Sustainable Food Cities Enters 5th Year
Sustainable Food Cities: Entering its 5th year and more than 50 members strong
Sustainable Food Cities (SFC) has been making an impact in cities across the UK for 5 years! The Sustainable Food Cities Network supports each of its member cities to develop a programme that will transform its food culture and food system. Each SFC cities programme is as unique as the city itself. SFC recognises the key role food can play in dealing with some of today’s most pressing social, economic and environmental challenge, and the unique position cities are in to implement these changes.
SFC has entered into its fifth year on December 1st and the anniversary was marked by welcoming two new members to the Network: Good Food Doncaster and Good Food East Midlands.
Making Strides
The 50th member of the SFC Network, Good Food Doncaster has been making strides in food sustainability. They have been working with the Open Food Network to improve accessibility and distribution of local food. Not only have they improved access to food, but they are also working to reduce food waste. To do this Good Food Doncaster launched a Surplus Food Manifesto to work with businesses to do just that. Tackling food poverty is also at the forefront of Doncaster’s food strategy and to do it they have formed a food poverty alliance. They are also finalising details on a new Council-led Food Business Support Programme!
Sustainable Food Cities’ first regional member!
The 5 year anniversary brought in Sustainable Food Cities’ first regional member, Good Food East Midlands, which recognises the need for a strategic approach to food at a regional level to complement work at a local level. As well as working to drive positive regional change across SFC’s six key issues such as food procurement, economy and waste, Good Food East Midlands will support new local food partnerships in towns and cities across the East Midlands.
2018
As we enter a new year, SFC will be working closely with all 50+ members of the Network in 2018. They will be supporting their member’s efforts to transform the UK’s food culture and the food system for the better. From tackling food poverty and diet-related ill-health to promoting a vibrant and diverse sustainable food economy and reducing food waste and ecological impacts of the modern food system, SFC will continue to drive changes in local policy and practice while nurturing innovative local solutions to some of today’s most pressing problems.
Overcoming challenges in our cities
Evidence from the United States is showing just how effective local food partnerships can be in helping cities to overcome health, social, environmental and economic crises. This week it was reported that there is a revolution that local food policy councils (FPCs) are driving. Just 10 years ago, there were only a handful of FPCs in the US; now there are 263 and they’re emerging as the most effective way of changing food policy and practice. The same movement is rapidly gaining momentum in the UK through the Sustainable Food Cities Network and many in the US are now looking to the UK experience as it breaks new ground in fighting for fair, healthy and sustainable food for all.
Learn more about the objectives of Sustainable Food Cities and visit http://sustainablefoodcities.org to discover more about the Network.