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public_diet [2008-07-15 12:50] – katerichpublic_diet [2022-03-16 11:14] (current) – nik
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-**feasability study for sustained sustenance: installing a Feral Trade Cafe at HTTP gallery, London UK, from autumn/winter 2008. A platform to present feral trade goods and develop protocols for HTTP refreshment service, in line with the other public communications of the gallery. This research emerges from an interest in the public diet of cultural organisations where foods for thought and consumption might crossover; and includes testing the regulatory limits and social expectations for a cafe, as well as preparing the resources, human and otherwise, required to run it. ** +=====feasability study for sustained sustenance: installing a Feral Trade Cafe at HTTP Gallery, London UK.===== 
 + 
 +A platform to present feral trade goods and develop live protocols for refreshment services at HTTP, in line with the other public communications and activities of the gallery. This research emerges from an interest in the 'public diet' of cultural organisations, where foods for thought and consumption might crossover. It includes testing the regulatory limits and social expectations for an artist-run cafe, as well as preparing the resources, human and otherwise, required to run it. 
  
  
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 Practical Practical
  
-1. HTTP is located in the back of beyond (an industrial estate in the residential London borough of Haringey http://www.haringey.gov.uk) from the point of view of its public. A cafe would offer visitors something to chew on alongside the art: sustenance and conviviality, enriched space for contemplation, information and reading, and the oppportunity to elongate their visit.+1. HTTP is located in the back of beyond (an industrial estate in the residential London area of Haringey http://www.haringey.gov.uk) from the point of view of its public. A cafe would offer visitors an added incentive to visit and linger at the gallery, something to chew on alongside the art in terms of sustenance and conviviality, enriched space for contemplation, information and reading.
  
 2. A service for local residents and studio occupants. The neighbourhood is changing - incoming small business and studios - the cafe would be an interface to that. A means of connecting with the local community that's more fluid and open, a softer and more everyday interface than the gallery.  2. A service for local residents and studio occupants. The neighbourhood is changing - incoming small business and studios - the cafe would be an interface to that. A means of connecting with the local community that's more fluid and open, a softer and more everyday interface than the gallery. 
  
-Conceptual +Concepts 
  
     http: The cafe will demonstrate an alternate economy and ecology that promotes free        http: The cafe will demonstrate an alternate economy and ecology that promotes free   
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     activities and how you get from A to B.      activities and how you get from A to B. 
     Even at this small scale it has a polemic value.     Even at this small scale it has a polemic value.
-[[feral_trade_economy]] +  
 +Economics((Feral Trade relies on a moving network of social connections for the transportation of goods. Trade managed through an intricate time-space-personal system covering thousands of miles, linking hundreds of people, like the Trobriand islanders of yore. The orderly distribution of goods via a variety of motives, of which gain is not prominent.))
  
-Economic +Profit is not a necessary motive for the cafe - which opens up the operating territory considerably. 
- +Although stock should still pay for itself plus provide a heady surplus for office consumption. Seed funding will be required for start-up equipment and utensils: HTTP or external.
-Profit is not a necessary motive - which opens up the operating territory considerably. +
-Although stock should still pay for itself plus provide surplus for office consumption. +
-Seed funding will be required for start-up equipment and utensils: HTTP or external.+
  
    feral trade:Feral Trade runs at a fabulous loss, in business terms.    feral trade:Feral Trade runs at a fabulous loss, in business terms.
-   It operates in an absence of the principle of least effort, excluding it from basic  +   It operates in an absence of the principle of least effort which excludes it from 
-   market measures of success. The investment is in the network. +   basic market measures of success. The investment is in the network. 
    
-  * hours of operation, visitor patterns, winter plan  +  * hours of operation & visitor patterns ((Gallery hours are currently 12-5PM Fri-Sun, possibly extending to Thurs.Average 15-20 visitors per weekend, mainly arriving via Manor House tube. 
- +
-Gallery hours are currently 12-5PM Fri-Sun, possibly extending to Thurs. +
-Average 15-20 visitors per weekend, mainly arriving via Manor House tube. +
 There is no cafe between the tube and HTTP although it is possible to take a  There is no cafe between the tube and HTTP although it is possible to take a 
 detour to Costa Coffee, a commercial chain in the business mall on Green Lanes.  detour to Costa Coffee, a commercial chain in the business mall on Green Lanes. 
-Portuguese cafe in the other direction has cheap and good espresso and a mainly Portuguese clientele.+Portuguese cafe in the other direction has good cheap espresso and a mainly Portuguese clientele.)), winter plan 
  
 The cafe would not necessarily be linked to shows. The cafe would not necessarily be linked to shows.
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 Library visitor numbers are low but it's the intensity of the experience that counts. Library visitor numbers are low but it's the intensity of the experience that counts.
     http: It would be a coup to overcome London geography and keep the cafe open in      http: It would be a coup to overcome London geography and keep the cafe open in 
-    winter. Without affecting global warming. +    winter, without affecting global warming. 
          
 Patio bonfires worth looking into. Patio bonfires worth looking into.
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 When the gallery is open, there is someone always available to respond to visitors. When the gallery is open, there is someone always available to respond to visitors.
-Saturday and Sunday have dedicated invigilation, Fridays can be more hectic. +((Saturday and Sunday have dedicated invigilation, Fridays can be more hectic. 
-Currently Ale (Furtherfield administration and coordination) does Fri-Sat; Sundays they hire an invigilator. +Currently Ale (Furtherfield administration and coordination) does Fri-Sat; Sundays they hire an invigilator.)) 
  
-Hazards: At what scale would the cafe interfere with other office activity?+Hazards: The main anticipated hazard is success, with too many customers impacting staffing. Current thinking is to launch cafe with focus on existing gallery clientele, scale out to invite broader neighbourhood as the project develops.
  
     * roles for cafe.      * roles for cafe. 
  
 **Service:** preparation, waiting, cash-taking. **Service:** preparation, waiting, cash-taking.
-Cafe service role would be rotated amongst present core personnel, +Service role would be rotated amongst present core personnel, 
 this kind of distributed culture is integral to the way Furtherfield works as a group. this kind of distributed culture is integral to the way Furtherfield works as a group.
 http://www.furtherfield.org/about.php http://www.furtherfield.org/about.php
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 At a minimum, tables, chairs, umbrellas and signage to communicate cafe presence to the nighbourhood. At a minimum, tables, chairs, umbrellas and signage to communicate cafe presence to the nighbourhood.
          
-The decking along the side of HTTP building is potential cafe seating area. HTTP to sound the landlord out on this between rent payments,+The decking along the side of HTTP building is potential cafe seating area, although in terms of afternoon sun gets a total eclipse. HTTP to sound the landlord out on decking between rent payments,
 Landlord relations are distantly friendly. There is a janitor who keeps a close eye  Landlord relations are distantly friendly. There is a janitor who keeps a close eye 
 on the compound. If landlord rejects decking plans, the parking spaces in front are  on the compound. If landlord rejects decking plans, the parking spaces in front are 
-formally HTTP's, included in their rent. Cafe could serve from here with guests seating themselves informally (on the decking). Decking receives no afternoon sun, another reason  to look at occupying parking.+formally HTTP's, included in their rent. Cafe could serve from here with guests seating themselves informally (on the decking). Afternoon sun is another reason to occupy parking spaces.
  
     Liability would need to be thought through or ignored.     Liability would need to be thought through or ignored.
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   * other models (positive and negative)   * other models (positive and negative)
  
-    Cafe Kino http://www.cafe-kino.com/about/index.htm, Bristol.  +Cafe Kino http://www.cafe-kino.com/about/index.htm, Bristol.((Cafe Kino is run by a collective of artists etc who also run the Here Shop & Gallery over the road. 
-    Run by a collective of artists etc who also run the Here Shop & Gallery over the road. +Many of their customers are from their extended social networks, probably from  
-    Many of their customers are from their extended social networks, probably from  +within a few blocks radius. People go there for the sociability, decor, wifi,  
-    within a few blocks radius. People go there for the sociability, decor, wifi,  +good tea/coffee, cultural contagion plus pleasure of investing in own social  
-    good tea/coffee, cultural contagion plus pleasure of investing in own social  +networks.)) 
-    networks. +Leila's Shop, Shoreditch.((Leila's Shop: expensive bespoke groceries, review covers the for & againsts pretty effecitvely: http://londonreviewofbreakfasts.blogspot.com/2008/04/leilas-shop-shoreditch.html)) 
  
-    Leila's Shop, Shoreditch. Expensive bespoke groceries / cafe, review covers the for &  
-    againsts: http://londonreviewofbreakfasts.blogspot.com/2008/04/leilas-shop-shoreditch.html 
  
 ===== HTTP structure  ===== ===== HTTP structure  =====
  
-Umbrella company is Catlow & Garrett, a partnership and tax entity, deals with rent and overheads, PAYE etc. 
 HTTP is a http://furtherfield.org project. HTTP is a http://furtherfield.org project.
 HTTP & Furtherfield are not for profits, with written constitutions. HTTP & Furtherfield are not for profits, with written constitutions.
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 [[uk_premises_regulations]]    [[uk_premises_regulations]]   
-    Produce a Regulatory reading menu as research project.  
     Use existing regulations as a template/ jelly mould for evasion or compliance.      Use existing regulations as a template/ jelly mould for evasion or compliance. 
 +    Produce a Regulatory reading menu as research project.
 http://images.google.co.uk/images?hl=en&q=jello+mold&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&resnum=1&ct=title http://images.google.co.uk/images?hl=en&q=jello+mold&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&resnum=1&ct=title
  
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    Promote Feral Trade experimental trader aims.    Promote Feral Trade experimental trader aims.
  
-Food goods will be informationalised (onboard or on menu). Customer receipts can be A4 laser prints with a torrent of product information.+   * Stock Options
  
-Selection will involve a biodiversity of criteria, none of which should be primary or exclusionary. Stock considerations include:+All menu items should be also available to buy as take-home groceries, where possible.  
 +Stock selection will involve a biodiversity of criteria, none of which should be primary or exclusionary. Considerations include:
  
-   - compliance with or skirting the regulatory perimeters [[uk_premises_regulations]] +   - shelf life: avoid sales incentive or waste 
-   - shelf life: to avoid sales incentive or waste +   - the facility of the food item to reveal information ((The commodity,    
-   - the facility of the food item to host information, including+as object produced for sale on the market, conceals its relationships  
 +except for the money relation. The product of the commons is filled with  
 +human relations, including possibly unpleasant ones (Peter Linebaugh). 
 +Commoning produces social relations in the form of commons, freely associated humanity.   
 +Sarai Reader http://osdir.com/ml/culture.india.sarai.reader/2006-06/msg00073.html)) including
    - information on source, relations with land, embodied by the transport of its produce    - information on source, relations with land, embodied by the transport of its produce
    - information on carriage, network and delivery relations embodied by courier/s.    - information on carriage, network and delivery relations embodied by courier/s.
 +   - compliance with or skirting the regulatory perimeters
    - seasonality, including transportation seasons    - seasonality, including transportation seasons
-   - localness+   - locality
  
-   Expand understanding of localness beyond the territorial boundaries of the village  +    All cafe goods will be informationalised (onboard or on menu). 
-   or nation state, to a model more in line with HTTP work environment, a shared set of  +
-   connections and navigable transit routes like the scale-free hubs of the internet. +
  
-[[common_products]]+  * Information
  
-Ingredients and products with questionable ethics can be included, along with their  +Ingredients and products with questionable or complex ethics should be included on the menu, along with  their product information. The main thing is to expand the product monologue beyond simple boasting and purity fetishes (eg. the truth claims, elevated origins and destinies - gourmet, organic, health - promoted by fresh and wild style packaging http://feraltrade.org/research/righteous_products); or the homogenous landscape of happy farmers that Fair Trade propagates ((the happy farmer landscape, an image array that reverses earlier breaks with tradition in visualising agriculture labour as a statement on grinding rural poverty as opposed to example of pastoral virtue. See Gleaning, François Millet 1857 http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/~waste/timeline/story-pic1.htm)) http://feraltrade.org/fair;  
-source information. The main thing is to expand the product monologue to articulate a  +to articulate a broader picture of the world the product moves through. 
-larger picture of the world it moves through.+
 [[tea_from_bangladesh]] for example. [[tea_from_bangladesh]] for example.
 + 
  
-Fair Trade which limits its communiques to the the iconic picture of the farmer/producer a restricted landscape http://feraltrade.org/fair +  * Other Menu Information
-and one that reverses earlier breaks with tradition in visualising agriculture  +
-labour as a statement on rural poverty as opposed to example of pastoral virtue.  +
-Gleaning: François Millet 1857 http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/~waste/timeline/story-pic1.htm+
  
-Feral Trade takes food-labeling as an opportunity for diverse communications as  opposed to righteous boasting and the promotion of purity fetishes, such as the truth claims elevated origins and destinies (gourmet, organic, fairdom, health) propagated by the likes of fresh and wild. +[[breakdown_of_expenses]]: Menu also to include items and incidents in the transit of cash preformed for the goods' procurement: particularly obstacles, as the materiality of money in small quantities generally defies the idea of smooth movement of finance across global networks.
-http://feraltrade.org/research/righteous_products+
  
-[[breakdown_of_expenses]]: The cafe menu to also include itemisations in the transit of cash as witnessed in the goods' procurement: particularly obstacles, as the materiality of money in small quantities generally defies the idea of the smooth movement of finance across global networks.+Cafe receipts can be A4 laser prints with a torrent of product information, alongside the date and price of purchase. 
 + 
 +   * Reciprocity
  
 Read-write menu. Open to intervention from random vendors eg. customers can contribute  Read-write menu. Open to intervention from random vendors eg. customers can contribute 
 menu items via peddling stock (sale, trade or gift). menu items via peddling stock (sale, trade or gift).
  
-Economy of miniaturisation / smallscale. Enables hosting small batches/single items, ultra short seasons and microclimates.Menu should be easily updated and transmitted (database-driven) and include out of stock items - wishlisted, in negotiation or pending delivery.+   * Seasonality 
 + 
 +Economy of downscale. Enables hosting small batches/single items, ultra short seasons and microclimates. Menu format should be easily updated and transmitted (database-driven) and include out of stock items - wishlisted, in negotiation or pending delivery. 
 + 
 +  * Localness 
 + 
 +   Expand the notion of localness beyond the territorial boundaries of the village  
 +   or nation state, to more closely replicate the worlds HTTP works in. A shared set  
 +   of connections and navigable routes like the scale-free hubs of the internet.  
 + 
 +    * Suppliers 
 + 
 +Source producers or recipes from HTTP social networks, commission or collect artists' food projects, cultivate agrisocial relations with city farms / allotments, rural family connections, home cultivation to procure cake, jams, herbs, sprouts etc.  
 + 
 +   * Delivery
  
 Courier process. Use moving social networks including known and funded travel to HTTP  Courier process. Use moving social networks including known and funded travel to HTTP 
-to deliver goods from afar, including store-bought ones. Documenting these journeys and relationships expands attention to food provenance beyond a gourmet-style fetishisation  +to deliver goods from afar, including store-bought ones, and document this process via the Feral Trade Courier database, http://feraltrade.org.  
-of origin or source, to the broader ecology of supply. Promote inter-organisational trade with artistic peers, local and foreign.               +Actively promote inter-organisational trade with artistic peers, local and foreign.               
  
-Source producers or recipes from HTTP social networks, commission or collect artists' food projects, social connections to city farms or allotments, home cultivation  +   * Regulations
-(cake, jams, herbs, sprouts etc). +
        
 Regulatory limits: Define and stock emergency food products; define emergency; outer limits of biscuit; cream teas.  Regulatory limits: Define and stock emergency food products; define emergency; outer limits of biscuit; cream teas. 
  
-    Feral Trade staples start menu.  +   * Basics: Feral Trade staples start menu. 
-    - Coffee from El Salvador +
-    - Tea from Bangladesh (TBC) +
-    - Cola from Bristol. +
-    - Salt from Gujarat+
  
-     Other organisational contenders +      - Coffee from El Salvador 
-    - Fo.am Brussels. Grappa, Latvian cured meats, computer chocolate biscuits. +      - Tea from Bangladesh (TBC) 
-    - Mejor Vida Corporation, Mexico City. Hot chocolate +      - Cola from Bristol. 
-    - Irational.org, Bristol. Food for Free apple mush +      - Salt from Gujarat 
 +      - Zaytoun olive oil and other products  
 + 
 +http://zaytoun.org / local distributors at http://www.zaytoun.org/index.php/sellers/#London 
 + 
 +   * Other organisational contenders 
 + 
 +      - http://fo.am Brussels. Grappa, Latvian cured meats, computer chocolate biscuits. 
 +      - Mejor Vida Corporation, Mexico City. Hot chocolate 
 +      - Irational.org, Bristol. Food for Free apple mush 
  
    Challenge fresh+wild to a duel.    Challenge fresh+wild to a duel.
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 trade by primarily social means. In documenting this process it expands the  trade by primarily social means. In documenting this process it expands the 
 idea of food provenance beyond a gourmet-style fetishisation of origins, to  idea of food provenance beyond a gourmet-style fetishisation of origins, to 
-broader relationships of supply. +the broader ecology of supply. 
  
 The cafe hopes to promote inter-organisational trade with artistic peers, The cafe hopes to promote inter-organisational trade with artistic peers,
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 +[[lecture_notes]]
  
  
  
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  • Last modified: 2008-07-15 12:50
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