Who Feeds Us?

Earlier this year, Farming the Future ran a Coronavirus Emergency Response Fund and one of the successful applicants was the podcast Farmerma.

Following its award-winning 2019 investigative series on the UK grain system, Cereal, we are excited to announce the launch of Farmerama Radio’s new in-depth series, Who Feeds Us?, airing on Sunday the 11th of October.

The series is set against the backdrop of COVID-19—a crisis which exposed a food system failing to serve its most basic purpose: to nourish all citizens of society. As supermarket shelves were left empty and the hospitality industry shut down overnight, many people turned to farms and local CSA schemes to buy food. Many small scale food producers stepped up to feed their communities in new ways.  

Who Feeds Us? is a chorus from the people who feed us - the people across the UK on the land and seas, on allotments and city roofs. From people of many different ages and beliefs, from different backgrounds, regions, classes, come the songs of farmers, growers, community leaders, healers, chefs, beekeepers, fishers. 

Across October and November, Who Feeds Us? will explore the experiences of these people, and what it really means to take on the responsibility of feeding and nourishing our communities. It will consider how the pandemic has made clear that food doesn’t come from shelves – and never did. Instead, food comes from the sea, the soil, and the hands of people.

With commentary from those at the forefront of growing food, as well as academics, activists, authors and chefs, the 23-person team who have come together to create Who Feeds Us? seek to address how we can make access to nutritious food the norm, not only for those who have the time and the means, but for everyone. 

Throughout the course of the series, it becomes clear that farms feed us in many ways, and that food is just the beginning. It turns out ‘feeding us’ is not just about getting any old food on the table and calories in our bodies, it’s about nourishment, community, healing and a sense of self-worth, as well as respect for the animals, the plants, and the people putting food on our plates. What people really want from their food system is dignity and justice.

Tune in to the series to hear from a baker in the Scottish Highlands, a Halal farmer & slaughterman in Wales, a fishmonger in the Shetland Isles, and chefs adopting farm to table restaurant models; from growers on allotments in Birmingham, to beekeepers on city rooftops, to a medical herbalist’s mobile apothecary, and a mental health campaigner’s idea to set up a Food Pharmacy as opposed to a food bank for Sheffield’s black community.

Who Feeds Us? is an important series about the relevance of food sovereignty to everyone in society. This means putting our food back in the hands of the people, and prioritising nature and nourishment.

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Who Feeds Us? can be found on all major podcasting platforms, or by visiting https://farmerama.co/listen/.

Episode 1 will be released on Sunday, October 11, with five further episodes released each consecutive Sunday. Online launch event details will be shared with all registered ticket holders the day before the event.