COMMUNITY FOOD INITIATIVES

Moya Kneafsey

Coventry University

m.kneafsey@coventry.ac.ukPhoto credit: Salop Drive Market

Garden, Sandwell, West Midlands, UK

Outline of Presentation

1. Context : health inequalities; food poverty; food security

2. What are Community Food Initiatives? What can they achieve?

3. Inspiring Stories 1: EarthShare

4. Inspiring Stories 2: Salop Drive

5. Conclusions

Context: Health Inequalities, Food Poverty and Food

Security

Context: Health Inequalities and Food

Poverty

Large and growing literature on impact of

inequalities in income, and of social

deprivation, on food consumption and nutrition

(Dowler et al 2001)

Food Poverty = “the inability to acquire or

consume an adequate or sufficient quantity of

food in socially acceptable ways, or the

uncertainty that one will be able to do so”

Governments increasingly recognising food

poverty as a serious issue

What are the food impacts of living in

poverty?

Compared to richer people, those living on low income or in

deprived circumstances:

Eat less nutrient dense and less diverse diet

Often have to pay more for basic food items

Have to spend a greater proportion of their income on

food – even more for healthy food

Often have worse geographic access to food

May go without food to pay other bills / debts

Suffer more food related ill-health e.g. obesity, diabetes,

(some) cancers and coronary heart disease

Food intake follows income rather than

health needs….

Families living in poverty prioritise immediate

satisfaction of hunger, rather than longer term health:

“It is not that families in poverty are unaware of the

health benefits of eating certain types of foods; just

that these assume a lower priority than the immediate

concern of filling stomachs” (Lang et al 2009: 260)

Food intake is also culturally and socially contingent –

food poverty includes lack of access to valued or

preferred foods.

Food Security

Since WWII, a key policy concern

Increased significance recently due to raised

awareness of climate change and recent food

price rises

Defra: „food security is when all consumers

have access at all times to sufficient, safe and

nutritious food for an active and healthy life at

affordable prices‟

Some argue for increased local self-sufficiency

as a response….

What are Community Food Initiatives ?

What are Community Food Initiatives?

They are diverse! But usually have these common elements:

Food

Local Involvement

State or Charitable Support, with some moving towards Social Enterprise models

Activities include:

Cookery sessions

Slimming clubs

Food buying co-operatives

Transport schemes

City farms

Gardening schemes; community allotments

School breakfast clubs

Community Cafes

What can CFIs achieve?

Evaluation can be difficult, as objectives of CFIs are

often wide-ranging

Success means different things to different people

Research shows that impact can be achieved when :

CFIs are based on sound principles of community

involvement and needs assessment

Have clear aims and objectives

Have time to establish themselves

The 5 Capital Assets Framework(Dowler and Caraher 2004)

Financial Capital: the amount of money circulating in a local economy

Social Capital: human interaction around food; social relationships, networks

Human Capital: capacity building; skills; personal development; improved health

Natural Capital: the landscape and biodiversity supported by local food systems

Physical Capital: local infrastructure available to or owned by local sector e.g. shops, transport, processing facilities

Inspiring Stories 1: EarthShare

EarthShare CSA: Scotland

Community Supported

Agriculture

Founded 1994

170 subscribers in

2008

Organic food

Subscriber Motivations

It‟s organic food

It‟s community building

Sense that it is grown with “love and respect”

Eating seasonally and healthfully

It tastes delicious

The many benefits of EarthShare:

“It‟s just great that we have EarthShare and we haven‟t even talked about the advantages of EarthShare being local, seasonal food and I don‟t even think anymore about what to cook, as I just look in the box and whatever needs to be cooked is cooked . But also the relationshipsand involvement with the people growing the food.” [Consumer workshop]

Reconnecting with food, and with

people

“if you think about where your food came from and who‟s work has gone into getting that, the growing of it, the planting of it and getting it to you, and now when I‟m doing the vegetables I think well somebody‟s been out in that field and you do feel better having those kind of thoughts and its not just an anonymous carrot (laughter). It has come from that field and somebody had to plant it, somebody had to pick it then box it, and you think well a lot of people have gone to a lot of effort.”

(EarthShare subscriber)

Inspiring Stories 2: Salop Drive Market Garden

Activities at Salop Drive Market

Garden

Therapeutic and active gardening sessions (supervised by horticultural therapist)

'Ready, Steady, Grow„ programme for schools run in partnership with the Primary Care Trust, plus one off school visits with curriculum support.

'Bag Your Share„ vegetable delivery scheme

After school parent child gardening group

'Grow your own veg' short course

Monthly Health Walks

Work Experience placements from schools and colleges

http://www.sandwellfoodnetwork.org/viewProject.php?id=1

New foods, new skills, healthier diets

“And there was another [vegetable we didn‟t recognise]… now I think it was a salad green, I don‟t know, I haven‟t got a clue what it was when we opened the bag. So the wife steamed it …and it was beautiful, and apparently it‟s supposed to be like a lettuce, a salad leaf, and … I don‟t know, but I‟ve never steamed a lettuce, but this was beautiful steamed.”

(Salop Drive Consumer)

Conclusions

CFIs can deliver many benefits…

CFIs are promoted as a way of addressing

food poverty and health inequalities, but

their contribution is wider than health:Dowler and Caraher (2004): found benefits

in all 5 Capital Asset categories (in UK West

Midlands)

CFIs contributed ‘significantly’ to human

capital e.g. training, skills

CFIs were effective tools for community

regeneration

Some evidence of land reclamation

But they need support too…

Secure long-term funding (currently project workers

spend much time and energy trying to secure

funding)

Recognition of „soft outcomes‟ e.g. well-being, self-

worth

Co-ordination of policies – health, environmental

sustainability, education etc.

Longer term policies to remove structural barriers to

food equality e.g. Integration of planning, retail,

business, farming policies to promote health-giving

food systems

Small changes….great changes

„…if you can do a little thing in some little way that does help either the environment or your community then you know…you‟re making a small contribution. It doesn‟t mean you‟re going to change the world or social policy, but your little bit and if a lot of people adopted that attitude then social policy and community welfare would change.‟ (EarthShare subscriber)

Thank you for listening!

References Dowler, E. and Caraher, M (2004) The value

and potential of local food initiatives in the West Midlands region: Report to Advantage West Midlands

Dowler, E., Turner, S. and Dobson, B. (2001) Poverty bites: food health and poor families, London: Child Poverty Action Group.

Kneafsey, M., Cox, R., Holloway, L., Dowler, E., Venn, L., Tuomainen, H. (2008) Reconnecting Consumers, Producers and Food: Exploring Alternatives

Lang, T., Barling, D., Caraher, M (2009) Food Policy: Integrating Health, Environment and Society