Bideford’s Food For Thought

Young people from Bideford Youth Centre secured funding from UK Youth’s Inspire programme to spread the word about food miles and make this important topic accessible to all - including other young people. 

They decided to hold an event within the Eat:Bideford festival, the perfect platform for the group to spread their message. These festivals run throughout the south-west and provide an opportunity for local producers to showcase their products. 

The day: 

Eat:Bideford took place at the Quay in Bideford on Saturday 1st April. It was a wet and windy morning but this didn't dampen the spirits of the team who were all set up and ready to go by 10am. 

Young people wore conductor’s hats and, despite the morning's rain, walked around the festival giving out durable stickers to those who had used public transport to get to the event. This took some of the young people way outside of their comfort zones but they did a fantastic job and their confidence grew throughout the day. 

The young people also engaged the general public by encouraging them to take part in quizzes around food miles and the environment. Instead of heading to the supermarket to buy prizes, they decided they wanted to support local stall holders. 

Not only did they tick the 'local' box in terms of food miles, they also supported the local economy and promoted local businesses! 

Many of the young people involved are aspiring young volunteers for Bideford Youth Centre and the existing cohort of young volunteers did a great job of role modelling, helping them to overcome their nerves and showing them how it's done! 

All in all, this was a brilliant example of social action and a wonderful demonstration of keeping it local whilst spreading an important, environmental message in an accessible way. 

Watch this space: 

The event organisers were so impressed by the young people’s efforts, and the message they are helping to spread, that they have invited them to hold the same stall at more of their Eat festivals over the summer! We are now busy exploring ways to make this happen -  so watch this space!