Taking a strategic and collaborative approach to good food governance and action

“We believe that to transform a place’s food culture and food system requires a joined-up strategic approach and committed long-term collaboration between individuals and organisations across every sector and at every level, from community grassroots and third sector organisations to businesses and council leaders. Key to achieving this are a strong cross-sector food partnership and an inspiring and ambitious food vision backed by a clear strategy and action plan.”

Sustainable Food Places

 

Sustainable Food Places logo
Sustainable Food Places Silver Award for Plymouth

The Food Plymouth Partnership and Network

The Food Plymouth partnership and network comprises a diverse mix of public, private and community and voluntary sector organisations, social enterprises and businesses, plus individual citizens, with some 275 members actively contributing to delivery.

Of these, around 35 members are directly active within the partnership. Partners are fundamental in delivering the SFP outcomes, with Food Plymouth CIC innovating and filling gaps through direct delivery of certain services and projects while simultaneously earning income to resource the partnership and network’s infrastructure support. The partnership and network is currently supported by a core enabling team of seven people.

The partnership and network convene dedicated meetings on average four times per year, with refreshments and wherever possible a lunch included. Anyone who is active or interested in Plymouth’s local food space is warmly welcome. If you’re keen to get involved, follow Food Plymouth on Eventbrite to receive the latest events direct to your inbox and sign up to the Food Plymouth mailing list too.

Working to a tried and tested ‘collective impact’ model, everyone involved shares the desire and determination to increase the supply and demand of fresh, healthy, local, sustainable and wherever possible affordable food in Plymouth and surrounding areas, taking the recognised ‘food ladders’ approach. The diagram below provides a visual overview of the key areas of work across the food partnership, grouped around the core six key issues of the Sustainable Food Places framework.

Best Food Forward group photo

Plymouth Food Action Plan 2023-2026

In the summer of 2023, Food Plymouth worked collaboratively with partnership and network members and Plymouth City Council to renew a Food Action Plan for Plymouth, in the wake of an ongoing cost-of-living crisis and the Covid-19 pandemic which visited significant change upon local food systems everywhere.

The actions it contains have been directly shaped and informed by Food Plymouth Partnership and Network members, in addition to learnings from the Best Food Forward People’s Assembly held in July 2023. Numerous actions within the document also correspond with those included in the Cost of Living Plan for Plymouth published by Plymouth City Council in August 2023.

For more information and to view the Action Plan, click here. Meanwhile, work towards the development of a wider longer-term Food Strategy for Plymouth is ongoing.

Grassroots action and innovation

Positive food change can be enabled through grassroots action and innovation, including through imaginative partnership working with larger organisations and institutions. Plymouth has many ongoing projects that build the vital knowledge, skills and capacity to make that change happen. Food Plymouth has a range of community food activists and small organisations who collaborate, sharing ideas and resources with others, thus creating opportunities for knowledge exchange and positive action around food. This includes:

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The FoodSEqual research project

Between 2021 and 2026, Food Plymouth was a key partner of the University of Plymouth as part of the five year FoodSEqual research project led by the University of Reading, which aimed to provide citizens of culturally-diverse disadvantaged communities with choice and agency over the food they consume, by co-developing new products, new supply chains and new policy frameworks that deliver an affordable, attractive, healthy and sustainable diet. The Food Systems Equality project (FoodSEqual) is part of the Transforming the UK Food System for Health People and a Healthy Environment SPF Programme, which aims to fundamentally transform the UK food system by placing healthy people and a healthy natural environment at its centre.

Learn more about the FoodSEqual project in Plymouth and its many outputs – from a team of Community Food Researchers to the Fresh Street Community initiative to the Plymouth Fish Finger.

Food growing

Major landowners in the city, notably Plymouth City Council and local housing associations, are generally open to community groups creating such growing spaces on suitable stretches of their ground. One measure of the extent and quality of this commitment is the fact that Plymouth currently has numerous edible landscape projects, more than 40 community gardens and in the region of 50 known community orchards.

Several food growing projects in the city which were already underway were foundation partners when Food Plymouth was formed in 2010. Others were less actively involved but their valuable work still contributed to the Local Food Charter initiative and subsequent developments, including the Sustainable Food Places action plan.

Projects which have been instrumental in Food Plymouth’s development include: The Dig for Devonport edible landscape initiative and the All Ways Apples Festival which is its flagship; the Permaculture Allotment group; the Beacon Garden Project; the Friends of Ham Woods; Grow Stonehouse; and Plymouth City Council initiatives such as Stepping Stones to Nature (SS2N), the Active Neighbourhoods team, the City Farm project at Poole Farm, and the Green Communities team (in partnership with the National Trust).

More recent initiatives include:

  • Growing Community Abundance, an initiative designed to enable local people to gain the knowledge and skills needed to support the established, emerging and latent community growing projects across Plymouth, including an online community Facebook group which links with the Growing with Nature network
  • Growing Resilience, an initiative designed to help individuals build the skills and knowledge to grow their own food in a variety of different capacities, including the Magic of Seeds and a host of other activities to engage the general public
  • Generous Earth, a community composting initiative creating a network of local community composters, sites and resources in Plymouth
  • The Zoo Field Nature and Growing project

Other food growing projects which have contributed significantly to Food Plymouth’s action plans (past and present) include: Union Corner; Diggin’ It Penlee / CROP; the Horticultural Therapy Trust; Keyham Green Places; the Central Park Allotment Association; the Collings Park Trust; The Allotment Project (TAP) in Efford; the Friends of Freedom Fields Park; the East End Community Garden; Friends of Radford Woods.

Growing with Nature

Food Plymouth continues to work to develop a stronger community growing movement within the city and is pleased to facilitate the city’s Growing with Nature network, in collaboration with Plymouth Octopus Project, the Green Communities team, and The Data Place.

As part of the Growing with Nature project, The Data Place, Food Plymouth, Plymouth City Council and Plymouth Octopus Project have been mapping green and blue spaces, growing spaces, and other settings where people can connect with nature and each other. One of the key goals is to show groups working on community gardens, green social enterprises, allotments, culture projects in green spaces – or any nature-related activities – that they are part of a bigger movement. Find the Growing with Nature map here.