A Taste of Unity: How Food Brings Glasgow’s Diverse Communities Together
Magdalen Lambkin, Development Director, Interfaith Glasgow
In Glasgow, a city renowned for its diversity, food plays a crucial role in fostering belonging and bringing communities together.
For many new to the city, food is a comforting link to their heritage. Places of worship, community centres, and interfaith groups all know that hosting a meal is the best way to provide a welcoming space and to break down barriers. The way food is shared can also remind people of the values that bind them as a community – whether that’s through sitting on the floor at a langar meal in a Sikh gurdwara, breaking the Ramadan fast through an iftar meal at a mosque, or saying the Selkirk Grace together at a Burns Supper.
But in Glasgow we don’t just enjoy familiar food with people of our own background – we love to share it and to try new things. And there’s no better way to meet your neighbours and learn about other cultures and traditions than through food. And so you’ll find communities opening their doors to welcome those of other backgrounds, inviting others to join an open iftar or passover meal, or creating new cultural fusions like the annual Burns and Rumi Supper.
One of the best examples of food bringing people together is One Big Picnic – a large-scale, community meal in George Square. Volunteers from diverse faith communities and community groups work together to serve free food to the public – delicious dishes from a whole range of cultures and traditions – as a way of celebrating Glasgow’s diversity and making everyone feel welcome, no matter their background.
Beyond One Big Picnic many food initiatives, both faith-based and secular, work together through the Interfaith Food Justice Network, upholding the right to food that is ‘fresh, nutritious, affordable, culturally-appropriate, and grown locally wherever possible, with care for the well-being of the land, workers, animals and the environment.’ These groups support each other year-round, sharing resources and surplus food to help those in need.
Interfaith Glasgow is proud to support Taste the Place, delivering experiences designed to celebrate Glasgow’s rich cultural heritage through food as part of the city’s 850th Anniversary. The campaign beautifully reflects the values of interfaith engagement – creating spaces within the city’s eateries where people of all backgrounds can come together, share stories and foster understanding.
At a time when divisions can feel overwhelming, food remains a powerful means of bringing people together, highlighting the dignity and common humanity of us all, and reminding us of the great richness that diversity brings to our lives.
Look out for events organised by Interfaith Glasgow that will give you the opportunity to meet your neighbours from diverse religion and belief communities over a bite to eat!