Meet and two veg

In our workshop on helping young people how to make a festival, one of the themes that kept coming back was how to make a living through the crisis. What came out of this discussion was that: “People wanted to go back to what really mattered – like valuing where we live and what we make.

People wanted to explore ways to value the places we live in – whether it’s encouraging people to recycle, grow community gardens, replant playgrounds or host craft markets. Could food could be at the heart of linking up people from different cultures and cities in Europe?

Should we teach children to fix and make things rather than spend to buy?” Perhaps, it’s not that buying is bad, because after all there is a need to reward people who fix and make things so they can pay the bills. That’s why it’s really important to buy local.

The video above by @liveshoplocal gives you the lowdown on why it’s a damn good idea, for me though, there is one overriding factor – it gives you the chance to directly impact the economy and community around you. Want to make sure that your friend’s dad who’s a butcher doesn’t go bust? Buy some sausages from him and you can ask him where he got the meat from! Want to make sure you can get fresh veg which doesn’t cost a bomb, go to your local market and the grocer will give you the latest gossip on the neighbourhood as a bonus!

As a way of nudging people to discover local markets to encourage them to buy local, we developed a treasure hunt around markets to discover how we experience a space like a market. What also came out of this is our new project looking at how young people cope creatively with trying to make a living. If you’re a young person or work with young people, we’d love to hear from you!