Brighton First In UK To Receive Sustainable Food Award

Wednesday, 9 December 2020 06:00

By Jade McLean

The award recognises the city’s outstanding achievements on key food issues and most recently on tackling food poverty during the pandemic.

The award, given by Sustainable Food Places, recognises the number of city-wide food projects, businesses, community and voluntary groups, individuals and departments of the local authority striving to enshrine sustainable practices.

It's led to the city becoming a hive of sustainability and good food work, with good results in childhood obesity and the tripling of community gardens in the past five years.

Brighton & Hove Food Partnership coordinated the bid for the award in Spring 2020 but became involved with the Emergency Food Network with Brighton & Hove City Council as a response to the pandemic, so the bid was pushed back.

Director of Brighton & Hove Food Partnership, Vic Borril said:

“We have coordinated this bid, but the activities in it are not ours alone - they belong to the whole city and beyond.

“Food has never been so important. It has the power to bring people together and change lives.”

Leader of the council, Councillor Phélim Mac Cafferty said:

“This magnificent Gold Sustainable Food Place Award achievement, the first for any place in our country, holds a candle in the dark.

"After a year in which our relationship with food has been put under more strain and scrutiny than ever before in many of our lifetimes, it is appropriate to end the year celebrating a healthier, more sustainable relationship with food in the city.

"The achievements of the past few months demonstrate what is truly special about Brighton & Hove, and what strong foundations we have to tackle issues around food.

"However, I am not complacent that a gold award is the end of the road for Brighton & Hove. This is about how we all work together to improve the food system and make healthy, sustainable options for all in our city.

“The climate emergency we declared in 2018 is linked to food in a way that many perhaps do not realise.

"We have until 2030 to reach our climate targets, and we can make our city more resilient to fluctuations to our food supply, if we rise to that challenge together."