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Plan to transform North Lincolnshire food culture wins national recognition

People, Health and Care
16:22, Friday, 18th January 2019

The Food in North Lincolnshire Partnership has achieved membership of The Sustainable Food Cities network to support their health outcomes for the area.

This group is part of the wider North Lincolnshire approach to the Healthy Weight Healthy Lives agenda.

The Partnership’s ambition is to make local, healthy and sustainable food available to everyone across the area. It also aims to become an inspirational example of how communities, businesses and the council can work together to make affordable good food a defining characteristic of North Lincolnshire.

Food in North Lincolnshire aims to improve accessibility to healthy, affordable food and to transform food culture to one that improves health and wellbeing, environmental sustainability and the local economy.

The Food in North Lincolnshire Partnership is the responsible body for leading the development and delivery of the Food in North Lincolnshire Pledge, and action plan.

The Partnership has representatives from the voluntary sector, council, local hospital trust and food retailers. It continues to grow and now has many other organisations committed to the Food in North Lincolnshire Pledge.

Despite the partnership still being in the early stages of development, there are already numerous successful food projects underway in North Lincolnshire relating to healthy eating, communal food growing, cooking and growing skills and our local food markets.

During 2019, the partnership will be launching a healthy options award scheme.  This will encourage and support local restaurants, takeaways, work based canteens and caterers to provide healthy choices and calorie information so that people are able to make a healthier choice when they are eating food outside the home.

Cllr Richard Hannigan, cabinet member for Adults, Health and Wellbeing, said:

“Since starting the partnership, a lot of work has gone into mapping the good food options in North Lincolnshire and identifying areas where development is needed.

“Leading a healthy lifestyle, following a balanced diet and keeping active is beneficial for everyone no matter what their age. To enable people to do this, we need to ensure that healthy food options and facilities are widely available across North Lincolnshire.

“The Food in North Lincolnshire Partnership is a huge step towards transforming lives in North Lincolnshire for the better. It is fantastic that it has now received national recognition through The Sustainable Food Cities network.

“This is an ongoing project that is being developed through schemes such as the healthy options award which encourages local businesses to provide healthy food options.”

Sustainable Food Cities is a network of cross-sector partnerships in towns, cities, boroughs and counties that are using food as a vehicle for driving positive change. With support from the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation, the Network helps people and places to share challenges, explore practical solutions and develop best practice in all aspects of healthy and sustainable food.

Tom Andrews, Director of Sustainable Food Cities, said:

“In nearly 50 towns and cities across the UK, individuals and organisations have come together to develop a joint vision of the kind of food culture and food system they would like to see and are working together to make that vison a reality.”

Through collaborative partnerships between local authorities, charities, businesses and community groups, cities within the Sustainable Food Cities Network are working to tackle some of biggest social, economic and environmental issues today, from an epidemic of food poverty and diet related ill-health to the loss of independent high street food businesses and family farms through to climate change, biodiversity loss and food waste.

Further information

North Lincolnshire Council’s Health and Wellbeing Board signed the Food in North Lincolnshire Pledge in December 2017.

The Food in North Lincolnshire Pledge has four areas:

  • Food for people
  • Food for the community
  • Food for the economy
  • Food for the place

The Sustainable Food Cities programme is led by the Soil Association in partnership with Food Matters and Sustain. It is funded by the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation and supports cities to transform food culture.

The Sustainable Food Cities programme work across six key areas:

  1. Promoting healthy and sustainable food to the public
  2. Tackling food poverty, diet-related ill health and access to affordable healthy food
  3. Building community food knowledge, skills, resources and projects
  4. Promoting a vibrant and diverse sustainable food economy
  5. Transforming catering and food procurement
  6. Reducing waste and the ecological footprint of the food system

For more information about Sustainable Food Cities visit the Sustainable Food Cities website or on Twitter follow: @FoodCities