Working to support a healthy and sustainable food city

Good food is vital to the quality of peoples’ lives in Plymouth. By promoting healthy and sustainable food as part of a thriving food economy, the work of Food Plymouth aims to improve health and wellbeing for all and to create a more connected, resilient and sustainable city. Our growing partnership and networks – including public, private and community partners are committed to promoting the pleasure and importance of good food to help create a vibrant and diverse food culture.

Food Plymouth works principally to the six strands of the Sustainable Food Cities framework. Through pledging support for the different aspects of our action plan, individuals, communities, organisations and businesses can collaborate to promote healthier and more sustainable food for the people of Plymouth. This ongoing support will enable Food Plymouth to achieve our dream of the SFC silver award standard. Here we provide insight and examples of innovation in Plymouth that exemplify the six themes covered in our action plan.

Our historical Food Charter successfully secured a range of signatories, including public, private and community partners. This shows strong local commitment to promoting the pleasure and importance of good food to help create a vibrant and diverse food culture. We are now in the process of upgrading our Action plan (and charter) so that we can fulfill the requirements of the Sustainable Food Cities silver award. Co-development of a new action plan will consolidate our partnership working to increase both the demand and supply of delicious and affordable, fresh, seasonal, local and organic food throughout Plymouth.

Promoting healthy and sustainable food to the public

Increasing public awareness of and interest in healthy and sustainable food is a vital first step to creating a positive food culture. There are many ways of developing powerful and communication and engagement programmes that address this theme, and lots of innovative work is already taking place in Plymouth, which helped us to achieve our bronze SFC standard.

Tackling food poverty, diet-related ill-health and access to affordable healthy food

Tackling food-related inequalities is one of today’s most urgent challenges if we are to stem the rising tide of hunger, obesity and diet-related ill-health. Following the recommendations highlighted in the Plymouth Fairness Commission, Plymouth is engaged in a range of activities, with many partners on board working collaboratively to tackle the issue of poor food access and food insecurity in the city. Food Plymouth’s Food Equality Project helps to deliver this Action Strand of the Sustainable Food Cities framework for Plymouth.

Building community food knowledge, skills, resources and projects

Positive food change can be enabled through grassroots action and innovation. Plymouth has many ongoing projects that build the vital knowledge, skills and capacity to make that change happen.

Promoting a vibrant and diverse sustainable food economy

Food culture transformation requires action from local people as well as the players in the various systems that support it. Food system change must also be good for local economies, businesses and jobs. Plymouth is engaged in some pioneering work that promotes a stronger and more resilient food economy.

Transforming catering and food procurement

With nearly 50% of all food eaten outside the home, catering and procurement offers one of the most effective ways to drive large scale changes in healthy and sustainable food. Plymouth is already engaged in a range of positive changes in relation to procurement, e.g. school meals service, hospital and care homes.

Reducing waste and the ecological footprint of the food system

Food Plymouth will actively support partners who are campaigning and running activities that raise awareness of food waste and how to reduce it. This work includes supporting producers, processors, retailers and caterers to reduce their ecological impact, by offering advice and training on sustainable production techniques. Action for this theme will involve the food waste hierarchy being incorporated into policies, strategies and services to ensure surplus is being optimally diverted.