From July 8 – 10th, ReLondon hosted the Food Action Festival at a popular North London shopping centre called Angel Central. The 3-day event offered a mix of workshops, talks, market stalls, live cooking demonstrations and giveaways, all with the aim of inspiring young Londoners to adopt a more sustainable approach to everyday food habits. 

ReLondon collaborated with the global food waste reduction app – Too Good To Go – and displayed two large installations of a milk carton and a bag of potatoes (two of the UK’s most-wasted foods) to draw attention to the widespread issue of food waste.

The programme of free workshops and activities taught young people a range of invaluable skills, including how to grow their own herbs, plant seeds, ferment vegetables, make notebooks out of food and packaging waste, and craft beeswax wraps to keep their food fresh. Our partners in these workshops included: Islington Climate Centre, Sunny Jar Eco Hub, Kami Paper, Power of Plants, Abigail Wastie, Rosetta Arts and Co-Creative Connection. 

Hundreds of participants made and took home their own seed balls, and thousands of passersby received free low-waste recipe cards. These cards were designed by local illustrator Louise Coutinho, and the recipes were developed by two young chefs / food writers, Fatima Tarkleman and Diya Mukherjee, who created simple, accessible, climate-friendly dishes. 

Overall, 7 styles of workshops were run, 3,000 low-waste recipe cards were distributed, 75,000 people were reached online and more than 78,000 people passed through the venue during the course of the weekend.

Have a look at the photo gallery/video to have a “taste” of the event!