Exhibition: Public Diners
Created by Nourish Scotland and 60 community researchers, this exhibition asks the question: at a time of rising food costs and hectic modern lives, could public diners make a comeback?
About Exhibition: Public Diners
| 30th Aug 2025 to 21st Sep 2025 | |
| 10am - 6pm | |
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Scottish Storytelling Centre 43 - 45 High Street, Edinburgh Old Town EH1 1SR |
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| This is a free event | |
| Visit the event website here | |
| Facebook information can be found here | |
| Follow scottishstorytellingcentre on Instagram | |
In the UK, we have public healthcare, public transport, public libraries — even public Wi-Fi. So why not public diners?
This exhibition uncovers the forgotten history of state-supported restaurants in the UK, and current international examples of public dining. Public diners are state-supported restaurants that sit alongside other core public infrastructure.
They’re everyday eating places serving good food at prices everyone can afford. During the Second World War and into the 1960s, the UK had a national network of over 2,000 public diners — including 90 in Scotland and 15 in Edinburgh. Around the world today, governments are investing in their own versions of public diners.
Created by Nourish Scotland and 60 community researchers, this exhibition asks the question: at a time of rising food costs and hectic modern lives, could public diners make a comeback and be a solution we all crave?
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