The first meeting of the group saw everyone bring a bowl and share some food. As a way to get to know each other everyone was asked to introduce themselves and say something about the bowl that they had brought with them.
People’s bowls connected to particular memories, they were a gift from a friend or given by a parent before they left home. Some bowls were part of a person’s childhood, having been in the family all their lives. Other bowls were chosen because of their particular size and shape – a small bowl that was used for children’s snacks, a bowl with a distinct rim to aid a blind participant with measuring portions. Some were chosen due to the pattern, bowls with similar floral motifs on the rim connected to Asian family homes and their choices over interior decoration. Other participants shared simple Ikea bowls – because crockery gets broken and Ikea is an easy replacement. One participant explained that their choice of Ikea bowl was because 2 years ago they moved to UK from Hong Kong leaving heavy domestic items such as cookware behind. The default was to go to Ikea to get their kitchen basics.
One member of the group didn’t bring a bowl but brought a takeaway Tupperware carton. They are a caterer and uses these cartons all the time in both their job and in cooking at home – they eat out of them, even cereal, puts left overs in them and use them to freeze precooked meals. They are a staple of their everyday interactions with food.
From bowls the group conversation moved to talk about food, what we eat out of our bowls, what we like to make and decisions around when and what we eat.
It was the start of more conversations to come.