People are starting to take more interest in where their food comes from, how it is produced, how healthy it is and how much it costs, and there are a number of projects across Leicestershire that help residents do just that:
Food for life a community food project, aimed at making good food the easy choice for everyone. Leicestershire has worked with Food for Life in Schools for almost 10 years – the infographic below demonstrates some of the impact the programme has had.
A report looking at the positive impacts that could come from procuring higher environmental standard produce, with Leicestershire farms as case study examples:
Master gardeners a well-established group who support novice food growers individually, in their own homes and gardens, and through community growing projects, to encourage sustainable food growth within the most vulnerable areas.
Master composters a long-running project made up of over 60 Master Composters, promoting the benefits of home composting to Leicestershire residents.
Leicestershire Traded Services Leicestershire’s strong school food service, delivering Soil Association Food for Life Served Here silver standard food to many of our primary school aged children and buying from local producers.
Community Kitchen programme: working with groups to establish volunteer led cooking programmes in the heart of communities – including Community Fridge Projects in Wigston Magna, Charnwood and Coalville.
Other ongoing projects include community groups helping to feed, support and inspire people with food (such as Melton Learning Hub, Fareshare, a network of Food Banks and Hinckley’s Community Houses) as well as some wonderful examples of imaginative food businesses and social enterprises (like Taste Harborough, Raw n Pure and Stanford Hall).
If you have a project you’d like to tell us about, get in touch on goodfood@leics.gov.uk.