From Friday 25 April until Friday 2 May North Lancashire’s FoodFutures partnership is coordinating a series of workshops and events that invites people and organisations across the Lancaster district to ‘Spring Into Action’ around creating a thriving local food system that is healthy, resilient and fair.
The week is packed with a diversity of different sessions.
From practical hands-on cooking, growing, composting and foraging workshops, through to craft activities, farm tours and knowledge sharing events.
To explore the full programme of events and to book your place, visit: foodfutures.org.uk/spring-into-action-in-2025
Alongside fun practical sessions, there are three key strategic events that will shape some of FoodFutures work going forward. These are open to anyone and all include a community meal too.
The first is a Movement Building session in Morecambe Library on Saturday 26th April from 10:00 – 13:30. Join some of the FoodFutures network (including food champions, composters, community chefs, Food Friends, gleaners and citizen journalists) to learn about and help shape the networks’ approach to building our local food movements.
The second is a panel discussion on Wednesday 30 April 17:20 – 19:30 at Cornerstone Cafe. Join Dr Megan Blake, local food justice organisations and community members to learn about the food ladders model and consider how to further embed its principles into local food work.
Dr Megan Blake is a Senior Lecturer in the department of Geography and a member of the Institute for Sustainable Food at the University of Sheffield. She created Food Ladders as an innovative evidence-based tool to help local organisations increase everyday food security and connect communities by looking at the root issue of vulnerability.
The week will end with a re-commoning community think tank and shared meal on Friday 2nd May 18:00 – 21:00. The evening will explore and untangle what ‘recommoning’ means and what it could involve; drawing on a range of perspectives and experiences to think about how we practically support processes of re-commoning here in North Lancashire.
The concept of ‘re-commoning’ has its roots in histories and discussions around land enclosure and the commons, and could be argued to be an important process that underlies many of the Our Food Futures community food strategy visions for a healthy, resilient and fair food system. The term ‘re-commoning’ suggests future-facing practice, and could cover much more than land ownership models, but ways of generating and sharing other resources and knowledge.
Spring Into Action is a chance to gather over good food and share skills, ideas and connections. It brings the Our Food Futures strategy alive and starts to build momentum and energy for the growing season ahead and the many joys, harvests and challenges this may bring. We hope you can join us!
