Sign in

The Common Table

@thecommontable.eu
473 followers 789 following 95 posts

A platform for food thinking, food futures and systemic change thecommontable.eu

PostsRepliesMedia
The Common Table @thecommontable.eu · 20/08/2026
Agrifood and the building industry are among the biggest global greenhouse gas emitters. We asked Klaus Wiens from the German supermarket group REWE what they are doing about it, and visited their first timber-construction supermarket with rooftop farm in Berlin. thecommontable.eu/revolution-n...
thecommontable.eu
Revolution Not Evolution — The Common Table
Klaus Wiens, head of construction at Rewe on their all-new timber construction supermarkets, complete with rooftop farms supplying fresh greens to the region.
011
The Common Table @thecommontable.eu · 06/08/2026
The Common Table just turned six. Its founders take stock of their platform and renew their pledge to champion voices for change in humankind’s greatest task ahead: transitioning to a global ecosystem of economies that are decent, fair and safe – through food. thecommontable.eu/what-are-we-...
001
The Common Table @thecommontable.eu · 06/08/2026
The Common Table just turned six. Its founders take stock of their platform and renew their pledge to champion voices for change in humankind’s greatest task ahead: transitioning to a global ecosystem of economies that are decent, fair and safe – through food. thecommontable.eu/what-are-we-...
001
The Common Table @thecommontable.eu · 06/08/2026
The Common Table just turned six. Its founders take stock of their platform and renew their pledge to champion voices for change in humankind’s greatest task ahead: transitioning to a global ecosystem of economies that are decent, fair and safe – through food. thecommontable.eu/what-are-we-...
000
The Common Table @thecommontable.eu · 19/05/2026
We just published a wonderfully hopeful interview with Tara Shyam, Executive Director of @regen10.bsky.social an alliance whose mission is to change the entire food system, resiliently, regeneratively and responsibly. Images: @kadirvanlohuizen.bsky.social thecommontable.eu/how-to-feed-...
010
The Common Table @thecommontable.eu · 02/05/2026
It's not news that there is something pretty toxic about the fine-dining industry. Instances of abuse and mental health issues abound. We sought out a Michelin-starred chef who has been through the system and thought long and hard about system change. thecommontable.eu/remove-the-a...
thecommontable.eu
Remove The Arbiters Of Taste — The Common Table
We talk to the Michelin-starred chef Ivan Brehm of Nouri in Singapore about artifice, agency, and the unsustainable game fine dining has become.
002
The Common Table @thecommontable.eu · 17/03/2026
"Whether the strategy succeeds could depend less on its legislation than on whether the cultural understanding of soil shifts from background condition to central actor." The EU Soil Strategy's Soil Monitoring Law went into force in December 2025, but is it enough to save our soils and ourselves?
thecommontable.eu
SOS: Who's Saving Our Soils? — The Common Table
The EU Soil Strategy for 2030 was launched as part of the European Green Deal, but is it enough to save our soils and ourselves?
000
The Common Table @thecommontable.eu · 11/03/2026
In The Last Harvest, we feature a beautiful documentary film by Dan Saladino and the Gaia Foundation about ecologist, scientist, and farmer Dr Debal Deb, who has spent decades working with his community to save over 1,400 rice varieties from extinction.
thecommontable.eu
The Last Harvest — The Common Table
Dr Debal Deb and The Last Harvest is a documentary about one man's decades-long battle to rescue India's indigenous rice diversity from oblivion. Journalist Dan Saladino visits Basudha Farm in Odisha,...
020
The Common Table @thecommontable.eu · 11/03/2026
The Burnt Chef Revolution: In a timely interview, Kris Hall, the founder of The Burnt Chef Project, discusses how he came to found a global mental health support network for the hospitality industry – a professional field renowned for its toxic work environments. thecommontable.eu/the-burnt-ch...
020
The Common Table @thecommontable.eu · 11/03/2026
The strange story of WWII veteran Stanley Green, who spent 25 years, from 1968 to 1993, standing on the corner of Oxford Street in London, urging people to adopt a low-protein diet and dampen their passions. Was he a proto-incel or a beacon of resilience – or both? thecommontable.eu/beans-peas-n...
210
The Common Table @thecommontable.eu · 20/02/2026
The Future is Ancestral: "They are not farmers anymore; they are the guardians of the environment. They’re keepers of knowledge. What they need to do is not just produce crops, but produce life." thecommontable.eu/the-future-i...
021
The Common Table @thecommontable.eu · 04/02/2026
Diego Contreras is a biologist and honey expert from the uniquely biodiverse region of Oaxaca, Mexico. His project Nunduve, a way of doing business with honey that focuses on educating consumers about honey’s origins and environmental issues, rather than just its flavours and uses.
thecommontable.eu
The Honey Merchant — The Common Table
Diego Contreras is a honey expert from the uniquely biodiverse region of Oaxaca. His project Nunduve aims to educate consumers about honey's origins and environmental issues, rather than just its flav...
000
The Common Table @thecommontable.eu · 04/02/2026
How can grassroots support of local producers, regional ecology and traditional practice work without commercial exploitation? By making education the product. Our latest interview is with a honey expert in Oaxaca.
thecommontable.eu
The Honey Merchant — The Common Table
Diego Contreras is a honey expert from the uniquely biodiverse region of Oaxaca. His project Nunduve aims to educate consumers about honey's origins and environmental issues, rather than just its flav...
100
The Common Table @thecommontable.eu · 26/01/2026
@sophielovell.com and Orlando Lovell's interview with Nathan Thornburgh of Roads and Kingdoms is full of insights about three of our favourite subjects: food, travel and publishing.
000
The Common Table @thecommontable.eu · 26/01/2026
"If you go to difficult places and start talking about something as common and good as cooking, eating, and food traditions, then you can break through some of the alienation between readers and subjects." There is so much to learn through the lens of food.
thecommontable.eu
Through The Lens Of Food — The Common Table
Nathan Thornburgh, co-founder and publisher of Roads & Kingdoms, who worked closely with Anthony Bourdain, explains how food can be a lens on the world and the soul.
100
The Common Table @thecommontable.eu · 10/11/2025
“The preparation, textures, and slowness of food scenes in Ghibli films, such as the clatter of bowls, steam rising from soups, and the slurping sounds of characters eating, all evoke sensory comfort; a cinematic version of a warm hug.”
thecommontable.eu
The Ghibli Foodiverse — The Common Table
In the Studio Ghibli foodiverse, food is hearth and home, conjuring a sensual state of longing and belonging, says Sophie Lovell.
032
The Common Table @thecommontable.eu · 03/10/2025
Supply chain transparency and integrity are not just good practice; they are also becoming mandatory. Food industry expert William Harris and Cynthia Asaf of Pacifical talking about why digital technology is a game-changer for the industry, with implications for supply chain monitoring worldwide.
thecommontable.eu
Transparent Tuna — The Common Table
Cynthia Asaf of Pacifical on using digital traceability to improve transparency and integrity in the Pacific tuna supply chain and why it's a game-changer.
020
The Common Table @thecommontable.eu · 16/08/2025
Can Food Design improve our relationships with food, or is it just fancy plating? OxfordFoodSymposium’ Kitchen Table & @thecommontable.eu invited Priya Mani, Sonia Massari, @fparasecoli.bsky.social, Laila Snevele, @sophielovell.com & Orlando Lovell to discuss. thecommontable.eu/food-design-...
012
The Common Table @thecommontable.eu · 16/08/2025
We need to talk about Food Design. thecommontable.eu/food-design-...
020
The Common Table @thecommontable.eu · 13/07/2025
New interview at the Common Table with First Nations filmmaker and curator @cassgardiner.bsky.social about stewardship, reciprocity, the bittersweet aspect of "home", and how she uses food to open a window for non-Native people into her world and community. #reciprocity #sovereignty #stewardship
000
The Common Table @thecommontable.eu · 13/07/2025
“What if the settlers had arrived and had agreed to coexist instead? I wonder if we would have had a robust, very cool food culture by now. Because they were so hell-bent on disappearing us, we never got that cross-cultural exchange and an evolution of what American food truly could have been.”
thecommontable.eu
The Good Life — The Common Table
Anishinaabe Algonquin filmmaker Cass Gardiner talks to The Common Table about how she uses food as a window for non-Native people into her world and community.
140
The Common Table @thecommontable.eu · 09/06/2025
“One day, while watching them, I thought: what if these birds could cooperate and create their own alphabet?” A multi species food alphabet by @curly_mads. thecommontable.eu/wild-birds-f... #thecommontable #curlymads #wildbirds #wildbirdsalphabet #pictoplasma #foodalphabet #risoprint
Risoprint illustration of two blackbirds playing with a carrot and two other birds forming the letter C with their bodies.
000
The Common Table @thecommontable.eu · 09/06/2025
“Every morning, I visit a large urban park near my home to watch birds.” artist @curly_mads tells the story of herWild Birds Food Alphabet. thecommontable.eu/wild-birds-f... Wild Birds Food Alphabet — The Common Table #thecommontable #curlymads #wildbirds #foodalphabet #pictoplasma
Risoprint illustration of birds and nuts and two birds forming a letter N with their bodies.
000
The Common Table @thecommontable.eu · 08/06/2025
We invited Systems Change Designer Ashley Scarborough to The Common Table to share how she redesigned her own professional path and found food systems as her medium.
thecommontable.eu
Change The (Design) System — The Common Table
A conversation with Systems Change Designer Ashley Scarborough about how she redesigned her own professional path and found food systems as her medium.
000
The Common Table @thecommontable.eu · 12/05/2025
Adjust your preconceptions about Food Design by joining the Oxford Food Symposium Kitchen Table panel talk online with the founders of The Common Table and others here tomorrow May 13th 6pm CEST on Zoom
oxfordsymposium.org.uk
We need to talk about 'Food Design': What is it and can it improve our relationships with food, individually or on a global scale? - Oxford Food Symposium
Agriculturalists, economists, chefs, politicians & policy makers, and educationalists & educators have ‘solutions’ relating to improving the food system. Unfortunately, many have fallen flat, and we c...
020
The Common Table @thecommontable.eu · 24/04/2025
If you want to understand how we ended up in this mess, you go to an expert. The Common Table talked to political economist @jennifer-clapp.bsky.social about her banging new book: "Titans of Industrial Agriculture: How a Few Giant Corporations Came to Dominate the Farm Sector and Why It Matters".
thecommontable.eu
A Game Of Monopoly — The Common Table
We talk to Canadian political economist Jennifer Clapp about her latest book, “Titans of Industrial Agriculture” and the evolution of an extreme concentration of power that has allowed 12 companies to...
088
The Common Table @thecommontable.eu · 27/03/2025
Just as we understand individual ingredients, like apples or crisps, to be expressions of systems, The Common Table is an expression of a system initiated by studio_lovell. It is designed to be a hospitable space for learning to ask better questions.
000
The Common Table @thecommontable.eu · 27/03/2025
000
The Common Table @thecommontable.eu · 27/03/2025
100
The Common Table @thecommontable.eu · 27/03/2025
100
The Common Table @thecommontable.eu · 27/03/2025
100
The Common Table @thecommontable.eu · 27/03/2025
100
The Common Table @thecommontable.eu · 27/03/2025
100
The Common Table @thecommontable.eu · 27/03/2025
The Common Table's founders studio_lovell were invited to co-design an immersive dining experience and give a keynote at the #HotelschoolTheHague for their Future of Food course in Amsterdam. We talked about learning to ask better questions & understanding ingredients as expressions of systems.
100
The Common Table @thecommontable.eu · 26/02/2025
Ancient Grains and Other Myths, an interview with Aterraterra at The Common Table. #aterraterra #thecommontable #colonialism #artandagriculture #foraging #heritage #taste #graniantichi #sementielette #ancientgrains #ethiopianredaubergine Image © Filippo Nicoletti, courtesy Aterraterra.
000
The Common Table @thecommontable.eu · 26/02/2025
Now more than ever it is so important to question the narratives we are fed. Our interview with Fabio Aranzulla and Luca Cinquemani aka Aterraterra, whose interdisciplinary work questions accepted narratives within agriculture and food cultures, just went online. We'd love to hear your feedback.
thecommontable.eu
Ancient Grains And Other Myths — The Common Table
The interdisciplinary work of Aterraterra intersects artistic and agricultural practices and questions accepted narratives within agriculture and food cultures.
100
The Common Table @thecommontable.eu · 24/02/2025
Another agreeable Monday morning provocation 🍄
thecooldown.com
Scientists just created a biodegradable battery using mushrooms — and it actually works
Researchers have created a fungal battery that can power small sensors, showcasing the untapped power of the fungal community.
0112
The Common Table @thecommontable.eu · 24/02/2025
An enjoyable Monday morning provocation
020
The Common Table @thecommontable.eu · 22/02/2025
Game changer?
theguardian.com
UK soil breakthrough could cut farm fertiliser use and advance sustainable agriculture
Research group says discovery could lead to new type of environmentally friendly farming
000
The Common Table @thecommontable.eu · 19/02/2025
Reading list
010
The Common Table @thecommontable.eu · 18/02/2025
The Capacity to Evoke at The Common Table #mericoner #salt #cookingsections #climavore #onassisair #thecommontable #foodsystems #foodfutures #budakli #waterbuffalo #turkey Image courtesy L&B Journal
011
The Common Table @thecommontable.eu · 18/02/2025
Food systems are emerging as a new focus of investigative cultural practice. The Common Table talked to curator and researcher Meriç Öner, former Director at Salt in Istanbul, who brings a unique perspective to the intersection of food, culture and art. thecommontable.eu/foods-capaci...
110
The Common Table @thecommontable.eu · 18/02/2025
The Oxford Real Farming Conference 2025 sessions are now online for everybody. There were some amazing talks. Well worth listening in, particularly Unpicking Food & Farming Misinformation, Is a Fossil-free Food System Possible and Roots of Resistance. 🌱🥬🌾💚
orfc.org.uk
ORFC Archive
Explore conference material that we have gathered over the years including videos, presentations and summaries of the sessions…
042
The Common Table @thecommontable.eu · 14/02/2025
Seed sovereignty is a vital issue.
152
The Common Table @thecommontable.eu · 13/02/2025
Embracing food thinking not only facilitates an accessible, inclusive path to understanding and nurturing thriving ecologies by building and maintaining healthy relationships, it is essential to survival.
000
The Common Table @thecommontable.eu · 12/02/2025
Food is everything
030
The Common Table @thecommontable.eu · 12/02/2025
One that is less causal, more entangled. One that is contextually aware, allowing for exceptions and the exceptional. 3/3 thecommontable.eu/food-thinking/
000
The Common Table @thecommontable.eu · 12/02/2025
A non-binary approach that is adaptive, and embraces context, equity and equality, allowing for even contradictory interests of myriad stakeholders. One that involves learning to ask better questions rather than presuming to have answers. 2/3 thecommontable.eu/food-thinking/
100
The Common Table @thecommontable.eu · 12/02/2025
What if there was a more inclusive way to approach the design process than “design thinking”? One that is based, not on “things” or “problems” but on building and maintaining healthy relationships instead? 1/3 thecommontable.eu/food-thinking/
100