Brixton hosts the latest LongKitchen in order to solve food inequality

LongKitchen was held in Brixton with the local community coming together to explore the question: How food resilient is Brixton?

Residents were invited to bring anything that they grew, foraged, or harvested in Brixton, before gathering in one of the community’s alleys and, together, cooking up a delicious meal. While eating, they discussed some of the obstacles to food access in the suburb, and some ideas for how these could be overcome.

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This was the fourth event of its kind, with the three previous events held at Constitution Hill and in Soweto. LongKitchen is a series of events, supported by Food and Trees for Africa, that brings together people involved in alternative food systems, including small scale urban farmers, researchers, chefs, activists, and artists. It explores what it means to make the kitchen bigger, that is, more people collaborating for more just food futures. Coupled with this, is thinking about the future, and how we will continue to survive and thrive in increasingly uncertain times.

For organisers, these events have been a space of building creative connection and community between people from different backgrounds, who have a shared interest in reconnecting with land, food, and seed, and growing a more just, sustainable, and healthy food system.

The initial idea of the project was to draw attention to street traders, and their valuable role in food security, as well as to build relationships between people already working on alternatives to the industrial food system. Those who have attended, have inspired the themes of subsequent events, focusing on other aspects of localised food initiatives.

It’s LongKitchen’s view that the current way we farm, purchase, consume, and dispose of food is environmentally unsustainable, socially unjust, and unhealthy, with the system currently designed to generate profit, whereas food is a right, and should be accessible to all, regardless of the ability to afford it. Many households are not able to purchase even the basic food basket with the state’s stipulated monthly minimum wage. This is compounded by high rates of unemployment.

Also read: Brixton makes its table bigger

LongKitchen is meant to be a reminder to people of our connection to each other, where their food comes from, and the histories of their relationship to land. Participants have learned about each others traditional, familial dishes, common weeds and flowers that can be eaten, indigenous foods, and the affordable and wide variety of fresh fruit and vegetables available from street vendors. This event brought together about 20 people from Brixton, as well as others who have been part of the project.

The Brixton locals, who brought food, spoke on where it came from, and their experience of growing it, along with the history of that food, and some of the challenges and joys of growing food. This was followed by a process of collectively preparing the meal from the range of ingredients that were brought.

Organisers see food insecurity as a problem that affects everyone in society, because, even if you are someone who has access to adequate food, if you live in a society where there is unequal access you will be affected by the suffering that others experience by going to bed hungry. In their opinion, the consequence of chronic hunger is a dysfunctional society, which will affect every member of that society, whether or not they are, themselves, are hungry.

South Africa has the highest level of inequality in the world, a high unemployment rate, and an unjust minimal wage, all of which contributes to high levels of household food insecurity and malnutrition, especially among children, with 63.5% of households food insecure, and 28.8% of children under the age of five said to be suffering from developmental stunting.

While they ate together, residents discussed some of the obstacles to food access in the suburb, and some ideas for how these could be overcome. The community have hosted a number of events in the alleyway since 2011, and have done a lot to strengthen their community through eating together in these public spaces.

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