Food-Fibre-Fashion #26 02/10/24.
Stephanie Steele
Textiles Sustainability Specialist | Organic Food Growing | Food-Fibre-Fashion Communicator
Welcome to this twenty-sixth edition of Food-Fibre-Fashion. A collection of tips, recommendations, opinions, learnings and knowledge exchange regarding the intersection of the food, fibre and fashion sectors.
This edition considers foundations. The fundamentals of what's around and in us, before we contemplate next steps.
p.s. if you find me on Substack, I started publishing later on there so the edition is #17.
Opinion.
This article followed from attendance of a panel of the same name at the Garden of Tomorrow Festival in June 2024. The panel included various activist organisations: Mark Craig from National Park City, Amy-Jane Beer from the Right to Roam and Pam Warhurst from Incredible Edible, each crossing over with their intentions of building biodiversity, increasing legislation in respect to access, and battling mental and cost of living crises.
Using key themes brought up in the discussion, alongside some personal research, I try to come to a personal conclusion as to whether nature is a human right. I found it conflicting.
Whilst writing the article I was reading In Her Nature by Rachel Hewitt, about women in the outdoors. And now, writing this newsletter, I’m reading The Accidental Countryside by Stephen Moss. Whether nature is a human right is a complex topic, and one that for sure can’t be answered with a binary solution.
Podcast.
This is my own podcast. As time of writing I have yet to record, edit and upload all of the back issue newsletters onto this podcast, so for now displays only the Month in the Life of an Urban Gardener stories. The aim is one day to compile stories around a theme with other voices, but for now it’s just my retelling of what I’ve written.
Film.
These are four fifteen-minute short films from Eco-Age / Livia Firth exploring fashion’s global supply chain, in particular: diamond mining; legislating for living wages for garment workers; the heritage of Guatemala’s textile artisans; and wool production in Tasmania. They’re directed by Andrew Morgan, the maker of The True Cost, to highlight specific stories. These are important watches because they’re contextual; though quick and consequently inadequate at getting knee-deep into topics, they evidence issues of a niche region or culture, which are necessary to unpick when considering the wider supply chain and each knock-on effect of practices.
Since these films were made, Eco-Age has in their words been deconstructed, and now operates only as a communication agency offering consultancy to mitigate reputational risk, alongside “events, advocacy projects and creative storytelling services”. While they focus on specific stories, they are well-placed to reach a global audience, with perhaps them being most well-known for their Green Carpet Fashion Awards.
Book.
My August reading. I went on a library book reserve binge and ended up with loads available at once, all on a particular theme as well, so I got deep into stories of how women came to gardening and farming.
→ Rooted: Stories of Life, Land and a Farming Revolution by @sarahlangfordwrites — this was a nice easy read, flowing, and full of interesting perspectives from farmers, along with Sarah herself as pre- and current- farmer.
→ Unearthed: On Roots and Race, and How the Soil Taught Me I Belong by @claireratinon — another flowing one that gave unexpected histories of a life and culture I’ll never fully appreciate. I could well imagine the spaces that Claire was writing about though, not only because I’ve visited them myself, but because they’re vibrantly descriptive too.
→ Rootbound: Rewilding a Life by @alicevincentwrites — hadn’t anticipated this to be so intimate or take the angle that it did. I can see why, from the final chapters (or months), she somewhat followed up with writing Why Women Grow. As with this and the above, I like being able to visualise the local green spaces I myself inhabit.
→ Why Women Grow also by Alice Vincent — unfortunately someone else reserved this and I only managed to read a third before I returned it. Perhaps because I was rushing, I didn’t fully get into the narrative, but it was also along lines of motherhood that I frankly can’t relate to and so actually don’t think I’ll go back to it.
→ The Farmer’s Wife by Helen Rebanks @theshepherdswife — by early September I’d picked this up and quickly scoffed it along with many coffees and brioche buns. A more raw read than I’d expected, and full of recipes too. Really well-designed and I’d happily have my own copy.
Campaign.
While there’s a month dedicated to raising awareness on organic practices and principles via Soil Association, it’s not like it doesn’t exist outside of September, so I’m sharing the campaign anyway.
Recent conversations and discussions I’ve heard have actually called out the organic movement to be somewhat restrictive and prescriptive, rather than flexible to context. However, organic certifications provide frameworks for all to follow and that at least is a stepping stone to changing very entrenched systems of over-extraction and unnecessary scale. I’m an organic food grower, following guiding principles of organic horticulture, but we’re not certified. In some respects we’re more on the pathway to regenerative because we buy in very little inputs and materials, and support local communities with our produce.
A little gripe in the Soil Association’s information on ‘what organic is’, is that, “the organic movement started in the 1940s” and that, “Unlike many green claims, the term organic is protected in law”. They do say at the top of this page that “organic is built on tradition”, but their bit about the movement — which is when some folk got together to try standardise the methods — undermines thousands of years of engrained wisdom. And barricading the term organic can only debilitate those producers unable to afford certifications (as is often the case with cotton production, or small-scale food growers).
It’s worth you anyway reading the material they have on food and farming, textiles and beauty, and finding your own queries — particularly if you’d like to increase your purchasing of organic products and need to understand the complexities. One farmer I’d recommend you follow for frank insight into organic veg, arable and beef is Ben Andrews @bentheoandrews. He’s just posted a video on so-called “farm washing”, where supermarkets print fake farm names onto packaging to deceive customers into thinking the produce is from a happy local British farm. There’s a full campaign from Riverford to follow; I highly recommend you watch the four short films that explain the issues.
If you happen to be East/North London-based and want to try a veg bag scheme, I go with Growing Communities. Book your bag here, and use the code Octfriend10 to get 10% off all your orders in October (I get a half price bag too). I also wrote about the benefit of supporting veg bag schemes in this article.
Learning resource.
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Regenerative Fashion Futures. ?
Post-growth Textile and Fashion Report — Safia Minney’s report, published in September 2024, aimed to identify “key insights into good practices” so that the textile and fashion sector can justly transition - from its current extractive state to one that’s more beneficial environmentally and socially. It looks specifically to case studies surrounding cotton crop and cotton garment production in India and Bangladesh - so recognises that its scope is limited - and yet still provides valuable insight from small and large producers acknowledging the obstacles they face in implementing the more regenerative practices required for a Just Transition. There’s an accompanying 18 minute film, though the report itself is very extensive.
Bioregional resilience through bast fibres — Zoe Gilbertson’s Churchill Fellowship research acknowledged the barriers to implementing flax and hemp textile systems in the UK, especially when considering that it couldn’t compete economically with the well-established European producers. Through case studies found in various bast fibre-producing regions, this report highlights opportunities for a different, commons-based approach to developing our “fledgling” fibre systems.
“There is increasing demand for natural materials to replace energy intensive, fossil-fuel-derived polluting materials. Food and building materials derived from hemp and flax are simpler to produce than textiles. A new system could begin with these to generate revenue for farmers, alongside developing collective skill in processing textile yarn.” — Bioregional resilience through bast fibres, page 7 executive summary.
New Landscapes India: Circular Khadi — a collaborative project between four organisations; Where Does It Come From?, Khadi London, Conserve India and Khamir Crafts, the pilot stage looked to “creating and proving a method for taking fabric waste, sorting and disintegrating it, then creating new fabrics using the heritage hand powered ‘khadi’ processes including spinning and weaving”. There isn’t a report, but a live webinar as linked discussed the story, outcomes and next steps.
Organisation.
I was finally easily handed an opportunity to visit Indigo Works’ Indigo Garden over in Walthamstow, North London during London Design Festival when they were offering a tour. As part of a community allotment, it’s tricky for them to open up the space to the public but have previously hosted a seasonal Seed To Dye workshop on sowing, harvesting and using indigo for dye. I’d actually cleared some of this space back when working for the jeans factory that rented the plot, but fortunately Liza and Luisa had been able to swoop in with knowledge and fervour to get it going properly. Visiting some 5 years later, it now had a greenhouse and indigo beds, along with a bed for growing flax. On this visit we were encouraged to take some leaves, macerate them with salt to release a green liquid, and then use this to dye a small piece of wool fabric. These actions encourage wide-reaching discussions on origin of textile colour, colonialism and resource extraction, and sustainability of heritage crafts — and for me on this day, also conversations with fellow gardeners I’d never met in person but had connections with.
Fantasy Fibre Mill were also here on the tour, explaining some of the history of UK flax production, and how to process flax straw into fibre using rudimentary hand-made wooden tools. Their main function is arguably in developing open source machinery that could enable bioregional production of natural fibre yarn, including flax and hemp. Again they are disruptive, in that rather than imagining a total overhaul of existing systems, they’re embedding tidbits that shift mindsets and enable curiousity to other ways of working. Nick Evans also runs the clothing label First Principals creating linen workwear.
Event.
Future Observatory: Tomorrow’s Wardrobe is a free display at the Design Museum, London showing until August 2025. It highlights research and innovation within fashion to uncover both high- and low-tech solutions for its future. Fortunately it has been curated to include the aspects of fashion that can often be overlooked when considering sustainability i.e. that of the land.
Past iterations of Future Observatory have included building and construction, where debate around the use of natural materials also needed to take centre stage, yet just as integral are the use of improved machinery (and access to funding). Being that folk will visit the Design Museum with some intention to learn, rather than just because it’s a destination (like the Tate), this is an important exhibition for those working in the design realm in some sphere, and particularly those students who pass through.
Other exhibitions on my radar for the coming season are:
Haegue Yang: Leap Year at Hayward Gallery — drawing upon diverse histories and customs, the seemingly zany multisensory installations harness various craft techniques in their creation to highlight issues such as labour, migration, and displacement.
Francis Bacon: Human Presence at National Portrait Gallery — this extensive exhibition will feature 55 works from the 1950s onwards. What I really appreciate is that the NPG offer a Pay What You Wish option for certain weekend times.
Collective Care at London College of Fashion — “Through fashion, art, and social commentary, six artists explore care's many faces — from intimate love to radical global responsibility”. On 14th November there’s an evening of workshops centred around textiles and wellbeing.
Nature connection.
Autumn Equinox. ?
Ok, by the time I got around to writing this newsletter the Autumn Equinox had been and gone and we were well and truly into that autumnal phase here in England. At least what I’d experienced since that date in the Lake District and in London, with temperature drops and lots of soggy rain.
Nevertheless, this seasonal shift can still be celebrated after the marked date, because — apart from Daylight Savings Time — we’re pretty much statically in that dark period until Winter Solstice.
Some simple ideas to engage with this seasonal shift include:
This edition of Food-Fibre-Fashion came to consider foundations, as in, the fundamentals of what's around and in us, before we contemplate next steps.
Autumn requires us to re-root. Everything is in flux, particularly if we’ve had a busy summer or the weather shifts constantly. It welcomes the opportunity to check in before we move onwards into another busy period. Often there’s a change in clothing, in how we prepare for the day, in how we navigate around our homes both internal and external. Consequently we need to assess how we are and what we need if we’re going to utilise the shift in a nice way, that is, by embracing it and not moaning.
Similarly with systemic changes we’re considering in the food, fibre and fashion sectors, we first need to take stock of where we are. There’s speak of a Just Transition, but where are we going to and how will we know it’s just - and justified? The above resources seek to give you a moment to question these foundations, and consider what the next step is.
You’ve decided that nature is a human right, well, ok then, how are you going to ensure there are rights and not just permissions to access it? You recognise that particular aspects of nature or green spaces affect you in this and this way, and it shows up in outcomes like, you start growing food, so how to encourage others to contemplate their connection too? How could you use your enlightenment to raise awareness on pressing topics around this, as with supermarket fraud? You realise that the textile and fashion sector is a huge beast to conquer, but focussing in on one fibre or product or community gives you a base to springboard from, for your learnings or your physical actions and practices.
And if that’s all too big, perhaps taking a second to look up at the night sky (and subsequently quash the overwhelm of that as well) will tether you. You’re a part of nature, you are in nature, you are nature.
Hit reply if you have any comments, suggestions, recommendations, feedback, or to give some words of encouragement. As a reminder, this newsletter type will now be published every two months.
Stephanie Steele is the founder of Steele Studio, a space that educates everyday folk on the interconnectedness of our food, fibre and fashion systems through community courses and workshops. As an organic food grower and textiles sustainability specialist, she otherwise writes about art, textiles, plants, running and systems design.
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1 个月Stephanie Steele Thrilled to see the latest edition of your newsletter! The intersection of food, fiber, and fashion is so important, and I appreciate your insights on nature as a human right. I'm looking forward to exploring the resources you've shared, especially the podcast and film series!