Creative: Solidarity for Food Businesses
Annika Walsh
Follow The Spoons (Oct. 2020)
“Follow the Spoons” is a non-invasive public intervention that invests in the community and advocates for the importance of people. During COVID pandemic-related shutdowns, Wellington Village in Ottawa, Ontario began to shift and suffer. The local food establishments are very dependent on everyone in the neighbourhood and were in need of public engagement. This intervention served as a reminder to the community that these businesses needed help. Leveraging the flow of people going in and out of the newly built Tunney’s Pasture O-Train transit station, I placed flattened spoons in the area, labeled with the names of restaurants and food shops, and pointed in the general direction where they were located. During difficult times, I encourage this initiative to spread throughout the city, with many people participating in a movement of collective solidarity.
Exercise
Grab some paper, tape, and spoons!
Then write down a list of local restaurants or food businesses that deserve some love and attention from your neighbourhood. Cut out the list of names and tape them onto your flattened spoons. If you do not have a hammer to flatten out the spoons, don’t worry about it! Concave surfaces work too, or you can use chopsticks or any other utensil you have access to! Take your labelled spoons and tape them onto a signpost in a semi–high traffic area, wherever they will be easily and frequently seen.
