Designing Our Food Future: A Community Approach to Change

We talk to Lara Hanlon, a coach for the Future Food Movement. Through her agency, Portion Collaborative, she helps food businesses reimagine how our food systems -from processes to policy -can support a greener future. Her experience with major brands and her award-winning “éntomo” project show her commitment to practical change. Lara is hosting the The Future of Local Food Systems: Re-Imagining Community Growing in Ireland weekend at Common Knowledge on the 9th & 10th November to explore how we can each contribute to a more sustainable food future.

Hi Lara, so could you tell us a bit about what inspired this event and what you hope participants will take away from it?
The theme for this year’s Irish Design Week is “Imagination for Opportunity”. Considering this and the amazing permaculture and culinary work happening at Common Knowledge, we were inspired to use design as a way to celebrate and rethink the opportunities of food within the local community. I hope participants will have the chance to connect with food in a way they haven’t before—through critical debate, creative problem solving, collaboration…and of course, eating!

How do you think community growing can help transform local food systems in Ireland?
Community growing has so many benefits for people, economies, and of course the environment. Gardens or allotments allow people to grow their own food, which can be such an empowering and liberating act. When we grow our own food, fresh produce becomes more accessible and we become less dependent on imported foods. If we can diversify what’s grown locally, communities can develop a more sustainable and secure food source.

Locally grown food means that food doesn’t need to travel a huge distance, which can significantly cut down on carbon emissions. Community gardens often rely on natural growing techniques that are more environmentally-friendly.

Community growing also brings people together. It’s a space where folks can share knowledge and skills, learn from each other, and adapt to changing conditions. This can be a powerful way to respond to food system shocks such as climate change or supply chain disruptions. Transforming food systems is a hugely complex and difficult thing to do but community growing could help our food system to become more resilient, especially in the face of environmental and economic challenges. It’s also a lovely way to foster a collective responsibility for food production and community wellbeing!

What are some of the challenges you see in creating sustainable, community-centred food networks?
One of the biggest challenges is probably the availability of time. It seems that we’re all so busy all of the time, now more than ever. When I think about people working in the food industry in particular, they are typically overstretched and underpaid. Double-jobbing is not uncommon for food producers and hospitality workers so when it comes to contributing to a community-centered food network, it’s just not a realistic priority for a lot of people. Community food networks rely heavily on local volunteers, which can be both a strength and a vulnerability. There are also challenges around managing food demand and supply and competing with larger markets. Even though local produce can have higher quality, it often comes at a higher price due to small production volumes.

Despite all of this, community-centered food networks can be incredibly impactful. I think creative solutions, solid partnerships, and policy support goes a long way in making it a sustainable model. 

Design Thinking & Food Systems

You're bringing design thinking to the table—how can this approach help solve some of the issues in our current food systems?
Design Thinking is a human-centered approach to problem solving and innovation. It all starts with understanding people’s needs, which is really important when we’re tackling food system issues.

We can use design thinking to engage with community stakeholders such as farmers, consumers, chefs, and policymakers to better understand the specific barriers around food. Ideation and problem reframing can then help us imagine new solutions in a way that is quick and cheap. Design Thinking is about collaboration, too, and from my experience working in food systems, the more collaborative we can be the better chance we have of making real change.

Can you explain how empathy building, a key part of design thinking, can deepen our connection to local food sources?
Empathy can open people’s eyes to the impact of their food choices on local farmers, the community, and even nature. Put simply, developing empathy helps us understand another person and see the world from their point of view.

Empathy is fostered by experience, so activities like the panel discussion, pot-luck dinner and site tour at Common Knowledge will hopefully give people attending this event firsthand insight into local food production. Shared experiences humanise the food system and can make people feel like active participants, not just consumers!

What kind of creative solutions do you think could come out of this weekend’s workshops and discussions?
Anything is on the table! Participants will have have the chance to respond to some of the key challenges facing our local food system with all sorts of creative solutions. We’ll be working with basic tools and materials but the ideas proposed can be as simple or as abstract as folks would like. I do hope, however, that we end up with some tangible, concrete concepts that could be developed further or used as a trigger for deeper discussion or exploration with stakeholders and community groups.

Working with Communities

You’ve worked with various organisations to redesign food systems—how does collaborating with communities like those in Clare differ from working with larger businesses?
I think the key difference is purpose. Community-based initiatives usually involve passionate people who what to do something for the good of their neighboors and local habitat. When working with businesses, it’s usually about growing the bottom line and making profit for an entity. In an ideal world, our food system would be both compassionate and profitable and thankfully I see a lot of businesses embracing that idea!

What role do you see local councils, like Clare County Council, playing in the future of sustainable food systems?
Local councils ofen control significant areas of land, which they could allocate for community farms, gardens, or allotments. Councils could also invest in infrastructure to support local food distribution, such as farmers' markets, food hubs, or even processing facilities.

Most importantly though, councils are in an ideal position to engage residents in shaping local food policies that reflect the unique needs of their communities. By creating forums for community feedback or by showing up to events and workshops like this one, councils can incorporate diverse perspectives into new food policies that prioritise things like food accessibility, cultural relevance, and sustainability.

Tell us a bit about Design Declares and what they’re looking to achieve
Design Declares is a growing group of designers, design studios, agencies and institutions here to declare a climate and ecological emergency. As part of the global declaration movement, we commit to harnessing the tools of our industry to reimagine, rebuild and heal our world. In 2022, I joined the founding team of Design Declares Ireland—the first global chapter of the movement. Since then, I’ve been working with a team of brilliant volunteers to help facilitate change in our industry. Ultimately, we would like to see design in Ireland (and beyond) become more sustainable and regenerative so that what we make and how we make it doesn’t harm the planet.

Tell us about about yourself

What first sparked your interest in food systems and sustainability?
I created a speculative food brand way back in 2013 for my final year undergrad project. It was called éntomo and it was about encouraging Western society to embrace INSECTS as an edible and sustainable food source for the future! It came about when I was researching the future of food (something I was generally interested in). I discovered a report by the Food and Agricultural Organisation of the United Nations about our growing global population and how we would need to find more sustainable ways to feed 10 billion people by 2050. The report celebrated insects–yes, creepy crawlies, bugs, pests–as a tasty, scalable, and nutritious solution. It completely blew my mind and I ended up designing a whole brand concept around it. I then continued exploring the topic for a number of years in a part-time capacity. Fast forward 11 years and while I don’t eat crickets (anymore) food sustainability and systems change has become my raison d'etre.

How can events like this help communities not only imagine but also actively build a more resilient local food future?
Getting involved in local discourse and collaboration can turn us from passive consumers into conscious, active participants. When we involve ourselves in local food systems and share ideas we deepen not only our connection to food but also our commitment to nurturing the land and the people who make food possible. I think that makes us more respectful, maybe even more protective, of our food system and the people in it.

If you could plant one thing in every community garden across Ireland, what would it be and why?
I’m going to be boring and say courgettes. Even with just two courgette plants in my garden this year I still ended up with courgettes for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and desert for weeks! They’re so versatile and last for ages. In the end I donated some to my local café and some to the birds…they really are the plant that keeps on giving.
We’ll be ending the first day with a potluck—what’s your go-to dish for a community meal?
Probably a giant bowl of really good hummus with flatbread and olive oil. To me it’s the ultimate dish for sharing: it’s healthy, delicious, and easy to make. It’s a chance to literally break bread together. And in the spirit of keeping it local and Irish, it’s got to be a roast carrot hummus with herbs and organic rapeseed oil—YUM.

Lara Hanlon, Portion Collaborative

Weekend Workshop

The Future of Local Food Systems: Re-Imagining Community Growing in Ireland

Join us at Common Knowledge for a weekend of community events as part of Irish Design Week 2024. These events will explore the future of local food systems in Ireland, focusing on sustainable community gardens and how we can reconnect to our food sources.

What we’ll be doing
On the 9th and 10th of November Common Knowledge are bringing together local farmers, community gardeners, and experts in sustainable food systems to share insights, discuss challenges, and explore bold, creative solutions for a more resilient, community-centered food future in Clare.

Whether you're a gardener, food enthusiast, or simply interested in community coming together - these events are a great opportunity to learn, connect, and engage with like-minded individuals.

The project is kindly supported by the Design and Craft Council of Ireland as part of Irish Design Week 2024