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Are you a local authority looking to build stronger relationships across your local food system?

Do you want to use food

Do you want to use food as a tool to meet your wider goals around public health, climate resilience, social equity and local economic growth?

We understand the complexity local authorities face when trying to embed food policy within broader strategic priorities—whether around public health, climate action, economic development or community wellbeing. We also know that meaningful change requires working across departments, and embedding food within them: be it planning, procurement, sustainability, public health, environment or culture. 

With years of experience taking a whole-systems, participatory approach, we’re trusted partners to local authorities across the UK, having supported authorities from Manchester to Bedfordshire. We can help you undertake the daunting task of mapping your local food system and understanding where there is the potential for action, building upon already existing networks. We can also help you starting and embedding a food partnership within your local authority.

20+

Years’ experience working cross-sectorally with local authorities

30+

Local authorities and municipalities across Europe supported to embed food in policies and strategies through partnership working.

What we Offer

We work with you to understand your local authority and area, and create a bespoke service based on your needs. Some of the services we offer are:

Strategic Support & Governance

We help set up and strengthen cross-sector food partnerships, working across health, planning, environment, and culture, embedding food in all of these departments as strategic priority. To do this, we review your local food system, tailoring our research and recommendations to your local authority's needs. We can help you create food strategies and food mappings to give you structures that help you visualise, and carry out, work at a food systems' level.

Project Design & Delivery

We scope and cost priority interventions such as dynamic food procurement systems, food hubs, mobile abattoirs, or farm-based vending infrastructures. We design training to help your team work better together and share learning across a project. We also help you create meaningful methods for assessing impact.

Policy Integration

We support integrating food into core strategies: from City Plans, health and climate strategies, to procurement frameworks, market planning, and council-owned land use.

Facilitation & Capacity Building

We co-design and deliver food summits, roundtables, and stakeholder workshops. We know how valuable it is to get a group of people into a room together - but also how tricky it can be to make sure everyone's voices are heard. Using participatory techniques, we ensure all voices are held, helping you plan projects that are unique and really meaningful, being guided by the voices of those who will be most impacted by your project.

Strategic Support & Governance

We help set up and strengthen cross-sector food partnerships, working across health, planning, environment, and culture, embedding food in all of these departments as strategic priority. To do this, we review your local food system, tailoring our research and recommendations to your local authority's needs. We can help you create food strategies and food mappings to give you structures that help you visualise, and carry out, work at a food systems' level.

Project Design & Delivery

We scope and cost priority interventions such as dynamic food procurement systems, food hubs, mobile abattoirs, or farm-based vending infrastructures. We design training to help your team work better together and share learning across a project. We also help you create meaningful methods for assessing impact.

Policy Integration

We support integrating food into core strategies: from City Plans, health and climate strategies, to procurement frameworks, market planning, and council-owned land use.

Facilitation & Capacity Building

We co-design and deliver food summits, roundtables, and stakeholder workshops. We know how valuable it is to get a group of people into a room together - but also how tricky it can be to make sure everyone's voices are heard. Using participatory techniques, we ensure all voices are held, helping you plan projects that are unique and really meaningful, being guided by the voices of those who will be most impacted by your project

Previous partners

East Sussex County Council

We were commissioned by East Sussex County Council to deliver a county-wide food systems review, to help think strategically about how to unite and strengthen the food system at county level. Through thorough research, stakeholder mapping, and a series of participatory workshops, we identified priorities for food systems change at county and regional level. This work led to the creation of the Good Food East Sussex network and a set of shared recommendations that have been adopted by the Council and the five local partnerships.

Greater London Authority

For whom we co-designed and delivered the Food Roots Incubator programme, supporting London-based food partnerships to move beyond emergency food provision towards more sustainable, strategic responses to food insecurity. Through a programme of training, peer learning and network building, we worked to build and strengthen relationships across the city's food system; to build local capacity; and secure longer-term funding for projects. The programme has helped food partnerships take more coordinated, preventative approaches to tackling food poverty across London.

Greater Brighton Economic Board

We researched and costed potential food system investments across the region. We identified five priority opportunities — from a regional food procurement system to community-supported agriculture. Recommendations were combined into a unified strategy guiding efforts to secure investment and develop a regional food infrastructure plan.

Greater Manchester Local Authority

We led the research and writing of the Greater Manchester Strategic Food Review, setting out how a whole-systems approach to food could support health, inequality, climate and economic priorities across the city-region. The review mapped the existing food system, identified key challenges and opportunities, and made actionable recommendations on leadership, governance and priority actions. This informed the development of a long-term food strategy, and built momentum for sustained food system change across Greater Manchester.

East Sussex County Council

We were commissioned by East Sussex County Council to deliver a county-wide food systems review, to help think strategically about how to unite and strengthen the food system at county level. Through thorough research, stakeholder mapping, and a series of participatory workshops, we identified priorities for food systems change at county and regional level. This work led to the creation of the Good Food East Sussex network and a set of shared recommendations that have been adopted by the Council and the five local partnerships.

Greater London Authority

For whom we co-designed and delivered the Food Roots Incubator programme, supporting London-based food partnerships to move beyond emergency food provision towards more sustainable, strategic responses to food insecurity. Through a programme of training, peer learning and network building, we worked to build and strengthen relationships across the city's food system; to build local capacity; and secure longer-term funding for projects. The programme has helped food partnerships take more coordinated, preventative approaches to tackling food poverty across London.

Greater Brighton Economic Board

We researched and costed potential food system investments across the region. We identified five priority opportunities — from a regional food procurement system to community-supported agriculture. Recommendations were combined into a unified strategy guiding efforts to secure investment and develop a regional food infrastructure plan.

Greater Manchester Local Authority

We led the research and writing of the Greater Manchester Strategic Food Review, setting out how a whole-systems approach to food could support health, inequality, climate and economic priorities across the city-region. The review mapped the existing food system, identified key challenges and opportunities, and made actionable recommendations on leadership, governance and priority actions. This informed the development of a long-term food strategy, and built momentum for sustained food system change across Greater Manchester.

I feel very secure. Having such a well-facilitated event means people can focus on the content and feel comfortable about contributing.’– Bedfordshire County Council

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 at [email protected]

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.

Contact Us