The Social Cohesion of Food - by way of Introduction

This blog begins on the streets of London, where each night soup is supplied to the homeless; and this sets the tone for all the subsequent posts of Philanthropic Food in its exploration of the Social Cohesion of Food. Philanthropic Food investigates how food is used as an agency of positive change, drawing communities together. 

In SW19 there are school children who lack food! As a school governor I witnessed a swarm of students gather around one of their peer group in the hope of getting one of the Dairy-lea Dunkers from the pack he opened. It would be funny if they were not seriously hungry; but it was commonplace for students to arrive at school having eaten no breakfast. 

  

Philanthropic Food is not just a blog about giving food to the hungry though, it asks important questions about the ethics of food distribution, about the moral responsibilities, and about how to become an active member of society.The literary texts woven into the posts help to illustrate how the question of philanthropic food is addressed in narrative forms; the big question is how does one make the transition from being a passive reader into being an active philanthropist? 

This blog asks the question 'which type of food philanthropist are you?'

Where do you volunteer? 

What do you know about food politics?

How are you an ethical consumer?

When do you share?

Who would you give you last Dairy Lea Dunker to? 

....Please read on to consider what it is that you can do.