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.
