Cardiff to become a beacon for sustainable food

Cardiff has been selected as one of just six cities in the UK to share in one million pounds of funding to be invested in improving food culture and support it on the journey to become a Sustainable Food City. The Sustainable Food Cities Network aims to make healthy and sustainable food a defining characteristic of a city and use good food to address some of today's most pressing social, economic and environmental problems including obesity, food poverty and climate change.

The Cardiff Sustainable Food Cities Programme is a partnership between Cardiff University, Cardiff Council, Cardiff and Vale University Health Board and Public Health Wales working closely with third sector and private sector partners.

Speaking about the announcement, Professor Terry Marsden, Director of the Sustainable Places Research Institute said: ¨This is really good news for the Cardiff Food Council and for Cardiff as a whole. We look forward to continuing to contribute to this journey over the next three years at such an exciting and critical time for the issue of sustainable food."

After an intensive six month preparation phase, Cardiff has been selected from a short list of over 12 pioneering cities to receive funding. The funding will allow a dedicated Sustainable Food City officer to work with the local authority and local partners such as schools, charities and restaurants to transform access to local, affordable and sustainable food for people across the city.

Tom Andrews, national programme manager of Sustainable Food Cities said; "Our vision is that Sustainable Food Cities will be places where every school, hospital, restaurant and workplace canteen serve only healthy and sustainable meals; where everyone has access to affordable fresh, seasonal, local and sustainably produced food no matter where they live; and where people of all ages and backgrounds have opportunities to learn about, grow and cook food.

"We had amazing applications from cities across the UK and the panel felt that Cardiff had a particularly inspiring vision of how they would make healthy and sustainable food a defining characteristic of their city and the commitment to make it happen. We are really looking forward to working with Cardiff over the next three years to show just what can be achieved when individuals and organisations from every sector work together to transform their city's food culture."

Eryl Powell, Chair of the Cardiff Food Council said, "This is a really exciting development for Cardiff, we already have a strong partnership between the Cardiff Council, Cardiff University, Cardiff and Vale University Health Board and Public Health Wales who are fully committed to making positive changes to Cardiff's food culture. Over the next three years we will work with food businesses and individuals to inspire them to be get involved and help ensure that healthy and sustainable food is available for all."

Cardiff is a founding member of the rapidly growing Sustainable Food Cities Network and will receive the funding along with Belfast, Bournemouth, Liverpool, Newcastle and Stockport.

The Sustainable Food Cities programme led by the Soil Association, Food Matters and Sustain and funded by the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation, will create six exemplar models of what a city can do to transform its food culture. More than 100 urban areas across the UK are expected to join the network by the end of the three-year programme.

The Sustainable Food Cities Network is an alliance of public, private and third sector organisations using food as a vehicle for driving positive changes. The Network helps people and places to share challenges, explore practical solutions and develop best practice in all aspects of sustainable food.

For more information about the Cardiff Sustainable Food City programme contact eryl.powell@wales.nhs.uk.