Food at Sydenham Place
Introduction
The main focus here is to consider how food is bought, used and disposed of at Sydenham, which is where I live. I live in a through terrace about 2 miles from the city centre, with small 'supermarket' shops in walking distance. I share my house with my partner, additionally 2 lodgers live here but live in a separate space. So for these purposes will not be included. However there may well be a new person in our household, a care leaver which will certainly add new challenges.
Initially I will conduct a brainstorming session with Stella so that we both understand our differences,our similarities and our goals for this project. From this we can articulate our goals and then assess if we have achieved them plus reflect on the process of change.
The main focus here is to consider how food is bought, used and disposed of at Sydenham, which is where I live. I live in a through terrace about 2 miles from the city centre, with small 'supermarket' shops in walking distance. I share my house with my partner, additionally 2 lodgers live here but live in a separate space. So for these purposes will not be included. However there may well be a new person in our household, a care leaver which will certainly add new challenges.
Initially I will conduct a brainstorming session with Stella so that we both understand our differences,our similarities and our goals for this project. From this we can articulate our goals and then assess if we have achieved them plus reflect on the process of change.
The Brain Storm: Toby & Stella
What came out of the Brain storm?
Our first response was to discuss our ethics, why these were important to us, and the barriers which we believed prevented us from carrying out our desires. At the same time we created a thought shower, as both of us need to be involved in analysing what is happening now, what our goals are, what our ethics are, and how these problems can be resolved. We also recognised that we both have different responses and that these needed to be catered for. |
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Our Motivations as 'Ethical Consumers'We talked at length about our motivations and considered that our values did not match our actions.
We want to be ethical consumers but have considered it to be:
So we have a new resolve to introduce new things slowly, reflect and see how these new initiatives fit into our lives. | Goals: This is what we would like to achieve
These are our "touchstones" and will be used to re-align ourselves to our ideals when choices arise. |
Research as identified from the Brainstorm (a) Alternatives to supermarkets (b) Veg box schemes (c) The Cellar project, Shipley (d) Grow food over winter (e) Composting v Wormery Alternatives to Supermarket Shopping? The exception is the co-op as the interim measure. We have two co-ops within walking distance. This will be used for essentials such as milk, bread, butter until we find a better solution. The co-op is acceptable to us as it supports local food initiatives, sells some fair trade products and its money is not invested in weapons or war. Response: I searched the internet for companies that we could order our basics from. Food such as rice, beans, pasta, etc. There were 2 contenders Lembas and Suma wholefoods. I chose Suma wholefoods as they had an easy internet ordering system, and setting up an account was done in minutes over the phone. These are the closet suppliers to us, only 10 miles away in Halifax. Delivered free if £300 ordered can collect from Halifax if over £100+ Evaluation: (+) For the first order it was easy to spend £300 on shampoo, washing powder, beans, flour lentils etc. It definitely has achieved goals of shopping with ethics, biodegradable shampoo, washing liquids. It has also fulfilled our the required NO SHOPPING AT SUPERMARKETS. It has also reduced the amount of time we spend shopping and the traveling by car. It also cuts down on impulse buying! (-) Bought some stuff we wouldn't re-order such as the awful tasting gluten free pasta and fowl seed bars! So there has been some wastage, but we are keeping a track of what we ran out of first so will be able to tweak the order over time. We can't get all our shopping, but we only have to visit our small local co-op for dairy and bread stuff. | The Cellar Project? This was discounted when we came across them at a farmers market. The produce was locally grown but there wasn't enough choice of produce, plus we would have to collect it. Veg Box Schemes? Stella has had veg box schemes in the past but has been unhappy with the quality and variety of produce. She shared a scheme where she collected the box from a friends house around the corner. Response: I searched the internet and came up with a few options where they delivered locally. I chose Riverford Organics as they seemed the simplest, mini, small, medium or large plus you could add in a fruit bag. I also liked that we could have a bar on certain veg as Stella can't have peppers or courgettes for example. Small veg box is £12 and fruit bag £6 Evaluation: (+) Excellent produce and delivered into our shed every Wednesday. Good email contact on the whole but not perfect, however we are dealing with humans at least and not machines! I didn't believe that a small box would be OK for 2 people so we did waste some veg at the start, so now order the correct amount. We stopped the fruit bag as we didn't want to eat it in winter. They take the old boxes and bags away etc. (-) The winter salad boxes kept having some green leaves which we didn't know what it was! Some of the produce is a little left field for us. I don't always feel like cooking and their is a small amount of wastage but less than when we bough from a supermarket. |
Grow food over winter?
There seems to be 2 methods open to us, which is "sprouting" and growing winter salads outside. So I have put into action both of these.
Sprouting: Easy to setup, we already had a sprouter, but I made a shelf behind the sink for the jars and sprouters.What i didn't like was that the lentils we bought from the local Asian shops always had stones in them which made them unpleasant to eat. Response: The system worked well as we had lentils from the Suma so they are free of stones. Its simple and effective, all within reach of the sink (+) This worked well during the time that I was committed to it. Its great having fresh salad on hand and exciting seeing them grow (-) I am a sporadic visitor to the kitchen, especially during the winter as I find the kitchen uncomfortably cold. The sprouting only happens if I do it, Stella's not interested and she is dismissive if any are wasted. I get a bit bored with doing it, so its hit and miss. There is not a constant supply. Outdoor Winter Salads: We had all the materials to make the salad boxes, even the soil left over from summer. It took about 3 hours to make boxes, put soil in, order seeds etc. I searched on the internet for the seeds and they were delivered by post. Response: I enjoyed setting up the boxes, soil and plastic lids etc. (+) The seeds grew well, and I was surprised that it actually worked. (-) I haven't harvested any greens as I lost interest and don't enjoy going outside in the cold. The car window glass I used didn't allow the greens to grow, but changed for an opaque plastic box it worked. This on reflection has been a failure, as I didn't harvest any produce! | Compost or Wormery? It dawned on me that we were buying great organic veg/salad/fruit and then this was going in the normal household bin. I have had many compost heaps and have never been able to produce anything other than stinky slop. So its time to try a wormery. Response: I searched Ebay and bought a wormery at the beginning of winter. It cost £60 and has 4 trays. This is now placed outside the house, with some insulation as it seemed that the cold maybe problematic for the worms. I have decided to start off the wormery in spring so that I can get the hang of it. The wormery is outside at the front of the house because that's where we take the other rubbish so its in the correct zone. I have also insulated the the wormery after reading about the impact of the cold. |
Internal Insights:
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Conclusions:
I am really pleased with what has been achieved in this project. I genuinely feel that I am successfully contributing to a world with less chemicals via choosing organic produce. It so easy to get it delivered to the door so I no longer even think about whether to buy organic or not. I am also thrilled that we bought in bulk from a wholefood co-operative, just to have shampoo & conditioner, washing powder & washing liquid which is biodegradable means I feel in tune with my integrity: which such an proud feeling.
I feel that we have achieved a good balance between cost and value, by also shopping at out local co-op for "everyday items". It has saved us time and money to buy in bulk, have some produce delivered and shop as we need to every couple of days by walking down to our co-op. It is also clear that "growing our own" is not going to produce any great harvest, but the sprouting and salad is a welcome addition.
I feel that we have achieved a good balance between cost and value, by also shopping at out local co-op for "everyday items". It has saved us time and money to buy in bulk, have some produce delivered and shop as we need to every couple of days by walking down to our co-op. It is also clear that "growing our own" is not going to produce any great harvest, but the sprouting and salad is a welcome addition.