A BRADFORD charity food service that started up in a bus stop during the first lockdown is going from strength to strength. Better Eat Food Service CIC, which started life in a bus stop, has been supporting its community throughout the Covid-19 pandemic by providing food to an average of 200 people each week thanks to food provided by local Tesco stores. Better Eat receives food parcels containing a variety of food products provided through Tesco’s Community Food Connection scheme, which is run in partnership with food redistribution charity FareShare. Run by a team of 18 volunteers, Better Eat collects, sorts and distributes food from Tesco stores and other sources in the area to help reduce surplus food and provide supplies for local people who rely on this service as their weekly access to free food.
An artistic research project held between 2016 and 2017 questioned the effects of consumption on buyers. This year, a second edition is delving deeper into the subject and is particularly looking at the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our production, shopping and consumption habits.
You Are What You Buy (YAWYB) reacts to current issues on consumption and consumerism, offering an alternative artistic experience. The first edition was a year-long transdisciplinary project that departed from a reflection on our need to affirm ourselves as consumers. The research process and final presentation were set in a supermarket in Malta, offering a different possibility of where and how to experience art − away from the art institution.