Newcastle To Become A Beacon Of Best Practice In Sustainable Food

The city of Newcastle has been selected as one of just six cities in the UK that will receive funding to support efforts in improving food culture and becoming a Sustainable Food City.

The Sustainable Food Cities Network aims to make healthy and sustainable food a defining characteristic of any city, and to use good food to address some of today’s most pressing social, economic and environmental problems including obesity, food poverty and climate change.

Newcastle has been selected from a shortlist of 13 pioneering cities to receive a share in the £1million funding that will set it on its way to becoming a Sustainable Food City. 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 Newcastle had a particularly inspiring vision of how they would make healthy and sustainable food a defining characteristic of their city, and they showed the commitment to make it happen. We are really looking forward to working with Newcastle 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."

Jamie Sadler, Chair of the Food Newcastle Steering Group said: “This is an incredible opportunity for Newcastle to build on its already thriving food culture and use food as a vehicle to drive positive change. We want to celebrate the people and organisations that are already delivering quality and innovation around food and we want to use this opportunity to inspire even more people and organisations to do the same. “

Dr Dawn Scott, Acting Director of Public Health at Newcastle City Council said: “I’m really proud that Newcastle has been recognised for its great work around sustainable food and will receive a share of £1m funding. I’ll make sure the city council plays a key role in continuing to improve our work to increase access to healthy food and that we continue to tackle public health issues around obesity and nutrition.”

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.

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

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 Sustainable Food Cities visit -www.sustainablefoodcities.org   / @foodcities

For more information about Food Newcastle visit - www.foodnewcastle.org / @foodnewcastle