The First Supper

The First Supper is a transdisciplinary framework for transformation, designed to reimagine the future of food systems through the power of imagination, community, and creative practice. It brings together science, art, gastronomy, and civic engagement to foster dialogue, inspire action, and co-create pathways toward just, sustainable, and resilient food futures.

At its core, The First Supper invites people to envision and taste the future. By bridging the emotional, sensory, and intellectual dimensions of change-making, it opens space for deep reflection and bold imagining. The framework is grounded in a commitment to justice, equity, and ecological stewardship. It uses food as a lens to explore questions of land access, biodiversity, climate, and identity—and as a medium to bring people together around shared values and new possibilities.

Visioning
Art & Drama
Dialogue
Gastronomy

The First Supper Pilot

Originally piloted at Bishop’s University in Quebec’s Eastern Townships in 2024–2025, The First Supper took shape through a series of experimental and participatory events, including a visioning workshop, art installations, discussions, and a shared gastronomic experience. These encounters built a vibrant ecosystem of collaboration among artists, farmers, chefs, policymakers, community members, scholars, and students. These pilot events serve as proof of concept for how The First Supper can be adapted and applied in different contexts.

The First Supper pilot was brought to life through a transdisciplinary collaboration with Professors Esther Charron (Arts Administration), Rebecca Harries (Drama), Heather Lawford (Psychology), and Julia Ros-Cuellar (Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems). It was supported by the Co-operative Education and Work Integrated Learning Canada grant, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Connection Grant, and Bishop’s Alumni and Philanthropy Office.

Visioning: Workshop (September 23, 2024)

The pilot launched with a visioning workshop that convened diverse actors from the regional food system—farmers, chefs, local officials, civil society, artists, and students—to imagine desirable food futures for the region. Using participatory foresight tools, participants articulated bold visions for what a more sustainable and just food system could look like. Artists Faustine Escoffier and François Lapierre documented and interpreted these visions through visual art, laying the groundwork for the forthcoming installations and exhibits.

Art & Drama: Creative practices

The First Supper was inspired by the power of creative practices to reach people on a deeper level, engaging wider audiences, and sparking reflections that transcend intellectual exchanges to touch on people’s feelings and values. For this, The First Supper brought together drama, art, and gastronomy. This resulted in The First Supper Pop-Up Exhibit, At Home art installation, and a curated gastronomic experience that featured two food performances.

FORUM THEATRE (PILOT IN NOVEMBER 2024; PREMIERE IN MARCH 2025)

Led by Prof. Rebecca Harries (Drama), forum theater—an interactive performance—dramatized real challenges faced by small-scale agroecological farmers. Audience members were invited to intervene, reimagine scenarios, and rehearse alternative futures. Researchers and students collaborated with civil society organization Protec-Terre to ground performance narratives in current realities of challenges faced by farmers.

POP-UP EXHIBITION (JANUARY 17–MARCH 22, 2025)

Curated by Camila Vasquez at Bishop’s ArtLab, the exhibit showcased works by artists Escoffier and Lapierre, bringing to life the futures envisioned in the visioning workshop. Displayed at the Foreman Gallery, the exhibit served as a public-facing entry point into the aspirations, anxieties, and possibilities surrounding food systems transformation.

See virtual translation here https://foreman.ubishops.ca/exposition-pop-up-exhibition/

AT HOME ART INSTALLATION, BISHOP’S FOREMAN GALLERY (MARCH 22-26, 2025)

An immersive artistic experience, At Home, invited guests to reconnect with their sense of home by entering a space inspired by our shared home, Mother Earth. Curated by student artist Marie-Pierre Ranger and featuring work by Faustine Escoffier, the installation included interactive spaces for learning, reflection, and contemplation. The First Supper special edition beer—brewed with 100% local ingredients—was presented during the installation to tell the biocultural story of a country beer.

Dialogue: The First Supper Panel discussion ‘Cultivating Hope in Our Food Systems’

This discussion panel featured diverse perspectives on what gives hope for the future of food, including a chef, a small-scale agroecological farmer, a representative from a civil society organization working on land access, and a scholar focused on food justice. This conversation was followed by a visit to At Home art installation and a gastronomic experience.

Moderated by Dr. Vivian Valencia, panelists included:

Stephanie Wang – Founder of farm Le Rizen and the social movement Les Fermes Pérennes

Dr. Bryan Dale – Assistant Professor, Sustainable Agriculture & Food Systems

Catherine Avard – Director of Development, Protec-Terre

Chef Marc Antoine Joncas-Zarate – co-owner at Terroirs Restaurant

Gastronomy: The First Supper gastronomic experience (March 25, 2025)

The First Supper culminated in a community shared meal, co-created by Chef Marc-Antoine Joncas-Zarate and Dr. Vivian Valencia. This experience interwove gastronomy and science to tell regional stories through food. Featuring “lighthouse” farms and producers as central figures, the meal highlighted inspiring examples while challenging participants to rethink their relationship with the planet and place through what they ate.

The evening prepared different spaces for interaction and reflection. In one provocative food performance, guests were served bowls of plain, tepid water. Some sipped it, others washed their fingers. The confusion set the stage for a powerful message: this was a glimpse of the future we are heading toward—a “vegetable soup” without vegetables, nutrients, or flavor. Chef Marc-Antoine and Dr. Valencia explained that unless we take action, this could become our reality.