2. POTLUCK ZINE x SCOFFLAND

A conversation with Rhia, creator of Potluck zine

May 2020, countries all over the world were in lockdown with the outbreak of Covid-19. There were varying attitudes to the idea of staying still, a nightmare for creatives. Rhia Cook had just left her retail job in order to pursue a career in a more creative field three weeks prior to lockdown. Spending time at home reading and cooking, Rhia felt inspired to create a magazine on conversations surrounding food from a home cook perspective, with writing and illustration submissions from other home cooks (as a means of maintaining her motivation!), and so Potluck Zine was formed. She began by putting out a call for submissions on The Dots, a networking platform for creatives, with the first issue theme being ‘Cooking during Covid’.

It became a comforting and accessible space for home cooks who perhaps initially felt intimidated to enter the food writing sphere. The zine also allowed home cooks to write about what they had been making during what was an uncertain time. The issue was a success, with 25 contributors and a growing appetite for such a collaborative food project.

Based in Dundee but originally from Dunfermline, I spoke to Rhia via Zoom while she was deep in the process of finalising the contributors for the upcoming 7th issue all about snacks (which as an avid snacker, is very exciting). I ask her what the weeks leading up to publication are like. Submissions are normally open for a month and can include anything from personal writing and interviews to recipes and photography. The upcoming issue brought 170 submissions of which Rhia had to individually review, before passing them onto copy editor, Molly Gorman to make the final edits.

As we spoke, Rhia’s passion for Potluck radiated through the screen as she told me how she wanted to create a digital and print zine which would represent diverse voices, bringing different stories and experiences. Yet Rhia is transparent about the fact that writing about food is a privilege in itself. All the profits from the first issue were donated to Trussel Trust, a “natural link” as Rhia describes it, given that food poverty increased during the lockdown months. Rhia has continued her work with the charity, donating 10% of the money raised from each issue to the food bank.

There is an undeniable sense of community which comes with Potluck, something which Rhia never intended or expected to happen. Contributors write and illustrate from all over the world, with a large proportion based in London. She hopes to continue building this community, with plans to schedule zoom calls with contributors and turn the virtual into the physical, organising events.

We rounded off our conversation with the SCOFFLAND question: what comes to mind when you think of food and Scotland? For Rhia, it was the potential the Scottish food scene has. When she lived in Dunfermline, she would regularly visit Edinburgh, always enjoying the vegetarian food at El Cartel on Rose Street. She tells me how at this time food options for vegetarians were limited and El Cartel had such an extensive list of amazing vegetarian options. It’s exciting to wonder how the Scottish food scene will change in years to come, just as it is exciting to see Potluck continue to grow.