Food Matters created the Brighton & Hove Food Partnership and continues to help develop food partnerships across the UK.

The global food system is broken and building more local, resilient food systems is just one of the many ways we can begin to fix it.

A food partnership is a group of stakeholders that come together around a common vision of creating a more sustainable food system. Its role can vary but its overall mission is to facilitate coordinated and collaborative action to deliver a local food strategy in recognition of the relationship between food, health, communities, the environment and the economy.

What We Did

We set up the Brighton and Hove Food Partnership using the following process.

  • Food System Mapping  
  • Food Policy Mapping  
  • Stakeholders and shared ambition for a common goal  
  • Participatory facilitation with specific food focus groups and communities of interest 
  • Structure and governance  
  • Terms of reference and strategy
  • Planning framework
  • Legal Structure
  • Enrolling a Food Partnership Coordinator  

We began by  identifying all the people who worked directly or indirectly with food across the city and all the relating policies. We engaged with and listened to individuals, community groups, businesses and the public sector to hear their experience and expertise.

We held a food summit to secure commitment from stakeholders and developed a model of good governance with a common goal of a local food system that supported people, the planet and local businesses.

Our research and stakeholder engagement resulted in the Brighton and Hove Food Shed report which became the catalyst for the creation of the UK’s leading food partnership and action plan.

Food Matters has supported the development of further food partnerships in the UK and is now one of three partners leading the Sustainable Food Places programme.

“Food Matters have been the architects behind much of the success in Brighton & Hove on delivering a more sustainable, accessible fair and healthy food system. Their early research, engagement, and policy making provided the essential groundwork on which the Brighton & Hove Food Partnership and Food Strategy were built”

Francesca Iliffe, formerly Brighton and Hove City Council

Find out more

Read more by downloading the evaluation report below.

Report

Get In Touch

Reach out to the Food Matters team to find out more about what we do, get involved or to collaborate with us on a future project.

Get In Touch

Get in touch with the Food Matters team to find out more about what we do or get involved. We also want to hear from you if you would like to collaborate with us on a future project.