Making Sense of the Food System Through Stories

Event details

The York St John Living Lab is an interdisciplinary network of staff and students, working to address issues of ecological justice on campus. In 2022, the Living Lab directed its focus to the theme of food. Food is a human necessity. However, food is tied to a complex web of ideas and issues. What we put on our plate reflects our sense of identity, ethical choices, consumer constraints and the communities we are part of. 

This is where the power of food stories comes in: our ability to document past experiences, share the challenges or culinary cultures of today, and, in doing so, consider our food systems' future. It asks, 'How do we know what we know about food?

Collecting and disseminating food stories is a vehicle for exploring the social and economic factors impacting plates, people and planet.

At this event, hear, see and take part in food story sharing from a range of Living Lab projects. Including guest speaker Somdip Dey, award-winning developer of the food waste app, nosh. Explore food focused research and creative outputs from students, staff and partners including cookbooks, exhibitions, performances, community gardens and social enterprises.

Living Lab      

The York St John Living Lab is a project of the Institute for Social Justice. It's a network of students and staff from across the university that collaborates to investigate and tackle real-life, local, ecological justice issues. From 2022 to 2024, the Living Lab's focus has been 'Feeding the Campus': creating a campus food system that works better for both people and planet. They also seek to support the local grassroots food sector by collaborating with local food-based community organisations.

Find out more about Living Lab.

Photo taken at of the Living Lab Potluck Event (2023) at York St John University.

About the speaker

Partners