Food, a Sense of Place and the Scone Wars!

One summer weekend, my parents decided to run a pop up cafe in our garden to raise money for local charities inspired by our frequent trips to Cornwall where we consumed delicious cream teas of scones with jam and clotted cream. They decided to serve Gornal Cream Teas and a selection of homemade cakes.

Those of you familiar with Cornwall and Devon will know of the long running friendly rivalry between the two counties about how to prepare your scone. The Cornish put the jam on the scone first followed by the cream and the Devonians eat theirs with the cream first and jam on the top! The National Media often refers to this as the 'Scone Wars' Although this may sound trivial to some, for many people living in Devon and Cornwall this is part of their identity and sense of place.But what is a Sense of Place? 

Sense of Place is a complex concept that looks at the relationship between people and spaces. It can be used to describe a physical place or the feelings held by people about a place. It is a lens or theoretical framework more commonly used by anthropologists, geographers, sociologists and psychologists to consider topics such as, how exposure to nature as a child shapes an adults view of the environment later in life. It is also an approach used by planners when designing towns and cities.

Sense of Place can also be used as a lens within food systems to renew our relationships with food and farming. One of the simplest ways that food can give us a physical sense of place is by growing and eating our own home grown produce. Food can also be used to craft feelings and a sense of another place. We may do this on a regular basis without even realising, by cooking a favourite dish of a family member or replicating a recipe from a memorable holiday.

Research by Fanfani and Rovai in 2022 discussed how a sense of belonging, sense of place and link to the heritage of an area can reinvigorate local food and bolster fair and sustainable systems between communities and food.

Over the last few months I have been working with colleagues to restart what was the Buckinghamshire Food Partnership. BFP began in 2020 but sadly closed in 2023. Our new incarnation 'Good Food Bucks' will launch later this year. Both of the organisations were founded on the principles of Sustainable Food Places or SFP's. There are currently over 100 SFP's across UK, supporting their communities by bringing together multiple stakeholders to work as inclusive cross sector partnerships that collaborate to create lasting change in local areas. Have a look at their website to find your nearest SFP.