As the world wakes up to the threat of food insecurity, many people in Sheffield have realised the significance of the work that has been done around food justice in the city over the past couple of decades. Yet, in our rushes to feed everyone, it is often easy to forget to reflect on our personal responsibilities and the global situation’s scariness. This reading group is a place to do just that: reflect and learn from one another so we can continue to feed those around us.
In the Kitchen: Essays on food and life. Juliet Annan et al.
Food can embody our personal history as well as wider cultural histories. But what are the stories we tell ourselves about the kitchen, and how do we first come to it? How do the cookbooks we read shape us? Can cooking be a tool for connection in the kitchen and outside of it?
In these essays, thirteen writers consider the subjects of cooking and eating and how they shape our lives, and the possibilities and limitations the kitchen poses.
Key questions/ideas to think about:
- What common themes run through the book?
- Did anything in the essays surprise you?
- Which essay particularly resonated with you and why?
- What material and symbolic purpose does the kitchen hold in our homes?
- How has the role/ function of the kitchen changed over time?
- What questions were raised by these essays?
If you cannot access the book, please message the ShefFood page, and we can sort it out for you!
ShefFood is a cross-sector partnership of organisations across the city formed of local public agencies, businesses, individuals, academic and community organisations committed to working together to create a more sustainable food system for Sheffield.
When the food system works for People and for Planet, it brings communities together; makes us all happier and healthier; and develops local economies for both today and tomorrow. The partnership exists to catalyse these efforts, bring ideas together to make a food system in Sheffield that works for everyone.
