With strong local community connections and partnerships across the city, we were privileged to be recently asked to write a food strategy for Gloucester City Council that could be implemented throughout Gloucester.
Food is always a big part of connecting people, and with the experience of providing food during the pandemic and being actively involved in leading the delivery of the Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme, we also know how critical access to quality, nutritional food is to people’s health, wellbeing and education. It is a basic building block to life.
Working alongside Gloucester City Council we spent time with schools, community groups, community cafés and other organisations listening to what has worked and what people want, and indeed, need. Through our unique partnership with Westmorland, we have also been able to tap
into the knowledge of food experts from organisations including the Real Farming Trust, as well as other suppliers who are looking at how surplus food is distributed.
We were delighted that Henry Dimbleby, who recently joined the Westmorland Family Board as a Non-Executive Director,
agreed to write a passionate and motivating foreword for the food strategy. Henry has worked on a number of government initiatives relating to food and the environment and was the author of the National Food Strategy.
The outcome, ‘Nourishing Gloucester – A Food Strategy For All’ is not a quick fix, but brings together strengths from across the city, taking a sustainable and holistic approach, developing capacity and working with community partners and others to tackle food insecurity by ensuring access to affordable nutritious food for everyone.
In the words of Henry Dimbleby “Where you lead, I hope many will follow.”
You can view or download ‘Nourishing Gloucester – A Food Strategy For All’ using the link below: