What Food Can Teach Us About Belonging
July 16, 2025
Written by Sophie Mercer, Citadel Coordinator Bristol
After reading and very much enjoying Dr Marsha Smiths article on community feeding and ‘canteen culture’, I was excited to hear that Marsha was coming to talk at the Bristol Homelessness Forum. The forum meets bi-monthly and is a place for anyone who works, or volunteers, in Bristol’s homeless community to come together and discuss current issues, hear from other services about their provision, and hold a space for discussions on how we can work together to improve outcomes for those who use our services.
Marsha talked to us about the importance of food being much more than just the act of eating, and the importance of the social and community aspect of it.
I talked to Marsha in the coffee break and I proudly showed her photos of Citadel’s recent cooking workshops and the photos of us all eating what we had cooked after around the table together. Marsha is very invested in community project and has been involved in many herself before going into the research side of it.
I was then invited to a dinner at a local hotel (paid for by the hotel as a thank you to volunteers in homeless services) due to my involvement in a ‘Food on the streets’ action group through my roles as team leader and trustee for the Bristol Soup Run Trust, and my volunteer role as Kitchen manager at Bristol Outreach Services for the Homeless (BOSH) on the weekends.
Marsha joined us and gave a small talk on her research into the importance of the way we eat together, and facilitated a discussion on how we can improve the experience of street feeding for those using our service.
The goal for me, whilst being involved in feeding the street community in Bristol, has and will always be, with the end of goal of moving as many people as possible, to an inside setting where we sit and eat together, but more importantly talk together- have conversations about who people are and the things that matter to them rather than it just being a food transaction.
Marsha’s words and reminders about how we feel about food, the memories it invokes and how we feel about eating together, rang true for us all and I hope persuaded those more hesitant to make change to re-evaluate the way we do things, and why.
There were representatives from about 8 food on the streets groups and it gave us the opportunity to talk to each other over a meal, find out personal things about each other, the things we had in common and our shared goals for the community we all care so much about – thus proving Marsha’s point on the importance of food being about so much more than just sustenance.
I feel this opportunity to hear Marsha’s experiences and advice and be together to discuss it in a social setting, will move the food on the streets action group forward in the future outlook for our services. I remain hopeful anyway!
Read our ‘From Street Feeding to Social Eating Guide here
Bringing back Churchill’s public canteens could tackle food poverty – Big Issue
