Creating a healthy, sustainable and fair food system for the city and its residents
An ambitious plan to support local food growers, reduce waste, tackle food poverty and give all residents access to healthy and nutritious meals will be presented to Cabinet members this week.
Led by Brighton & Hove Food Partnership and overseen by a panel of local food experts, the updated Brighton & Hove Food Strategy Action Plan sets out how organisations will work together to create a healthy, sustainable and fair food system for the city.
Councillors are being asked to endorse the plan, which has been drawn up following an extensive consultation that saw around 250 experts and members of the public sharing their views and priorities.
Their feedback, along with research and outcomes from previous action plans, have helped to shape the new document.
Affordable and healthy
Councillor Mitchie Alexander, Cabinet advisor for Community Engagement, Food Insecurity and Allotments, said: “Our vision is to create a city where everyone has the opportunity to access affordable, healthy food options from sustainable sources and which treats those who produce it fairly.
“We want our residents to have the opportunities and the confidence to grow their own food, cook nutritious meals for their families, cut down on food waste and see more of their daily meal ingredients grown locally.
“I’m delighted that, by working with the Food Partnership and other local organisations, we now have an updated plan that not only identifies current needs and priorities, but also sets out clear actions to tackle issues and move towards a healthier future for Brighton & Hove and its residents.”
High priority
Tackling food poverty is a high priority. Recent research has shown that only 38% of adults in the city currently eat five or more portions or fruit and vegetables a day, and one in three 11-year-olds is obese or overweight.
Since the last action plan was published five years ago, food poverty has soared, exacerbated by the cost-of-living crisis. In 2018, 358 food parcels were issued each week – last year that rose to 6,300.
In addition, each year households in Brighton & Hove waste more than 21,000 tonnes of food and drink. The vast majority of this was avoidable; more than half of the food wasted was still in its wrapping.
Building on success
Ali Ghanimi, senior manager at Brighton & Hove Food Partnership, who led the action plan refresh, said: “Over the next five years, our Food Strategy Action Plan will look at ways to tackle these issues, while building on the successes recognised by the city’s Gold Sustainable Food Places award in 2020.
“We have focused on transformative actions that the city can get behind – including a whole school approach to food; getting caterers and food businesses to put a climate-friendly, healthy and affordable dish on the daily menu; boosting food growing across the city; and taking a whole-systems, preventative approach to food poverty.
Making a difference
Initiatives already making a difference include:
- The ‘Taste Ed’ programme, piloted in early years settings, is increasing children’s consumption of fresh fruit and vegetables.
- Brighton & Hove Food Partnership’s Community Kitchen has provided more than 1,000 community cookery sessions.
- The City Downland Estate Plan is encouraging regenerative farming practices to increase soil health and biodiversity, cut carbon emissions and food miles.
- Primary schools have reduced serving meat in meals from five days per week to three.
- The University of Brighton and Restaurants Brighton developed The Restaurant Sustainability Toolkit to encourage food businesses to improve their environmental sustainability.
- There are now 55 community composting schemes serving 1,200 households, turning 187 tonnes of food waste into high quality compost for local food growing.
