Open Space is an opportunity for delegates and speakers to pitch their own ideas and lead a 15 or 30 minute session for those interested in discussing a development topic with like-minded individuals. Hi! Looking forward to discussing food insecurity with you. A complex development challenge! I hope you bring your perspectives and a spirit of potlucks.
Open Space Workshop: Reducing food insecurity through potluck thinking: What do you bring to the table?
Goals of session:
- To establish potluck thinking as way for a group to solve problem
- To understand the complexity and paradox of global and local food insecurity
- To advance one or two delegate driven solutions/ideas to local food insecurity
Method: The workshop will run in the spirit of a potluck. Which respects everyone’s right to perspective, while using group dynamics to advance a solution to a problem.
Agenda and Storyboard :
Welcome, Brief bio, and setting the table of potluck thinking (5 Minutes)
- What is your favourite food and where does it come from?
- Who here enjoys potlucks?
- Definition of potluck thinking: A way of engaging with others by finding common ground, granting trust, exploring new realities, and building a sense of belonging within the community
- This is a new way of building community to tackle problems. Potlucks require attendees to contribute and to respect. Through this, focus, intention and belonging are built.
- My Hypothesis is that, that authoritarian, majority rules and consensus based decision making processes do not create the efficiencies needed to advance a common goal or solve a common problem. Potluck thinking is a different way of decision making which I am using to tackle food insecurity.
- Keystone question: Do we agree to try to make a potluck today?
Framing Food Security and The problem and paradox of global food insecurity. (10 Minutes):
- What does food insecurity or security mean? Is it global? Is it local?
- The world produces enough food for everyone, yet 1 billion, are food insecure.
Why is this? (5 minutes) There will be many different answers.
Establish that: food insecurity is unique as both a global issue like climate change. It is also a local issue that can have local solutions. We can solve a global issue directly through small solutions with local impact.
What does food insecurity look like locally?
The world wastes 33% of the food we produce. Canada we waste $31 billion of food each year.
Why do we waste so much food?
1 in 8 Canadians are food insecure. About 4 million Canadians are food insecure.
Key Discussion question: Why does this happen locally? There will be many different answers. What solutions do you have?
Explore solutions: (10 Minutes)
One Hypothesis (if we don’t have another to explore): Disconnected food system and under valuing the food we enjoy (5 Minutes)
Nationally our waste represents us gladly throwing food away. Discarding food is under valuing the commodity.
- Who here is scared of food?
- Do you know the farmer?
- What does a farmer look like to you?
- Who here has been on a farm?
- How can we begin to appreciate food more? How do we get to the point where we value food so as to not waste it?
- If we understand the efforts in making food will we value it more?
Possible solution and Conclusion: Potluck Thinking” (5 minutes):
Establish that global and local development requires many different ideas for the many different solutions. In policy making the hardest part is agenda setting and acting. Through a potluck, you get a chance to sample foods or ideas, and then take those lessons home.
Essentially, we have created a potluck table with all of our ideas.
Reiterated that the demonstrated potluck thinking, is a way for a group to find its best ideas, as well as for its participants to have intension in the delivery and support of those ideas.
