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Brighton and Hove Food Partnership

The Brighton and Hove Food Partnership came about as a result of a conference that was held in Brighton called "Spade to Spoon" in Autumn 2003. Over 120 delegates attended from a wide range of backgrounds including small food manufacturers, allotment holders, parents, restaurant owners, farmers, environmental health and trading standards officers, councillors, community project workers and teachers.

The aim of the conference was to bring together everyone in Brighton and Hove who had an interest in food. The resulting partnership now has over 160 members, an organising committee, a quarterly newsletter, two sub-groups – School Food Action and Farmers Markets. The Partnership was registered as a (not-for-profit) company limited by guarantee in November 2005. It has recently launched Spade to Spoon: Making the Connections, a Food Strategy and Action Plan for Brighton and Hove and is now focusing its efforts on attracting funding so that it may work towards achieving targets laid out in the Strategy.

The case study below explains in more detail about how the Partnership was formed, the resources behind it and the lessons learnt.

Aims and Objectives

In Spring 2003 food consultants, Food Matters, who are based in Brighton, were requested to carry out a "mapping" exercise of the local food system in the City by the Brighton and Hove Primary Care Trust (PCT) and the Sustainability Commission of Brighton and Hove City Council. The parties agreed that in order to gain knowledge and understanding of the current level of activity across various sectors involved in food related work it was important to "map" the food system within the City. This information could then be used to inform a food strategy action plan. The report "The Brighton and Hove Foodshed" (see attached) was presented at a conference held in the City, called "Spade to Spoon", attended by over 120 people. The representatives from the public, private and voluntary sectors were asked for their views on how to progress food action within the city. Delegates recommended that a cross-sectoral body be formed to oversee food work in Brighton & Hove. Within a year, the Brighton & Hove Food Partnership had been formed.

The Food Partnership aims to create a more sustainable, localised food system with better access to good, fresh, healthy food for all residents of Brighton and Hove.

Organisations Involved

1. Brighton and Hove City Council Sustainability Team
2. Brighton and Hove Primary Care Trust
3. Food Matters
4. Local Community Representatives
5. Local Businesses

Target Audience

Brighton and Hove Community – including residents, statutory and voluntary organisations, visitors and local businesses.

Methodology

The Partnership was formed in Autumn 2003 and it was agreed that an Organising Committee (OC) would be formed to represent the views of the wider group. This Committee is comprised of up to 10 places for members elected by the wider membership and five appointed places: two representatives from the statutory agencies, Brighton and Hove City Council and the Primary Care Trust, the city’s School Food Worker and the Food Development Worker and one councillor. All members of the Committee must agree to certain responsibilities – for example attend a certain percentage of OC meetings. All members of the wider Partnership are requested to also complete a membership form for the group and indicate ways of how they think they can support the group. A list of aims and objectives of the Partnership can be found at http://www.bhfood.org.uk/page.php?id=79.  

Funding

2004 – 2006: Brighton and Hove Primary Care Trust £57,000

2005: Awards for all £4,550

2006: Hedgecock Bequest £1,500

2006: Co-operative Group £1,000

Recruitment

Food Matters – Consultancy Company – specialists in food policy.

Ann Baldridge – Partnership Co-ordinator

Activities / Sessions

The Organising Committee has monthly meetings during which there are discussions on the policies and the administration of the group. Each year there is also at least one full partnership meeting to which all members are invited. This has been very successful as a networking event as well an opportunity for the wider membership to put forward any suggestions or proposals for the OC to work on throughout the following year.

The Partnership has a quarterly newsletter, called City Food News, which is distributed throughout the City. Action Groups of the Partnership include the School Food Action Group, (please see Food in Schools initiative section for more details) and the Farmers Market Action Group. Working groups are formed when required, for example to develop a particular project or to help with fundraising.

The Partnership co-ordinates a ‘matchmaking scheme’, which serves to link allotment growers and community food projects such as lunch clubs and community cafes. Under this initiative, local allotment growers can donate surplus produce to community food projects, reducing waste and increasing access across the city to fresh, healthy, locally grown food. 

The Food Partnership has also organised and ran three Local Produce Festivals. These events are based on the idea of a farmers’ market, but in addition to local growers and producers selling their goods, there are games, cookery demonstrations, stalls and lots of information about healthy eating, local food and environmental issues. All three festivals have been held on school grounds, giving children and families of the school, as well as the wider community, the opportunity to try new foods and access fresh, local produce in a friendly atmosphere.

The Partnership is currently administering a small grants programme called Good Food Small Grants. Funds awarded from this programme will support many initiatives across the city that encourage healthier diets, increase access to healthy and local food, and promote sustainable food systems. The programme is open to community and voluntary sector organisations, informal groups, schools and individuals. It is hoped that this will become a yearly grant programme. 

Food Matters was funded by the Primary Care Trust to develop the Food Strategy and Action Plan for Brighton and Hove, entitled Spade to Spoon: Making the Connections. This documents was launched to the public in September 2006. It can be downloaded at www.bhfood.org.uk. Issues covered by the strategy include:

• Increasing public purchasing of locally produced food
• Identifying action to support the community food projects
• Encouraging schools to adopt nutrition policies
• Reducing waste created by the city’s food system
• Improving access to fresh produce for all residents
• Harnessing the potential of the local food economy to enhance tourism and economic prosperity

Resources

Access to meeting rooms, publicity materials – i.e. posters, and cotton bags,

A range of fact sheets and reports are available on the Partnership’s website, www.bhfood.org.uk

The project also had the luxury resource of having a local consultancy firm with expertise in food policy.

Sustainability

This is dependent on the provision of continued funding. Having began as an unincorporated association, the Partnership has become a registered company in order to be able to apply for various funding streams.

Evaluation

Although there has not been any formal evaluation, the group has been successful in linking together a large number of individuals who are working in, around and with the food industry in Brighton and Hove. The Partnership is able to be a voice for concerns by these individuals as well as promoting the work that they are involved in to the wider community of Brighton and Hove.

Lessons learnt

1. Its vital to build good relationships with as many interested people as possible and this does take time.

2. It’s also important to allow as substantial amount of time for groundwork before jumping into it too quickly.

3. Obtain Management buy-in as soon as possible, without it the project will have difficulties in getting off the ground.

4. Develop the structure of the group carefully, ensuring that there are representatives from statutory agencies, as well as good representation from the membership.

5. Be aware that for those members of the group who are non-statutory they have to use their own time for attendance to meetings – consider paying for their time.

Future Developments

The Partnership currently has two main priorities:

• Achieving targets allocated to the Partnership in the Food Strategy. Much of this revolves around local food work.
• Fund Raising. It is vital to the sustainability of organisation to seek funding for its core activities and project work.

The Partnership also wants to ensure that it is open and transparent, and to communicate without the use of "jargon". It aims to represent the views of all sectors of the food community within the City whether they are children, councillors, retailers, chefs, teachers, community workers or nurses. To do this it is important to recognise that not everyone has his or her first language as English, nor that everyone knows what every acronym means.

The Brighton & Hove Food Partnership are pleased to announce that Spade to Spoon: Making the Connections, a Food Strategy and Action Plan for Brighton and Hove has now officially been launched to the public. It can be found at www.bhfood.org.uk.

If anyone wishes to find out more about the Partnership please use the link below or feel free to contact Ann Baldridge, Partnership Co-ordinator or Victoria at Food Matters.

• Spade to Spoon