Sonntag, 15. Januar 2012

Food

5 girls who went to a summer school in Wilhemsburg. Two were from Italy, Two from Germany, One from Malaysia. On the outskirts of a park, in an abandoned building, they meet. The building is abandoned but not dilapidated. On lease to the HafenCity University, the building is the UdN, the University of the Neigbourhood. It´s a project based summer school, you meet, you talk, you create. It started over breakfast. Fresh yogurt from round the corner, bread from up the street, jam.. homemade from the trees around.
The summer is a little chilly in Wilhemsburg, but sometimes during these two weeks at the school, the sun was warm enough to sit on the grass. The walls come off the UdN at these times, the sun, the grass , the classroom, the project, the outside, the inside there are no walls anymore. Here the project grew.

Breakfast… it started over breakfast.
Jam on toast. ¨Any ideas what to do?¨
Warm black tea. ´I´d like to work with you.´
Blueberry jam. ´Maybe we can work together?´
Pancakes…… with Nutella.  ´What problems do we see here?´
Coffee with Milk.  ´We need to find a problem.´
Yogurt with apricot jam. ´I´m thinking about food.´
Honey with Tea.  ´What about food?´
Fresh Bread Rolls….. and Butter. It´s about sustainability.
Farm Fresh Milk…….. Farm Fresh Milk….. Hmmm. What could be more sustainable than food?
Cheese…. Cheeeese. Soft cheese, hard cheese. What could be more unsustainable than food?
I´m still hungry. It´s time to work. I was talking not eating. Present… present your ideas. What are your ideas? It´s time to work.
 We´re together the five of us, the food group….. the Food Group.

It grew, it grew in the sun.
The sun is out, the grass is a bit wet, there are no walls, but we’d rather be out than in. It´s a nice day.´ We need a blanket if we want to work outside´. They have these ecological blankets, they are thin but warm. They feel like paper. They look like paper. So why is it warm? What is it made of? Check the label, it doesn´t say, just says it is ecological and a new material. So why is it warm, it feels like paper.
Present … Present! What ideas do you have? Food … Food … local food… Klein gardens. What is going on with the Klein gardens? Do they have a surplus of food? Are they connected with everyone else, what do they do with the surplus? Maybe we can connect them with everyone else, get people thinking about eating local…. real local. Local food. But do we really know this? Are they connected? Is there a surplus? Is there a problem? We should find out.
We find out.
Well laid stone paths, picket fences round each property. Flowers, so many flowers. Don´t see much food? No food!? It’s there, just not near the fences. Swing sets, kids’ toys in the yard. Tiny little houses, two women talking on the porch. A younger one, an older one. Another garden, old man, his hands and knees in the soil, digging. We´re at the Klein gardens.  They all speak German, but only two of us five do. What do we do? We listen, we take pictures, we ask questions. Is there a surplus? They say no, they give it to their friends. There is no problem? There is no problem. But there are problems. We have to find a problem.

Where do we find a problem? A problem with food…. We ask more questions. Of whom? Not in the Klein gardens, there is no problem. Who do we ask? People……on the street? How? With food!

“Limonade für ein Gespräch”

Lemonade, cool.. refreshing for a hot day.  Sweet… but a little sour, you can´t drink it too fast, people will stay, to talk. You can´t drink too much, we´ll have enough for all. Or will they stay to talk to us, 5 girls, some blonde, some not, some tanned some not. United Nations couldn´t have had a better ad. What are five (clearly not local ) girls, doing in a Wilhelmsburg square? They’re giving out lemonade. For what? For a talk. On what? Don´t know… ask them.

What are you doing here? We´d like to know what you think about food. Local food that is. Do you know if your food is local? Who do you eat with? Do you cook your own food? Do you know about the Klein gardens? Would you like to know more about local food?
Some knew, some didn´t.  Some ate alone, some ate together.
But…….those who ate with someone…….seemed to eat better.
Those who ate alone…………….bought microwavable food…………………..hmmmmm.
Problem……
……… Found.

Problem.....
………Solved?
No. How? Cook together……..Eat together……. Eat Better? Eat Local!
Local groups meet, cook together, building communities… no more microwavable food!
Good idea.
Will it work?
Hmmmm…. Test. How?
To the streets again! This time………..Salad. Fruit Salad.
Some cutting, some chopping, conversation round the table. No fire. No mess, perfect.
New Stall…..Cook a Fruit Salad…. With local fruits, with local people. (Today is the exception, Today you get United Nations, but just today).
It worked? It worked!
Who do we give it too? Give what? The Fruit Salad? No we ate the fruit salad, the project. ´Das Lokal´. Cooking with local food , in a local space, with local people, eating better.
Who? Who? Don´t know.
Find.
Tried.
Looked, talked, tried.
They liked the idea, but none can take it. Too busy.
Too busy?
Who?
All.
But the idea is there, it is here, and other ideas will follow.
And one day…?