Key insights for sustainable food sharing under COVID-19 feature at #SHARECITY2020

Posted on: 22 September 2020

International insights into sustainable food sharing in the era of COVID-19 are on the menu as the #SHARECITY2020 virtual conference takes place this week.

The COVID pandemic has reinforced concerns that our food system is not only unsustainable but fragile to shocks. Patterns of food production, consumption and waste management require radical transformation if cities are to become more sustainable.

Food sharing initiatives that utilise cutting-edge ICT (apps, websites, web 2.0 tech, social media) offer a range of responses to the unsustainability of our cities and SHARECITY, led by Professor of Geography, at Trinity, Professor Anna Davies, has mapped, categorised and assessed their practices internationally, providing transformational knowledge about their capacity to assist in sustainability transitions.

#SHARECITY2020 offers an interactive, virtual forum for the discussion of key findings-with examples ranging from Athens in which the food sharing of Boroume and the social street kitchen O Allos Anthropos emphasise the benefits of collective practices around food [“My dream is that people will stop projecting their egos and start acting as parts of a whole,” Kostas, Founder of O Allos Anthropos] – to the grassroots food collectives of Singapore, which are exploring the liberating capacities of social media networking around food.

Interviews with key co-design food sharing initiatives including FoodCloud, Be Enriched, Himmelbeet and Muck and Magic explore what it means to undertake food sharing today.

You can view the full conference programme at: https://sharecity.ie/virtualconference2020/

Professor Anna Davies said:

Food sharing is about much more than the material food itself – it is much more than fuel for the body. It can provide for moments of community building and intercultural understanding; for developing an increased sense of belonging and connectedness – to oneself, wider communities and to the planet.

In SHARECITY we found that few initiatives reported on the impacts they create – this makes it harder for them to communicate with those they support with food sharing, for those who are charged with regulating that sharing and for those who would like to support sustainable food sharing. This is why we developed the SHARE IT tool.

Looking ahead to #SHARECITY2020, Professor Linda Doyle, Dean of Research at Trinity, said:

“This innovative event provides an opportunity for everyone to engage with this award-winning project. Such activities are part of our mission to engage profoundly with our publics.”

During a live Q&A session on Thursday 24th September from 1:30pm-2:30pm (UCT+1) – leading international thinkers, Professor Julian Agyeman (USA), Professor Oksana Mont (Sweden) and Dr Ana Moragues Faus (Spain) will explore the findings of SHARECITY and consider what they mean for matters of food justice, urban governance and sustainable food.

Media Contact:

Thomas Deane, Media Relations Officer | deaneth@tcd.ie | +353 1 896 4685