Food activism UK: Difference between revisions

This article focuses on information specific to United Kingdom. Please see our Food activism page for a topic overview.

Campaigns

• GM Freeze
• People’s Food Policy, People’s Food Policy on foodsovereigntynow.org.uk
• Refill - "...national, practical tap water campaign that aims to make refilling your bottle as easy, convenient and cheap as possible by introducing refill points on every street."

Resources

• Community Land Advisory Service
• Community supported agriculture, information from the Soil Association

• The Ecological Land Co-operative, supporting and enabling low-impact development in the UK ^W
• Everyday Growing Cultures, site includes a toolkit to help getting started with community growing
• Feeding Body and Soul, Year-Long Photographic Exploration of An Agrarian Renaissance
• Master Composters, Garden Organic has trained over 600 Master Composter volunteers from around the UK to spread the home composting message. ^W
• How to start a community gardening group, April 9 2016 telegraph.co.uk
• Local Land Economies, from sharedassets.org.uk, see also Land Explorer, a project from Shared Assets, helping you find information on land in the UK
• Local economic resilience: the role of community food enterprises, a guide for local authorities, from sharedassets.org.uk
• Master Gardeners, Garden Organic's Master Gardeners Programme trains and supports mentors and community growing initiatives around the Country working with Local Authorities, Housing Associations and NHS Health providers to support networks of Master Gardeners and volunteers. ^W
• Protect your plots, information from the the National Allotment Society
• Tips for swap and share stalls, Rock Abundance
• Wittenham Hill Cider Portal
• Saving allotments with the community rights, Locality
• Allotments Law & Community Growing, farmgarden.org.uk

Community allotment

see for example About Southend in Transition community alloment

Community Food enterprises

Growing for change: creating good livelihoods for a better food system, A guide for community food enterprises sharedassets.org.uk

Education

• Food for Life

Local food

• Resources from Making Local Food Work, a BIG Lottery project which ended in 2013

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• Landshare, high-profile national garden sharing project in England, spearheaded by celebrity chef and TV personality Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, in conjunction with public-service broadcaster Channel 4. Growers, landowners and volunteers can, at no charge, register their interest in participating in a share in their area. There are over 55,000 members. Although this is a number that have registered since 2009 when the social enterprise was first publicized widely, since then its activity has decreased. ^W
• LandSpot, mapping derelict land across the UK that could be put to growing use
• LetsGrow, helping to get your council take your request for an allotment seriously!

Funding

Daylesford Foundation

Maps

• Community Orchards map from People’s Trust for Endangered Species
• FoodTrade

Networks

• Incredible Edible network, global network originating in, and with many members in the UK - 10 Steps Toward an Incredible Edible Town
• Open Food Network, "An open marketplace that makes it easy to find, buy, sell and move sustainable local food."
• Sustainable Food Cities

Research

Agroforestry Research Trust

Rethinking Britain's Food Security - Soil Association, pdf, 2008

Video

More Video:

Gleaning Network UK on Vimeo

The Big Lunch 2013 (longer version) on youtube

Local Food Roots, a film celebrating the local food movement in the UK, 35 minutes

Everyday Growing Futures (13 minutes, 2013) on youtube

Tim Lang & Andrew Simms in Conversation, on youtube, 2009

News and comment

2018

Dec 5 Community potlucks: Shared meals help build deep ties among residents in Totnes ^[1]

The healthiest menu for poor people? An extra helping from government, Jack Monroe, Sep 6 ^[2]

Food London: Meet London’s first 50 Urban Food Heroes using food for good, Mar 19 ^[3]

UK farmers to be given first ever targets on soil health, Mar 13 ^[4]

The true cost of food: what should we do about it? Feb 19 ^[5]

2017

Community Fridge secures funding to roll out project across UK, Dec 7 ^[6]

Waltham Forest: Carrots and communism: the allotments plotting a food revolution, Aug 17 ^[7]

‘A People’s Food Policy’ - a comprehensive proposal for a more just and sustainable food system in England, Jun 26 ^[8] Today sees the launch of A People’s Food Policy – a ground-breaking manifesto outlining a people’s vision of food and farming in England that is supported by over 80 food and farming organisations. The report draws on 18 months of extensive, nation-wide consultations with grassroots organisations, NGOs, trade unions, community projects, small businesses and individuals. It has resulted in a set of policy proposals and a vision for change that is rooted in the lived experiences and needs of people most affected by the failures in the current food system.

A People’s Food Policy is an extensive report, extending to 100 pages across 9 thematic chapters covering governance, food production, health, land, labour, environment, knowledge and skills, trade and finance - each with an in depth analysis and policy proposals for transforming the food system in England. ​

Urban Agriculture in Little Sheffield, Mar 22 ^[9]

Wales news: Fishguard’s Transition Cafe wins award! Mar 6 ^[10]

Britain’s new wave of militant grocers, Sarah Butler, Feb 26 ^[11]

FoodCycle Prevents Food Waste and Builds Community, One Meal at a Time, Feb 8 ^[12]

2016

Yorkshire and the Humber: Soil and soul: ‘Leeds is the perfect combination of rural and urban’, Oct 28 ^[13]

Going beyond the food banks, Jul 22 ^[14]

Feeding body and soul - an exploration of Britain's new age landworkers, May 12 ^[15]

2015

3 Incredible Ways to Get Your Community Growing Food, October 19 ^[16]

Rural sustainability UK: From fringe to fork – food and the Green Belt, Sep 29 ^[17]

The Most Sustainable Bread in the World, September 21 ^[18]

Sole Share, a community supported fishery, August 20 ^[19]

How Your Neighbourhood Can Have Its Own Community Allotment, August 14 ^[20]

Britain’s ‘Best Food Initiative’ goes to…, May 1 ^[21]

Reaping the rewards of community growing, April 15 ^[22]

Community Shop profiled on Radio 4 Food Programme, January 14 ^[23]

2014

Food for all, not for profit: the quest for food sovereignty, Fanny Malinen, September ^[24]

A new way to buy local produce? Food Assembly is coming to Britain, July 10 ^[25]

How to invent a local food culture, June 26 ^[26]

Getting Dirty With The Neighbours – The Benefits Of Community Gardening, June 26 ^[27]

Transition Towns and Beyond: The Ecological Land Co-operative, By Shaun Chamberlin, May ^[28]

2013

First social supermarket opens selling ‘surplus’ food - but only to local people receiving welfare support, December 9 ^[29]

10 Steps Toward an Incredible Edible Town, Dec 3

2012

15 tips to create consumer confidence in food retail and farmers markets, April 24 ^[30]

Blogs

"Awesome Allotment Blogs" ^[31]

Events

2015

August 10 - 16 National Allotments Week
nsalg.org.uk

June 7 The Big Lunch
thebiglunch.com

March 21 The Big Dig
bigdig.org.uk

Sustain's website includes an online Food Calendar

Under construction

A People’s Food Policy, a series of (UK) articles

See also

• Food, sustainable community action,
• Food news
• 10 Steps Toward an Incredible Edible Town
• Young and beginning farmers
• local information can be found, or shared, via our many UK location pages
• Sustainable livelihood UK#Video
• Towards sustainable economies UK

Interwiki links

Wikipedia: Food bank, United Kingdom, Food waste in the United Kingdom

External links

• Abundance Network, a group of volunteers passing on information and support between some of the fruit harvesting groups across the UK
• The Climate-Friendly Gardener
• FareShare, fighting hunger, tackling food waste.

FareShare is an award-winning charity aimed at relieving food poverty and reducing food waste in the UK. It does this by rescuing good quality surplus food that would otherwise have gone to waste and sending it to over 700 charity and community projects across the United Kingdom.

FareShare only redistributes food inside its best before and use by date; in 2012 they rescued 3,600 tonnes of food which would have otherwise gone to landfill. FareShare works with all sectors of the supply chain; producers, manufacturers and retailers. All of the major UK food retailers have encouraged their suppliers to work with FareShare to minimise food waste. FareShare has also run two successful food drives with both Sainsbury's and Tesco.

FareShare contributed towards more than 8.6 million meals in 2012, which equates to feeding 36,500 people a day. This food is delivered to a broad range of grass root organisations all across the UK including homeless shelters, day centres, women’s refuge centres and children's breakfast clubs. ^W

• FoodCycle, a UK charity that rescues surplus food that would otherwise be wasted and uses these ingredients to create healthy three-course meals for vulnerable people in the community. The organization is headquartered in London, England and has operations throughout the United Kingdom ^W

• The Food Assembly's Blog, The Food Assembly on Social Tech Guide
• Food For All, "...registered charity based in London (also in other parts of the UK), which distributes over 1,000, spiritually enriched nutritionally balanced vegetarian meals, to different groups of people, including the homeless, disadvantaged, financially challenged and the ‘needy’ on a daily basis, for free!"
• Gleaning Network UK
• Helping Britain Blossom, information about community orchards
• Landworkers’ Alliance, an organisation of farmers, growers and land-based workers
• Pesticide Action Network UK
• Reclaim the Fields
• Soil Association, charity based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1946, it has over 27,000 members today. Its activities include campaign work on issues including opposition to intensive farming, support for local purchasing and public education on nutrition; as well the certification of organic food. It developed the world's first organic certification system in 1967 – standards which have since widened to encompass agriculture, aquaculture, ethical trade, food processing, forestry, health & beauty, horticulture and textiles. Today it certifies over 80% of organic produce in the UK. ^W
• Sustain, the alliance for better food and farming
• The Urban Orchard Project

Food growing

• Community supported agriculture
• Federation of City Farms & Community Gardens
• National Allotment Society

Local food

• f3, local food consultants
• Local Food Initiative

Seeds

• Seed Co-operative, the UK's community owned seed company

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