Five English councils have been awarded government grant funding to increase the health, sustainability and local sourcing of food buying, with an emphasis on fruit, veg and pulses
Selected councils across England have been given £155,000 by the government to increase procurement of healthy and sustainable food from local and smaller food businesses.
Middlesborough, Brighton and Hove, Bristol and Cambridge have all been chosen for the pilot, which is designed to help meet the government’s target of at least half of all public sector food to be sourced locally or certified to higher environmental standards.
“England’s public sector spends £4.9 billion on food and catering each year,” said Defra food security and farming minister, Dame Angela Eagle.
“Lessons learned from the grants will help other councils across England source healthier, more sustainable and better value food,” she said.
“That is a real opportunity to improve public health, back local businesses and build more sustainable food supply chains.”
Chief executive of the Sustain food and farming alliance, Kath Dalmeny, said: “Defra’s investment in helping local councils and food partnerships to be able to roll up their sleeves and facilitate the contracts, and the flow of fresh food supplies into public catering services is very welcome news.
“With a focus on fruit, veg and pulses, what a great way to help British horticulture to grow and thrive. We look forward to learning from these initiatives and seeing them rolled out in more places over time.”
The grants have been awarded to councils with either a Soil Association-run Gold Food for Life Served Here or Gold Sustainable Food Places accreditation, both of which recognise best practice and transformational change in food procurement.
They also form part of the government’s recently announced Good Food Cycle, to create healthier and more sustainable food environments that meet high animal welfare standards, environmentally sustainable supply chains and resilient domestic food production.
CEO of the Brighton and Hove Food Partnership, Vic Borrill, said: “National policy makers, campaigners, academics all agree that local food procurement is key to making our food system healthier, fairer, and more resilient for everyone. And yet public sector food procurement has proved a hard nut to crack.
“Whilst across the UK, excellent practice exists, it remains scattered, reliant on individuals rather than embedded systems and national policy has lacked the clear targets that can drive lasting change.”
General manager of Bristol Food Network, Heloise Balme, said: “This funding gives us a great chance to build momentum, both here in Bristol and alongside other local authorities, and to play our part in the wider national ambition to see at least half of public sector food coming from local producers or suppliers meeting higher environmental standards.”
Director of Soil Association Food, Amit Dattani, said: “Through the investment into local procurement, data that will be collected and the spotlight on the programmes, this is an important opportunity to show just how much positive change can be implemented when time, expertise and funding is available to support a local food system.”
