Bronze Birthday Present for Leeds Food Partnership

After just one year, the Leeds Food Partnership (LFP) is celebrating winning a prestigious accolade, The Sustainable Food Cities Bronze award.

Set up in 2018, the partnership celebrates good food and helps address health inequalities by reducing food poverty, supporting local food businesses, reducing the environmental impact of food, influencing the trade and consumption of food and promoting growing and cooking skills.

The LFP is delivered by Leeds City Council, the University of Leeds, and a range of local food networks, businesses, NGOs and community partners.

Councillor Rebecca Charlwood, Chair of Leeds Health and Wellbeing Board, said:

“This is a great recognition for a really important cross-sector partnership of public agencies, businesses, and academics in Leeds, helping us agree a city vision for food and develop a food action plan which doesn’t just improve nutrition, but also builds into our vision of a more sustainable environment and climate.

“We’re working hard to make it easier for people in Leeds to have access to healthier food which doesn’t cost the earth, so they can benefit from the benefit of better nutrition.”

Sonja Woodcock, Sustainable Food Cities Co-ordinator, said:

“The partnership is raising the profile and exploring solutions to food issues, including promoting healthy and sustainable food, tackling food poverty, diet-related ill health and access to affordable healthy food and building community food knowledge, skills, resources and projects.

“Working together we’re keen to promote a vibrant, diverse and sustainable food economy, while helping transform catering and food procurement, reducing both waste and the ecological footprint of the food system.”

Professor Les Firbank, University of Leeds, said:

“Food is both at the core of some of the city’s biggest challenges, but also a vital part of solutions. The evidence-based, partnership approach recognises food action is needed and we are glad to be working alongside partners to help make the most of this.

"The LFP is just one of a range of positive health and nutrition areas of work across the city which is attracting attention for delivering positive outcomes. The award will help us to target obesity, other diet-related ill-health, nutritional care, poverty and waste; promote businesses, innovation, and food tourism, as well as linking to climate change, urban sustainability and public safety.”

Tom Bliss, Chair of Feed Leeds, said:

"It's been a long journey since Feed Leeds, which represents community food growing across the city, kick-started the creation of the LFP back in 2012, and we're hugely proud and delighted to see Leeds rightfully recognised as a leading Food City. But we're not resting on our laurels! We're confident that Leeds is already a long way towards Silver - so watch this space!"

Notes for editors:

LFP chair is Andrew Critchett, (Business Owner - Fish&).

LFP Vice Chair is Susie Brown (Chief Executive – Zest).

Current LFP members are Leeds City Council, including Public Health, Leeds 2023, Civic Enterprise and Catering Leeds, University of Leeds, Zest, Feeds Leeds; Leeds Food Aid Network; Zero Waste Leeds; Fareshare Yorkshire and Leeds Indie Food.

Mission statement: LFP aims to contribute to city priorities to address health inequalities, including malnutrition and obesity, and to reduce food poverty, support local food businesses, and reduce the environmental impact of the production, trade and consumption of food, with a strong emphasis on reducing food waste.

Website: http://leedsfoodpartnership.org.uk/

Sustainable Food Cities is a nation-wide initiative which promotes cross-sector partnerships of local public agencies, businesses, academics and NGOs who are committed to working together to make healthy and sustainable food a defining characteristic of where they live. The Sustainable Food Cities Awards are designed to recognise and celebrate the success of those places taking a joined up, holistic approach to food, and that are achieving significant positive change on a range of key food issues.

Project areas:

The recently launched “Food Wise Leeds” campaign, promoting food action in the city.

The Refill campaign - a grassroots movement which aims to reduce plastic pollution at source by making it easier for people to reuse and refill their bottle with free tap water, rather than buying a new one.

The Sustainable Fish Cities pledge organised by conservation and sustainable food organisations. The pledge encourages buying, serving and promoting only sustainable fish.

The national Out to Lunch campaign led by the Soil Association aims to make it easier for families to eat healthy food outside of the home in restaurants and visitor attractions.

Increasing vegetable consumption, with The Soil Association’s Veg Cities campaign and the new Veg Power “Eat them to defeat them” advertising aim to increase vegetable consumption nationally.

Leeds Rotters - a city-wide composting initiative.