Tilt

Andrew and I attended a very interesting seminar led by NESTA this week on how technology can work to help create sustainability in food and food production. Google reckons that for every challenge we face in our world technology can be used in some way to overcome it. There was a consensus amongst the panel and those who attended that we need to reconnect people with food.

One way Tilt is doing this is our Fresh Food Campaign and we have many other initiatives that we are working on.

There was a short intro by Hugh Knowles from Forum for The Future . They are a non profit group looking to transform food, energy and finance.
Their main goals are to

1. Re balance equity and power in the world
2. Work on getting sustainable food sources
3. Reconnect people with food
4. Build resilience back into the food system so it can cope with climate change and droughts

He gave some impressive stats

• 30% of greenhouse gases are produced by agriculture which is more than transport
• 1 billion people in the world are under nourished
• 1 billion people in the world are over weight or obese

Jon Alexander was the first speaker from the National Trust Project My Farm. This is a project where 10,000 people via the web get to vote on how a real life farm is run. All major decisions are voted for by the ‘farmers’ on the web. A real life farmville if you like! He sees food and the issue of sustainability as a human issue which we can use technology to help solve. He also believes in reconnecting people with food and the popularity of this project shows people are interested and there is a desire to know more about the food we eat. Just need to give people the opportunities, tools and in some cases the technology to connect with whats on their plate.
Its too late to influence people’s buying choices in the supermarket as they are disconnected by then. Only 32% of people actually enjoy food shopping.
A poll was taken of British mothers and only 8% of them felt confident to be able to teach their children where food comes from. (Arthur Potts Dawson stated that with the advent of the industrial revolution people lost that knowledge from passing down to generation to generation food information and how to grow things. After all who out of us can say when Asparagus is in season, how to grow certain types of vegetables.?? This was something once everyone in Britain knew as they grew their own food. We now rely totally on some else to grow all our food for us. Schools also need to start educating children about food). Jon would eventually like farms to be run like this all over the country

Next on the bill was Louise Campbell from Food Nation. She has created an app to connect people to local suppliers and producers via geo mapping. This will be released in Sept 2011. You will be able to see where local food can be bought where it was produced and call the producer directly. She would like us to reconnect with suppliers and cut out the supermarkets so to increase demand from local farmers and therefore making food costs go down instead of farmers having to sell food to supermarkets at a loss.

Mobile is now the biggest single global distribution channel. In 2009 there were 4 billion mobile subscribers by 2013 there are expected to be 5.5 billion.
However the government is not helping DEFRA will not release details of farms in the UK. Therefore she needs help in connecting with farmers and farm around the country. She believes technology can help sustainability issues if the revelvent data is released by governments so that people can create applications to solve the problems facing the food system. She also needs food product data. (She would love the TPS to help with this)
She is eventually looking at QR codes on posters on tubes etc where you can order your veg boxes via smart phones.

Finally came Arthur Potts Dawson. He believes in order to help the issue of sustainability in the cities you need to look at old technology first and understand this in order to make things better. So you need to understand how to farm the soil, dig out the crops quickly and get it to the shelves or plates efficiently and effectively. Also be able to pay the farmer a fair price and the consumer buy at a good price.
He has also utiltised new tech in his businesses dehydrators, advancements in food delivery, online communities and social media. Old and new tech need to be combined to give the best of both worlds and social technology is a vital cog in this wheel.

Disruptive Technology or projects such as the TPS are what the big companies are interested in and what they are looking for in terms of investment.
Think Glocal (Global and Local) We need to insure that other countries also have sustainable food systems so when we buy from them we don’t cause problems for them.

However in order to really create change we need to think on a mass scale and affect the mass market across social boundaries. Technology can help us to do this and involve the whole community.

Hope this gave us all some food for thought

Last Wednesday we had the honor of being a pirate for the day! It was a grand experience to work with the local kids of Hackney and to share in their exploration through food, design, architecture and writing. We kicked off the day with a tour of the Farm:Shop, then worked on writing out a vision for our own Farm:Shop’s of the future. We took the drawings and related them to visuals and imagery that helped to show our vision.

Then, Rachael had a chance to teach them about making FOOD! We made the most delicious raw food. At first, the kids wanted to know where the pasta was for the Basil Pesto until we suggested we give them something else more tasty and we made them pesto into lettuce roll ups with a marinated Balsamic Vinegar. (Anything with “FS” is from the Farm:Shop)

Basil Pesto

• Pine Nuts
• Olive Oil
• Salt
• Pepper
• Garlic
• Basil (FS)
• Agave or Honey

Pesto Lettuce Roll Ups

• Lettuce (FS)
• Pesto or not pesto
• Onions
• Mushrooms
• Balsamic Vinegar
• Basil leaves (FS)
• Garlic
• Tomatoes
• Salt
• Pepper
• Hot Sauce

This past Sunday we had a warm and overflowing display of love surrounding TILT at our first UK Friends & Family event at the Farm:Shop in Dalston. The morning was rainy, but by the time that we were set up the sun was streaming through the windows. The purpose of this event was to talk about the Farm:Shop and to share some of the new ideas about TILT.

On the menu were:

• Fresh Quiches
• Egg Frittatas
• Mixed Nuts
• Cooked / Raw Hummus
• Mixed Berries & Fruit
• Granola
• Raw Spaghetti and ‘crumble’

We are planning for our next event to be June 12. Check back soon for a location and RSVP now to get on the mailing list. We would love you to invite people that you think would be good for promoting the TILT brand. This time we will have name tags and a fabulous agenda of discussions – all comments from our great friend Ted.

This workshop takes place in London, 4th – 6th May 2011 and is open to international retailers. Providing an excellent opportunity for companies wishing to benchmark their own brand development against world class operators and to take time out to consider their own range, brand message and market position.

TILT will be focusing on the Unique Selling Point and finding that within your existing brand – and finding a way to harness it for future-oriented business.

UK grocery retail provides an excellent case study where own brand penetration is one of the highest anywhere in the world, in excess of 40%.

The workshops runs over 3 days and combines presentations, round table discussions and retail visits into the major UK food retailers, cooperative retailers and symbol groups.

The presentations and round table discussions are facilitated by Insight and Insight’s independent associated consultants. These sessions take an in-depth look at trends in own brand development both in the UK and internationally, considering the evolution of existing tiered strategies and the shifting power between retailer and manufacturer in the battle for control of shelf.

The practical phase consists of 1.5 days of retail study tour visits, focused on identifying key elements of each retailer’s own brand strategies including; brand segmentation, price v brand leader, promotional strategies, shelf position and space allocation, range with in categories, packaging, and messages communicated: i.e. fair trade, eco friendly and local sourcing.

Link to Insight – Own Brand Workshops [pdf document]

I recently attended the 15^th Natural and Organic Products Europe show at the Grand Hall Olympia in London. The show saw the launch of a The Natural Food Show which showcases the best natural, organic and speciality food from within the UK and internationally. A combination of amazing key note speakers and exciting food ideas made this event a must for all food lovers. The event brought together big brands, smaller dynamic start-ups and speciality producers, and I’m confident that some of the products and concepts which I was introduced to at the show will play an important role in the future of UK and global food networks.

For instance Zotter chocolates who operate a ‘Bean to Bar’ policy, they import directly cocoa beans from Latin and South America which means that their product has traceability, something which in today’s food network is becoming increasingly rare. As Zotter say “This sounds so logical that you would never expect it to be something special.” But Zotter chocolates are the only manufacturer in Europe who produces exclusively organic and fair-trade quality right from the bean. Also unlike some of the conglomerates who dominate today’s food industry Zotter is not interested in the maximisation of profit and earnings, but instead are motivated by the desire to make more with chocolate and with more quality, a desire for something which the provocative author Dan Pink would call the ‘desire for mastery’.

Another cool venture is the ‘Aconbury Sprouts’ initiative which supplies living foods, this concept is important as it reconnects the consumer with the production, it educates a largely ignorant public who all too often see a product such as a salad bag isolated from the production process. Reconnecting people with food and the environment in this way is crucial to ensuring that action is taken now to avoid the imposing food crises.

However the highlight of the show for me was ‘the natural kitchen’ which featured many top chefs with ‘serious organic and eco credentials’. Dale Pinnock demonstrated his prowess through cooking up a tasty soup from his book ‘Medicinal Cookery: How You Can Benefit From Nature’s Edible Pharmacy’ and this struck me as a way of cooking which has been largely ignored in today’s society and something which it is crucial in realising the aims of government strategies intending to reconnect food and health within society.

Learning to ‘do’ food properly is not just important but essential, both for our health and the health of our planet. Some of the products at the show went a long way towards overcoming some of the ills in the food industry today. As a result, this show gave me hope, seeing some of the initiatives which are coming through in today’s industry was inspiring and left me with an urge to get more involved. To find out more about the show visit www.naturalproducts.co.uk.

Are you a TILT friend and family member? We are hosting a special little brunch to thank you all for a great 1st year in the UK… and to get you to learn more about the Farm:Shop in Dalston (where our offices are). If you would like an invite, just send an email through our contact page and we will see if we can accommodate you. This is truly what the flyer says… an informal friends and family affair!

What should you expect?

A true hydroponic lab for food! The Farm:Shop is on a busy street in Dalston and is truly a farm within a shop. We have plants, chickens, fish and soon to be PIGS! There is a mini-cafe open for business 6 days a week – with desk space (including wifi) for £5 a day. TILT is lucky to have the one full office within the building and we are hoping to make this our permanent London home; we have just planted, but once we start growing it is going to be hard to uproot!

And you will learn more about TILT and our think tank. Need a restaurant designed? Hoping to pump up your sales with a new concept and design for your food packaging? Did you want to develop an educational program to get kids involved with food? We will have project examples and a few take aways.

Are you a TILT friend and family member? We are hosting a special little brunch to thank you all for a great 1st year in the UK… and to get you to learn more about the Farm:Shop in Dalston (where our offices are). If you would like an invite, just send an email through our contact page and we will see if we can accommodate you. This is truly what the flyer says… an informal friends and family affair!

What should you expect?

A true hydroponic lab for food! The Farm:Shop is on a busy street in Dalston and is truly a farm within a shop. We have plants, chickens, fish and soon to be PIGS! There is a mini-cafe open for business 6 days a week – with desk space (including wifi) for £5 a day. TILT is lucky to have the one full office within the building and we are hoping to make this our permanent London home; we have just planted, but once we start growing it is going to be hard to uproot!

And you will learn more about TILT and our think tank. Need a restaurant designed? Hoping to pump up your sales with a new concept and design for your food packaging? Did you want to develop an educational program to get kids involved with food? We will have project examples and a few take aways.

Sustain is an organization in London dedicated to the health and welfare of the local food community. There are many areas of interest, but the largest is in farming and food production. In and around London there are events and action-based activities that can be implemented.

Georgie Knight from London’s Food Link Network invited TILT to speak at the February 23rd event. We hope that you can join and experience the magic of food through the eyes of activists.

Learn more about it here »

London Food Link is an active network of organizations and individuals: local businesses, charities and organizations, farmers, food writers and food growers; caterers, cooks and community food projects in London that are working to improve the sustainability of the capital’s food sector

Here is a list of the speakers that will each give 5 minutes on what they are doing »

School Food Matters
Cultivate London
Alara Organic cereals
Westminster Artisans
My Coffee Stop
FARM shop
Happy Kitchen
TILT
Vertical Veg
think5.co.uk
Sustain’s Fish Cities campaign

When:  Wednesday 23  February 2011 16:30 – 19:30
Where: Dalston FARM:shop 20 Dalston Lane London E8 3AZ  (map)
Cost: £10 for members £15 for non-members

For the past 8 months TILT has been engaged in helping with The People’s Supermarket (TPS) and it has been filmed by Channel 4 to tell the story of Arthur Potts-Dawson and the members of TPS’ hard work. Based on the Park Slope Co-Op model in Brooklyn, NY, TPS is in unfamiliar territory here in the UK on Lamb’s Conduit Street in Holburn. This sleepy shopping community has been open to the introduction of this concept, but not without a lot of hard work, promotion and pushing.

Last night was the first in 4 episodes to air on BBC Channel 4. You can watch the webisode here.

We need more shoppers and members, so please – without hesitation – sign up and be on our team. Click here >

What’s special?

• We are a family of fabulous foodies! Anyone that comes to People’s wants to get involved and stand by the concept. We have had friends from out of town come and help, friends from within London journey over for a sandwich to check it out and locals provide goods to sell. It is an all inclusive kind of space.
• The fruit and veg by our friend Andreas is the best in the city and other than our little supermarket, he sells only to restaurants and to his own corner market, so you know that you will have the best of the best.
• We are all visionaries for the future! This concept, while new to London and the UK, is widely implemented successfully in the States and other parts of the world. Now is a great time for the British to get on board with this concept and truly make change.
• 4 hours a month is nothing and you get to do your grocery shopping while you are helping.

Go global and make money while you sleep

When: Thursday 28 October
Where: Bartle Bogle Hegarty, 60 Kingly Street, London W1B 5DS
What Time: 8am breakfast / 8.30 event / 9.30 close

US designer E. Rachael Baird, owner of Baltimore-based Tilt Studio, opened her London ‘office’ earlier this year aiming to scoop work on the 2012 Olympics. Was her move drawn by this great opportunity and fuelled by the US recession or was she simply doing what every creative entrepreneur should be doing? Designer Breakfasts will ask her, “Does business here in the UK live up to expectations? Can small design businesses operate globally?

Rachael plans to expand into further new territory — the Shanghai office comes next. She says, “we work with global brands such as Compass Group, Starbucks, Subway and McDonalds, so why shouldn’t we be a global business?” She has a sustainability agenda and is determined to create change for the world through rough visuals and action.

Our audience will include designers from far afield and the event will be a Q&A session. Come along, join in and hear Rachael’s ideas on a range of topics including:

• Are UK designers as good as we think we are?
• What’s an American design company doing moving here to work on the UK Olympics?
• How can you run three international offices employing less than 10 people, alone and remotely, without the backing of a PLC?
• Are US designers working on risk and reward business models?
• We’re a small country — can UK designers continue to survive on local business?

How do you figure out a way of making money while you sleep?
To book your place at the October breakfast, please CLICK HERE.
Event £25 including VAT