Could you guess what ingredients are on the dishes you’re eating when you go to the restaurant? Have you ever wondered where they get the food?
Brixton Cornercopia sources its ingredients from the market itself as a way of rooting the restaurant in the values of the market, making the connections between the market traders “sticky” just like the Brixton Pound Sauce. So what better way to tell that story than through a recipe trail so people could discover where ingredients have come from and discover the characters that make the market. And like every treasure hunt, if you won one of the missions, you won a prize. What if the prizes weren’t just stimulants to get involved but platforms for participants to continue the journey in discovering the neighbourhood? Indeed, many people participated in the treasure hunt as an excuse to bump into each other, speak to strangers and discover the shopkeepers were making the market happen.
What ingredients can local people find that can be used to stir the pot of community activity? Spots of Time designed an ideas wall of “recipes for social action”. There may not be magic potions for getting involved in your community so is it more about flavouring your dish to suit the taste buds of your diners? Could this technique be used to help create “social apps”?
