Newcastle
Community Food Initiative
Aim
Newcastle Community Food Initiative (CFI) aims to improve access to affordable healthy food, to contribute to the healthier eating of people in Newcastle. Improving access to food through physical access, affordability, access to knowledge and skills and sustaining the local economy.
Objectives:
- Facilitate networking between community food initiatives to ensure joint working.
- Provide support, advice, information and resources for community groups who wish to set-up or develop food initiatives.
- Represent community food initiatives and advocate a community development approach within any food related strategies and policies.
- Promote the work of the initiative locally, regionally and nationally via a range of media.
The principle role of the CFI is perceived as being a facilitator of a food network, providing access to resources, both practical, in terms of funding, skills, information, access to training, information and links to methods of evaluation and monitoring; all are achieved through a commitment to working together with the food network, making links to other organisations and creating a forum for partnerships.
The duties of the CFI staff are to facilitate a network between existing and new initiatives, organise an annual conference or event to enable the sharing of good practice, to promote the strategies via a range of media including a regular newsletter, and to work closely with health and community workers to promote well informed food choices at grass-roots level. In addition it administers the allocation and distribution of small grants. The practical work it supports is aimed at low-income groups, and its strategic direction links directly with the Government’s health inequalities agenda.
The Community Food Initiative is a citywide project whose overall aim is to improve access to healthy, affordable food especially for disadvantaged groups in the city. The Newcastle Community Food Initiative has been promoting access to affordable healthy food in disadvantaged areas for the last 13 years. The Community Food Initiative supports the set up and development of food projects in Newcastle.
The Newcastle Community Food Initiative was originally set up to address food issues by supporting community groups and organisations with the set up or development of projects known as community food initiatives. Recently there has been a greater need for us to work at a more strategic level. We have been able to represent the issues affecting local community groups to statutory agencies and policy makers.
The Community Food Initiative provides:
- community food network meetings
- a co-ordinated approach to community food partnerships
- exploration and understanding of national and regional policies
- small grants to start up new projects
- a regular e-Bulletin
- gives information, advice and encouragement to groups who wish to set up or develop a food project
- events to share good practice and opportunities to work together.
CFI supports food projects across the city through well-established Food Networks offering support, advice and facilitating network opportunities.
We have an active role in the North East Community Food Initiative (NECFIN) which aims to provide a forum to debate food issues in the region and to share best practice and promote partnership working in the field of food and health.
The Community Food Initiative provides common ground for local people and professionals to work together in innovative ways. It is well established and is recognised by both food projects that are integrated into the community, as well as organisations and agencies with the ability to make strategic or policy level decisions.
