop owners particularly that we were not from trading standards or the food hygiene departments!
A wealth of local knowledge and skills when it comes to food
The mothers we met, in particular, had a lot of knowledge and skills regarding the food they feed their families. They shared some wonderful stories with us and listening to them you can see their joy and as they go back into their memories of food and feeding their families. But they also told us about the complications of cooking on a low budget and the confusing messaging they get around food and health.
People want to buy the right amount of food, with less packaging to reduce waste
What we find is that people want to eat good quality food at affordable prices. They want to be able to purchase the exact quantity of food they need to prevent wastage and with less packaging. The local food banks some people use are good, but they do not meet their cultural diets. They can lead to food wastage, and they don’t have enough of the right food that people want to eat.
Access to local growing spaces
We were able to recompense the people we involved in our research for their time with shopping vouchers and they were happy with these as it helped them to purchase food culturally appropriate food they would like to eat. They also spoke about wanting access to more growing spaces so that they can grow their own cultural vegetables and improve their mental well-being, through contact with nature.
Local food co-operatives are providing an alternative, and reducing food waste
When we interviewed participants that were purchasing organic fruit and vegetables at non-organic prices from the Teviot Co-Op, they spoke about how they enjoyed being able to pick up exactly the quantity they needed which prevented food wastage. There was no plastic packaging. They said they were able to use less garlic and ginger because it was very flavoursome, and you didn’t need to use a lot.
From the local picture to systemic change
I would like to see us grow what we can here in the UK, import whatever is necessary, and to do that we need to have more community growing spaces. This will allow the retailers to lower their prices and sell at a reasonable price. Close the gap between the rich and the poor, make the prices fairer and accessible to everyone. Nobody should be denied of eating good quality food which meets their cultural and dietary needs.
What’s next for Food Lives
Both Sajna and I have learnt a lot from our wonderful academic lead Dr Elaine Swan. The guidance and support have been phenomenal. It has been a wonderful journey. Being recruited as a researcher in partnership with Wen (Women’s Environmental Network) is incredible as we are part of a bigger team and get to hear about lots of amazing projects and people.
Food Lives is part of a bigger project called FoodSEqual funded by the UK Research and Innovation fund with the aim of transforming food systems. FoodSEqual covers four localities, Tower Hamlets and Brighton & Hove, Whitley and Plymouth and we met and learned from the community researchers in those locations.
It has been an interesting five years learning about what food means to people in our community. We conducted many methods of research with our participants from local mothers to stallholders at Watney market to learn about their relationship with food: Shopalongs, Cookalongs, Focus Groups, Seed collection and redistribution, Oil Tasting, Food diaries, and Collaging.
Within our line of research, we have contributed to papers and been published in journals and books. We have spoken at international conferences in Helsinki and Lille, national seminars at Liverpool, Sussex and Bristol Universities and to public health in Tower Hamlets. We even designed and ran a food history tour in Shadwell.
For more information on Food Lives visit: https://www.wen.org.uk/food-lives/
