Strong interest in Food Partnership for Argyll and Bute
On 26th February the TSI was delighted to host an online event to discuss the establishment on the setting up a Sustainable Food Partnership (SFP) in Argyll and Bute. The event was held in partnership with Argyll and Bute Council and expert briefings were provided by the council’s project lead for food policy and delivery, Mali Gravell.
If you were not able to attend the 90 minute video is available at the end of this post.
There were an incredible range of groups in attendance and lots of energy in the virtual room committed to bringing more resilience to our local food supply chain. We also heard about the opportunities to support each other and the links to the Climate Change agenda, tackling poverty, promoting health and local approaches to Community Wealth Building – the latter given the importance of the power of procuring locally to support local producers.
41 attendees were informed about the existing network of 85+ SFPs across the UK which are working collaboratively to support and encourage a transition to a healthy, sustainable and more equitable food system.
Acting on food is a vital part of tackling the UK’s biggest social, economic, and environmental challenges. By forming an inclusive, cross-sector food partnership, public agencies, community organisations, businesses, and academics can collaborate to create lasting change by agreeing on priorities and action for the local area. The SFP network shows that a local food partnership can help drive a fundamental shift in our local food system and become a hub for a rapidly growing good food movement of active and engaged citizens. In terms of next steps we will canvas opinion about establishing a network and consider the benefits of doing so locally.
We also discussed the recent publication of the draft national Good Food Nation plan from the Scottish Governments and were given an overview of the Good Food Nation work, how to feed into the upcoming national consultations and what this means for Argyll and Bute, both now and in the future. Locally there is an in-person consultation event at the Rockfield Centre on the 15th March 2024 and more details can be found on the government’s website. You can also access the consultation which runs until 22nd April 2024.
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