We Feed The UK arrives at Primary

What’s the double act you didn’t know you needed? Turns out, it’s poetry and photography. 

The two have been brought together for a groundbreaking new art project, We Feed The UK, to tell the inspiring stories of food producers across the country. And it’s being hosted at Primary, the contemporary visual arts organisation and charity housed in a gorgeous Grade II listed former school on Seely Road, Radford. 

Primary is hosting a selection of work from the project (as part of the long-term Nourishment Programme) until Saturday 14 March, highlighting four unique stories that take a closer look at gender equality, climate change, racial justice, intergenerational connection and biodiversity. 

They’re big themes, themes that can feel overwhelming, inaccessible or, let’s be honest, a bit disheartening. But that’s what’s so special about this exhibition. 

When I walked into Primary on a rainy Saturday afternoon, with my husband and two sons in tow, there were no solemn faces or quiet lectures. Instead, we were greeted by the smell of freshly baked treats, the sound of excited chatter, people buzzing around, greeting each other warmly. 

It quickly became clear that this exhibition isn’t about preaching. It’s about people. Real people’s experiences, stories and connections – with each other, and the places we call home. 

My family and I wandered through the space and sampled homemade rye sourdough (apparently not my eight-year-olds favourite – you can’t please them all!) and a fermented juice, before stopping in the Reading Room to flick through the pages of the award-winning We Feed The UK book, that pulls together all ten stories from the project (the other six of which are exhibited in other locations). Primary is hosting a selection of books from Nottingham Nourishment Network’s Ital Iwe Mobile Library as part of the campaign. 

Everything was so tactile – perfect for families looking for something different.

We then turned our attention to the exhibition itself. I was immediately drawn to the story about female farmers in Scotland. I thought the days of ownership and inheritance passing solely down the male line was long behind us, but apparently not. Sons still inherit Scottish farms in 85% of cases, yet over half of UK family farm workers are women. Even the Scottish government’s own Women in Agriculture Taskforce concluded that their contribution can be ‘undervalued, downplayed or simply unseen’. I feel like I’ve heard that before..! 

But We Feed The UK, Grown by charity The Gaia Foundation, isn’t about negativity. Despite the feminist muttering of my internal monologue, what comes from the work – in this case fantastic photography from Sophie Gerrard alongside Iona Lee’s poetry – is joy and, even more so, hope. It perfectly captures that quiet, stoic determination, the ‘gentle defiance’ as the campaign so aptly describes it, that defines women, as well as all the other under-represented voices highlighted across the campaign, used as we are to just ‘getting on with it’. 

Taking in the work, alongside my children, also made me think about the passing of time. The land that’s at the heart of these stories has existed for millennia. It was here long before we were, and will exist long after we’re gone. If we care for it. But the world has already lost 75% of plant genetic diversity since 1900, sacrificing diverse fields for increased yields. As temporary custodians of this land, we’re not doing a great job. And it’s kids like my eleven-year-old who will be living in the consequences. 

So we stopped to talk about the story inspired by the innovative Penpont Project in Wales, the UK’s largest intergenerational nature restoration project. It’s brought a Youth Leadership Group of 13-18-year-olds together with farmers, landowners, charities and locals to look at today with fresh eyes and create a plan for a better tomorrow. Photography by Portrait of Britain-nominated Andy Pilsbury, and poetry by former Welsh Poet Laureate, Ifor ap Glyn, brings to life the power of engaging young people and uniting communities in their shared future in a way that no other single medium could.

Then it was back to the buzz of the launch. The exhibition space filled with people for a live reading from Hot Poet Bohdan Piasecki, people queued for portraits with award-winning photographer Ayesha Jones and, outside, kids and adults alike gathered around Neville Portas of No Diggity Gardens to make their own wormeries. 

Whilst these activities were for the launch only, there are a number of other events to take advantage of whilst the exhibition is on, from a Women's Grain Circle with Small Food Bakery to an all-faiths-welcome Community Iftar with Heya. And you can also learn, chat, and swap seeds at Notts Seed Network’s Seed Library, also hosted in the Primary Reading Room.

This exhibition is truly a place where art, action and community come together. Poetry, photography and story-telling are united to create something much bigger, more powerful, than the sum of their parts. It doesn’t matter if you’re a seasoned grower or just someone looking for something different to do, you’re guaranteed to take something away from a visit to the We Feed The UK project. Maybe it’ll be a thought-provoking conversation, or a desire to test your green thumb. But it will certainly be joyous, and more than a little bit hopeful.  

We Feed The UK runs at Primary until Saturday 14 March.

weareprimary.org