Local Food News - March 2011
A digest of key sector news and publications - sign up below for a free email alert and summary.
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Who Feeds Bristol?
This major report, produced by f3 member Joy Carey for NHS Bristol, looks at where the food comes from to feed the population of Bristol and the surrounding region. It covers local production, distribution, wholesale, retail, catering, processing, waste and community food: goes on to consider the resilience of the current food system and concludes with suggestions for action.

Sustainable Supply Chains Initiative
f3 and Ecostudio have completed work on a project for the Welsh Assembly Government which piloted practical approaches to sustainable development in micro-enterprise food supply chains. The work is the only recognised good practice model in Wales' new Food Strategy. It has piloted innovative ways to assist micro enterprises to embrace sustainable practices, developed tools and techniques to help business, and created a suite of indicators to help benchmark sustainability in food supply chains.

Local labels on many foods are false, study suggests
Almost a fifth of foods labelled "local" in England and Wales are making the claim falsely, a study suggests. Local Government Regulation inspectors tested 558 items in 300 shops, restaurants, markets and factories. They found misleading labels including "Welsh lamb" which actually came from New Zealand, "Somerset butter" from Scotland and "Devon ham" from Denmark.

World hunger best cured by small-scale agriculture: report
A move from industrial farming towards local food projects is our healthiest, most sustainable choice, says Worldwatch Institute. The authors suggest that instead of producing more food to meet the world's growing population needs, a more effective way to address food security issues and climate change would be to encourage self-sufficiency and waste reduction, in wealthier and poorer nations alike.

Coalition Government 'must step up to the plate on sustainable food'
The Sustainable Development Commission's report Sustainability and UK food policy 2000-2011: looking back, looking forward, reviews progress towards sustainable food policy in the UK from 2000-2011. Tim Lang, The SDC's Food Commissioner and Professor at the Centre for Food Policy, City University said: "The challenge of feeding growing populations healthily while minimising environmental damage - particularly as food and fuel prices continue to rise - should remind governments that this is not a time to step away from tackling our food system. Obesity and climate change are two huge market failures. Our review of the last decade shows that progress requires the hands-on participation of governments - not a 'leave it to the market' approach'. "

Small is Successful - Creating Sustainable Livelihoods on Ten Acres or Less
This report, from the Ecological Land Co-operative, examines eight smallholdings with land-based businesses on 10 acres or less. The smallholdings demonstrate that economically viable and highly sustainable land based livelihoods can be created on holdings of this size.

Free enterprise support
For those who don't yet know, there is free business and marketing support for community food enterprise under the making Local Food Work programme. Contact Simon Michaels for more info on simon.michaels@localfood.org.uk or 0845 458 0060.

 

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