City Food
wild and edible
June 29, 2005
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image courtesy Marjolijn Dijkman
It’s not an urban myth, edible food is growing wild in the city. In the Basel street where the artist initiative Filiale is located there are a myriad of little green grocers, representing just as many nationalities of people that populate the neighbourhood. Dijkman, de Jong and Herzog collected edible plants growing wild within the city of Basel, uprooted them, replanted them in pots and offered them for free in their City Food shop in the garage of Filiale. ‘Here, locally grown food, for free!’
This act was an investigation by the artists into the ‘natural resources’ of the city, and of the audience’s knowledge and perception of their under-the-radar local food supply. Very few visitors took home the plants that the artists had to offer. Some took offense, believing that the installation was a sarcastic joke about what is ‘local’. Many visitors, primarily those originally from abroad, were exceptionally knowledgeable about the edible treasures growing in and around Basel. Neighbours from West Africa began to explain the nutritive and medicinal attributes of the City Food assortment. An Italian neighbour recounted how in his home town, cooks often nip outside the kitchen to rush up a hillside and rip up some fresh herbs or leafy greens slash weeds to add to their soups and salads.
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image courtesy Marjolijn Dijkman
Some of the visitors complained about the artists’ lack of knowledge about the local flora. Others were disappointed when they entered the ‘shop’ looking to buy food only to discover that all that was on offer was food they would ultimately have to grow themselves. That’s a lot of work for just a tiny heap of salad, especially when the greens look feeble in comparison to everything on offer at the other shops on the street.
City Food took place amidst a political climate in Switzerland in which a strong but vocal minority was attempting a ban on food imports in order to encourage Swiss farmers and their products. Sounds healthy? Sounds Right, right? The City Food project addressed the notion of ‘local’. But what is an indigenous plant and what is a weed? And who is local, and who will be considered forever a foreign element?
image courtesy Marjolijn Dijkman
City Food, M.Dijkman, A. de Jong, D. Herzog
Basel Switzerland, 2005
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