Janet Swan shares her passion for being a Food Champion and hopes to inspire others to join.
Whenever I join anything, I always want to encourage others to do the same. As a Food Champion – someone who supports the work of FoodFutures and local food growers – I want to tell others about it too. I thought this enthusiastic desire to get others on board was worth exploring. In doing so I hope to convince you to become a Food Champion – but also help others think about what motivates them to join or not join something.
I hope this will be useful for those involved in any kind of community activism.
We live in times when any kind of activism can immediately make people switch off – especially if that activism comes from a place of “you should do this” or “you shouldn’t do that”. I believe that being a Food Champion will always involve a positive approach, never one that uses that horrible word “should”.
With that idea in mind – plus my desire to always get people doing things as a gang – the question is: “How can I do this WITH the support of others?”
So what is a Food Champion and how is it connected to FoodFutures?
FoodFutures brings together representatives from a wide range of different food-related businesses and organisations to help create a local food system that is healthy, resilient and fair, and that really works for us as local people.
Food Champions are volunteers drawn from the local community who support via financial means, helping to grow or buy food, or by directly volunteering to support the work of community organisations – all of which are equally important. My experience of being involved is that this is a group of committed and passionate people who want to bring about change.
Why get involved?
If we examine the reasons why we want to affect others, I believe that the answer might be “So that I can connect with you”. I want to share my passion with you because I want us to be in this together (and we will need this togetherness in the future).
I want to share my passion with you because I want us to be in this together (and we will need this togetherness in the future). It is my desire to connect that makes me want to share my passion with people. I’m happy to talk to anyone about being a Food Champion and joining the network!
