Right now, decisions are being made that will shape what children eat in schools for years to come. The Government is currently consulting on updates to School Food Standards, which are the rules that shape what children consume during the school day. We have a rare opportunity to influence a system that plays a vital role in the health, wellbeing and future of children and young people across the city.

At Feeding Liverpool, we strongly believe that good school food is essential. For many children, food eaten at school forms a significant part of their daily diet. It supports not only physical health, but also concentration, behaviour and the ability to learn and thrive. School food is also one of the most effective ways to tackle food insecurity and reduce inequalities, ensuring that every child has access to nutritious, balanced meals regardless of background.

The need for change is clear. National data shows that children are currently consuming around twice the recommended amount of free sugars, whilst more than 90% of children are not getting enough fibre in their diets. This is shaping long-term health outcomes from an early age.

At the same time, over one in ten children children begin primary school living with obesity, rising to more than one in five by the end of their time there. In Liverpool, the picture is even more stark, with almost one in three Year Six pupils classified as overweight or obese. This reflects wider inequalities across the city, with over a third of children living in low-income families. Food insecurity also continues to be a growing issue across the region, with increasing demand for food support and many families struggling to afford healthy food. In this context, school food is not just important, but essential infrastructure for children’s health and wellbeing.

The current standards have not been meaningfully updated for over a decade. In that time, our understanding of nutrition has evolved, the challenges facing families have intensified and the role of schools in supporting children’s wellbeing has grown. This consultation is an important chance to refresh the system so that it better reflects today’s needs, from reducing sugar and increasing fibre, to recognising the importance of breakfast clubs and the wider school day. Stronger school food standards, backed by the right support, can play a vital role in improving children’s health and reducing inequalities across our communities.

We know that change on paper does not automatically translate into change in practice, but the experience of schools, families, caterers and organisations working on the ground across Liverpool are essential to shaping standards that are both ambitious and deliverable. That is why it is so important that as many people as possible take part in the consultation and share their experiences.

Alonsgide this, Feeding Liverpool is launching a new piece of work focused on understanding and strengthening school food across the region. We want to build a clearer picture of what is working well, where the challenges lie and how schools can be collectively supported to provide the best possible food for children. This will include working closely with our network to ensure that any new standards are supported by the resources needed for success.

If you are a school, caterer, parent, community organisation or anyone with an interest in children’s health and food, now is the moment to to make your voice heard. Feeding Liverpool will be contributing to the consultation, but your insight and lived experiences are vital in shaping a system that works for everyone. Together, we can help to ensure that every child has access to the nutritious food they need to learn, grow and thrive.

• Find the consultation and more details about it can be found on the Government website.
• If you would like support or guidance in responding to the consultation, or would like to be involved in our upcoming work on school food, get in touch with Hannah.

By Gentian Khan, Finance and Operations Lead

Earlier this month, I attended and spoke at the ‘Real Living Wage in Liverpool City Region – Building the Movement Together’ event hosted by the Living Wage Foundation. In total, 24 organisations were represented – both RLW accredited and not – and heard from a panel of three Liverpool-based companies about the benefits and challenges of being an accredited employer.

The event was informative and impactful; it provided information on accreditation – including Living Hours and Living Pension, the opportunity to network and learn about other organisations in the region, and encouragement to all attendees to create a ‘pledge’ for the continuation or improvement of our current practices.

Feeding Liverpool’s pledge was to support our network and the organisations we work alongside to both understand and acknowledge the importance of providing and implementing a Real Living Wage. This pledge reflected the speech I gave, emphasising the necessity of all actors within our food system to recognise a difficult truth: our food system cannot be fair if the people who keep it running cannot afford to live well.

At Feeding Liverpool, we are proud to be a Real Living Wage employer. As the city’s Food Alliance lead, much of our work is rooted in tackling the structural causes of poverty and hunger, and supporting communities to access fresh, affordable and culturally-appropriate food.

Across Liverpool and the UK, in-work poverty is rising, with many people in paid employment still struggle to afford housing, heating and good food. For too many, work simply does not ‘pay’ and is no longer a guranteed route out of hardship.

Our ‘Without Access to Justice’ report highlights this clearly:

The level at which minimum wages are currently set are below the level of ‘Real Living Wage’… not providing a sufficent income for a decent life to people who are working full-time.

This is why a conversation about living wage is essential for all actors and participants within our food system, as the issues present within it are not simply about food; they concern income, injustice and indignity – all of which a real living wage can begin to address.

 

The Hidden Cost of ‘Cheap Food’

As a society, we often celebrate cheap food as a social good to aim for and protect. However, food does not just appear out of nowhere, and every one of the crucial steps involved in getting our food from the ground and onto our plates has a cost attached to it.

When this is acknowledged, we begin to understand that cheap food is never truly cheap, and that the cost is simply carried elsewhere further down the chain. This is usually moved onto workers within the food system itself, whose wages are already stretched. ‘Cheapness’ is only possible when it is subsidised by poor working standards – low pay, insecure work and injustice.

So, when we demand lower prices, we must ask: what is it that we are asking to be sacrificed and who are we asking to make it?

A good food system cannot be built on poverty wages. When there is widespread hardship in the system itself and when those who sustain the food system by growing, harvesting, processing, transporting and selling our food cannot afford the very items they help to provide, the system is fundamentally out of balance.

Fair pay must not be considered an optional extra when it is a structural necessity for a resilient and just food system. A Real Living Wage has the ability to strengthen the food system by improving financial security for workers, reducing reliance on emergency food support and breaking the cycle in which low wages drive demand for artificially low prices. It shifts us away from a race to the bottom and towards a system that values dignity, stability and shared prosperity – laying the foundation for a food system that is resilient, humane and genuinely fair for everyone.

 

Income Shapes Food Choices

Income does not only determine what people can buy; it also determines the choices people are able to make.

Financial insecurity forces decision-making to narrow and sees people needing to opt for cheap calories to fill them up or stretch across the week, and not necessarily what aligns with their values or even what they enjoy. When healthy eating, ethical consumption or sustainable diets are encouraged and applauded, but the financial means to make these choices is out of reach, we run the risk of falling into a cycle of constraint and blame that shifts responsibility onto the consumer, while the structural forces that limit their choices and the businesses that profit from these limitations escape scrutiny.

When large numbers of people are constrained to the cheapest options, the market responds by prioritising low-cost, low-margin and often low-quality food. This reinforces the cycle: cheap food requires cheap labour, cheap labour suppresses wages and suppressed wages deepens financial insecurity. The consequences then ripple outward – harming health, undermining wellbeing, eroding environmental and ethical standards, and weakening local economies.

A fair wage gives people the ability to choose what they really want and to align their purchasing power with their own values  – enabling autonomy and giving people the option to take part in the food system as active participants, and to move the system towards being something that actually works for people.

A Real Living Wage does not just improve individual lives. It shifts the entire system towards one that works for people, supports dignity and builds a healthier, more resilient food economy.

A Call to Action: Every Actor in the Food System has a Role

One of our key recommendations in the ‘Without Access to Justice’ report was for the Government to revise the minimum wage to ensure that no one works for less than the real Living Wage. We believe this is essential to tackling the root causes of food insecurity and creating a fairer society.

However, if we want to move beyond crisis response and toward building long-term resilience within our food system, all actors within that system must begin to scrutinise and address the underlying causes of food insecurity. Insufficent income is one of the most significant causes and every actor has a choice to operate above the minimum prescribed by law.

When organisations across the food system adopt the Real Living Wage, they collectively shift the expectations of what work should pay and what dignity in employment should look like. When we begin to view work as more than employment, we begin to acknowledge that work is a means of expressing the values we hold as a society – respect, security, equality and dignity.

Paying fairly for this work is a way of embodying these values. It ensures that the people who keep our food system running can afford a decent standard of living, aligns organisations with the values of fairness, dignity and respect, and contributes directly to a more resilient, equitable and sustained food future for our city.

We invite every organisation in Liverpool’s food system to join us in choosing more than the minimum and commiting to paying the Real Living Wage. If you are part of Liverpool’s food system – whether you are a grower, wholesaler, business owner, community food provider, retailer, distributor or national food business – your decisions can help shape what we all rely on. Adopting the Real Living Wage is one of the most powerful steps you can take to strengthen the framework and help build a food system rooted in fairness from the ground up.

 

Learn more:

• Read the ‘Without Access to Justice’ report
• Find out about the Real Living Wage and how to become an accredited employer
• Read more about Feeding Liverpool’s work to promote Good Food For All
• If you are a food business and want to get involved in this work/conversation, please contact Michael

Yesterday, the Government set out plans for what it describes as the most significant overhaul of school food standards in a decade, aiming to improve the health and nutrition of millions of children across England.

The proposals include a ban on deep-fried foods in school kitchens, stricter limits on high-sugar items and a requirement for schools to serve more fruit, vegetables and wholegrains. Sweetened desserts will be restricted to once a week and popular ‘grab and go’ items, such as sausage rolls and pizza, will no longer be available every day. The Government has also confirmed that from September 2026, all children in families receiving Universal Credit will be eligible for free school meals, extending support to an estimated 500,000 more pupils. Funding for free breakfast clubs has also been increased, with more than 500 new clubs due to open this week.

These changes are being introduced in response to rising concerns about children’s health. Data from the National Child Measurement Programme currently shows that more than one in three children leave primary school overweight or obese, and the Royal College of Surgeons of England report that tooth decay linked to high-sugar diets remains the leading cause of hospital admissions for children aged five to nine. Government ministers say that the new standards are intended to help reverse these trends and ensure that every children has access to nutritious food that supports their learning and wellbeing.

These proposals will apply to all primary and secondary schools in England, with secondary schools being given a phased timeline to adapt menus, train staff and update recipes. Schools will also be required to publish their menus online, with a new enforcement system being introduced to monitor compliance. A nine-week consultation has now opened, with final standards expected in September and implementation from September 2027.

Hannah, Williams, Policy Lead at Feeding Liverpool, has responded to the news:

Families in Liverpool, as well as those across the country, will welcome yesterday’s announcement as an important step towards ensuring that every child can access healthier, more nutritious food at school. Through our work with schools, community organisations and local partners, we have consistently highlighted the need for stronger nutritional standrads alongside the resources required to put them into practice.

 

The Government’s intention to improve the quality of school food is a positive step, and the focus on reducing sugar and increasing access to fruit, vegetables and wholegrains is positive. These are changes that can make a meaningful difference to children’s health and wellbeing. However, for this vision to become a reality and for those proposals to succeed in every community, schools must be properly supported with adequate funding, investment in training and practical help for caterers.

 

We are grateful to all of the partners, educators and community voices who continue to champion the importance of good food for every child. Feeding Liverpool will continue working alongside them to ensure that these ambitions translate into real, lasting improvements for families across our city.

 

As if we needed it, the current attacks on Iran have provided a glaring reminder of the instability of our own national security.

The resulting closure of the Strait of Hormuz has been felt across the globe as ships full of oil, gas and other vital inputs to the global economy remain blocked. Already, this is translating to rising costs of food, as fuel and energy price increases make food more expensive to move.

The UK food system is concentrated in the hands of a relatively small number of people and organisations – leaving the system that feeds most of the population highly vulnerable to shocks. The UK imports around 50% of its vegetables and 80% of its fruit, making it particularly exposed to rising logistical and transport costs. However, these pressures may represent only the tip of the iceberg.

One of the key products affected by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz is fertiliser; intensive large-scale agri-businesses are reliant upon artifical inputs to offset soil depletion. Higher fertiliser prices – or even a complete lack of fertiliser – could significantly affect autumn yields. Indeed, British farmers who have already secured fertiliser have stated that they are considering selling it on in order to cash out on the high prices. Other inputs are being affected too, such as herbicides and pesticides made from oil inputs, and chicken feed made from methanol. The impact of the disruption in global supply chains is hard to predict, but some have already estimated that British consumers can expect to see a 9% rise on food inflation.

What can ordinary people do when faced with the simultaneous power, wealth and fragility of this globalised food system?

On Wednesday evening, over 30 local growers and L8 (and wider) residents gathered in Toxteth TV to discuss community responses to the coming crisis.

As we know, there is a wealth of knowledge, skills and interests to draw upon within our communities. At the meeting, there were growers, allotmenteers, chefs, beekeepers and people with no growing experience but with connections to neighbours, trade unions, seed savers, history and heritage researchers, doctors and decolonial health advocates – to name a few!

The group discussed how the community might expect global food system shocks to affect it and how they might develop actions to build resilience together. As people followed up connections over homemade soup, the room buzzed with conversation and a real sense of possibility. Since the meeting, a shared working document has been set up help plan actions and the group’s next meeting.

Community action to move towards greater food sustainability and autonomy is vital, and it is important that local, regional and national Governments support, and act, with us. Professor Tim Laing has well documented the lack of state action on the dire state of UK food security to date. Activists in Liverpool have also used a Freedom of Information Request to uncover that at a Liverpool City Region level, the resilience forum has no formal planning in place for widespread food insecurity. The National Preparedness Commission Report states that Local Resilience Forums (LRFs) noted that food could not be addressed or resolved by LRFs themselves, and that this challenge requires work with external partners. We would be happy and willing to contribute.

We are living in an era of prolonged uncertainty. Brexit, the pandemic, Russia’s invasion on Ukraine and escalating global conflict have all exposed how fragile the UK’s food system has become, with the consequences felt most clearly through inflated food prices. These repeated shocks show that a food system governed at a distance and concentrated in too few hands leaves people vulnerable to descisions and events far beyond their control. We believe power over how food is produced, sold and retailed must be shifted closer to citizens and communities in order to build resilience, transparency and democratic accountability. As DEFRA develops its forthcoming UK Food Strategy, it must confront these realities and commit to a food system that protects people’s livelihoods and quality of life – especially in times of crisis.

Increasing community food growing, reducing waste, instituting community kitchens, cooking and preserving skill sharing, securing community asset transfers through Right to Grow, and the raft of other ideas discussed by the group on Wednesday will not solve the looming crisis on their own. However, they can help to lay the foundations for a level of hyper local support which will provide a model for a circular, equitable, sustainable and resilient food system.

Local initiatives ideologically and practically strengthen calls for bigger institutions to take food security seriously – showing that an alternative is as possible and popular as it is necessary. For those in the room on Wednesday, action felt the antidote to despair.

If you would like to know more about how you can get involved in this conversation, please contact Samir.

As Easter approaches, many of us begin to think about time off, family traditions and the small joys that come with the arrival of Spring. For some, it is a chance to slow down – to share meals, spend time together and take a break from the usual routines of school and work.

But for many families across Liverpool, the school holidays can also bring uncertainty – particularly when it comes to food.

During term time, schools provide far more than education. They offer structure, routine and, for many children, access to a reliable, nutritious meal through Free School Meals. When schools close, that support disappears and the pressure on families increases.

It is within this context that the Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme has become such an important part of the support landscape.

 

From Pilots to a National Programme

The HAF programme began as a series of pilot schemes in 2018 in response to growing evidence that school holidays were a significant ‘pressure point’ for families on low incomes. Indeed, research highlighted that during these periods, children were more likely to experience hunger, reduced physical activity and social isolation as a result of facing the ‘holiday experience gap’.

These early pilots tested a simple idea: that providing free holiday activities alongside nutritious meals could help mitigate some of the challenges families face when schools are closed.

Following their success – and alongside increasing national attention on child food poverty – the programme was expanded across England in 2021, backed by over £200 million in annual Government funding. Since then, the HAF programme has become a nationwide initiative delivered through local authorities, schools and community organisations.

Between 2022 and 2024 alone, the programme delivered more than 15 million days of support to children and young people during the Winter, Easter and Summer holidays.

At its core, the HAF programme reflects a recognition that access to food, opportunities and safe spaces should not stop when the school term ends.

 

More Than Food: What HAF Provides

While the provision of a healthy meal is central to HAF, the programme has always been about more than just food.

Across the country, HAF brings together local partners to deliver a wide range of activities – from sports and arts to cooking, gardening and trips – that are all designed to support children’s physical health, wellbeing and development.

Evidence from national evaluation shows that children who attend HAF programmes:

• Eat more regularly and are more likely to try new foods
• Take part in more physical activity
• Build confidence, socials skills and friendships

For families, the benefits are equally significant. Surveys show that the vast majority of parents feel that the HAF programme helps reduce financial pressure during the holidays, while also providing reassurance that their children are in safe, supportive environments.

Crucially, HAF programmes often act as a gateway to wider support. Through trusted community settings, families can be connected to advice services, local organisations and longer-term support networks – helping to address not just immediate needs, but underlying challenges they may be facing.

In this way, the HAF programme is not simply a holiday scheme. It is part of a wider system of support that brings together food, activity and community.

 

The HAF Programme in Liverpool 

In Liverpool, the HAF programme is delivered at scale, reaching thousands of children and young people each year through a wide network of community organisations, schools and voluntary sector partners.

The programme is open to children aged 4 – 16 who are eligible for benefits-related Free School Meals, providing access to free activities and a nutritious meal during the Easter, Summer and Winter holidays.

Delivery across Liverpool is coordinated by Liverpool City Council alongside partners such as Merseyside Play Action Council, with provision taking place in community centres, schools, youth hubs and local organisations across the city. This community-based model is key – ensuring that activities are delivered in familiar, trusted spaces were children and families already feel comfortable.

The scale of delivery is significant. Recent figures from April 2024 to March 2025 show that in Liverpool:

• Around 13,500 children and young people took part in HAF provision
• Over 240,000 meals were provided
• More than 99,000 activity places were delivered

These numbers reflect not just the reach of the programme, but the level of need it is responding to across the city.

However, what sits behind these figures is equally important.

Provision in Liverpool is intentionally diverse – ranging from sports and outdoor activities to arts, cooking sessions and food education. This reflects a recognition that HAF is not just about addressing hunger, but also about supporting children’s wider wellbeing, confidence and development.

Food plays a central role in this.

As highlighted in the Liverpool HAF Annual Report, the programme creates opportunities for children to engage positively with food in ways that go beyong simply receiving a meal. One provider reflected:

Children really enjoyed this aspect (food) of the programme, as it led to great discussions on what activities they would like to do (e.g. more cooking activities and even planting and growing their own fruit and vegetables). They were also keen to help with preparing their lunches and, by the end of the week, didn’t mind trying new foods that they wouldn’t normally eat. The impact of the food element on the programme was very positive.

This highlights an important shift – from food as emergency provision to food as a tool for learning, confidence and enjoyment. Indeed, across many Liverpool programmes, children are involved in preparing meals, learning about ingredients and building practical skills; this not only supports healthier eating habits, but helps to create positive, shared experiences around food.

The report also highlights the importance of safe and inclusive environments where children feel supported and able to take part. For many, these spaces offer more than just activities – they provide stability, routine and a sense of belonging during the school holidays.

Feeding Liverpool plays an important role within this wider system.

Working alongside Liverpool City Council and delivery partners, Feeding Liverpool helps to connect HAF provision into the city’s broader food system, ensuring that it does not operate in isolation. This includes linking programmes with community food spaces, promoting good food standards and supporting collaboration across organisations.

By strengthening these connections, the HAF programme becomes more than a holiday intervention. It becomes part of a wider, joined-up approach to tackling food insecurity in Liverpool – one that recognises the importance of dignity, access and long-term change.

Taken together, HAF in Liverpool is a city-wide effort; rooted in community, shaped by local knowledge and increasingly embedded within a system working to ensure that everyone can access good food.

 

Impact and Ongoing Challenges

There is a growing body of evidence demonstrating the impact of the HAF programme. In Liverpool, this impact is particularly significant when viewed alongside the wider challenges children and families face.

Rates of child excess weight in Liverpool are higher than the national average and increasing at a faster pace. In 2022/2023, 1,375 children aged between 4 – 5 and 2,205 children aged between 10 – 11 were classified as overweight, with obesity rates more than doubling in children between Reception and Year 6 age – rising from 12.2% to 28.1%. Children in the most deprived areas of the city are disproportinately affected, with excess weight prevalence 1.4 times higher than in the least deprived communities.

At the same time, levels of physical activity among children and young people in Liverpool are above the national average (55.2% comapred to 47.2%), highlighting the importance of maintaining access to opportunities to be active – particularly during the school holidays.

This is where the HAF programme plays a vital role. By providing free, structured activities alongside nutritious meals, the programme supports children to stay active, engaged and well-nourished outside of term time, while also helping to reduce pressure on families during the holidays.

In Liverpool, these impacts are strengthened by the way the programme is delivered – through trusted community organisations, in familiar spaces and often alongside wider support.

However, challenges remain.

While demand for HAF provision is high, access to the programme is not always equal, with some eligible children – particularly those most in need – still missing out. While some families may simply not be aware of the programme, others face barriers such as transport, digital access or confidence in attending new spaces. Stigma in accessing this support also plays a role, particularly when provision is perceived as being targeted only at those in need. This gap has been partially adddressed through interventions such as Feeding Britain’s top-up funding for holiday clubs, enabling providers to support children who are not eligible for statutory schemes like HAF but remain in need.

There are also broader structural challenges that need to be addressed. Limitations in data sharing between local authorities, schools and central government can make it more difficult to identify and reach all eligible families.

At the same time, organisations delivering the HAF programme are operating within a challenging context. As the cost of living continues to rise, demand for support is also increasing; organisations delivering the HAF programme often have to operate within constrained resources as a result – balancing the need for quality provision with limited funding and capacity.

Together, these challenges highlight that while the HAF programme is making a meaningful difference for children and families across Liverpool, it sits within a wider system where food and financial insecurity remain significant issues.

 

Where Next For The HAF Programme? 

Now in its fifth year, the HAF programme is no longer a pilot or a temporary intervention – it is an established and essential part of the support available to children and families. In Liverpool, it is a key part of how school holiday provision is delivered – helping to ensure that children can access food, activities and safe spaces beyond the school term.

The continuation of Government funding has provided a level of stability, allowing local authorities and delivery partners to plan ahead and build on what has already been achieved.

However, as the programme continues to develop, there is a growing recognition that it cannot operate in isolation.

While it plays a vital role in responding to immediate need, the challenges it seeks to address – including food insecurity, health inequalities and financial pressure – are long-term and deeply rooted. This raises important questions about how the programme can be sustained and strengthened as part of a wider, more joined-up approach.

Looking ahead, there is an opportunity to build on the success of the HAF programme by:

• Improving access so that all eligible children – particularly those most at risk – are able to take part
• Strengthening connections between the programme and wider services, including community food spaces, schools and family support centres
• Embedding food education, physical activity and wellbeing more consistently across provision

At the same time, there is a need to ensure that the organisations delivering the HAF programme are supported to do so sustainably. This includes recognising the pressures they face – from rising demand to limited resources – and ensuring that funding and infrastructure enable high-quality, inclusive provision to continue.

For Feeding Liverpool, this means continuing to play a role in connecting partners across the city – supporting collaboration, sharing learning and heloing to embed the programme within Liverpool’s wider food system.

Ultimately, the HAF programme has shown what is possible when investment is made in children and communities. But it also highlights the importance of going further – towards a system where access to good food, opportunities and support is not limited to holiday periods, but available to all children all year round.

 

Looking Ahead This Easter

As the Easter holidays begin, HAF programmes across Liverpool will once again open their doors – providing meals, activities and support to thousands of children and families across the city.

Helping to bridge the gap left by the absence of Free School Meals, these spaces offer not only nutritious food, but opportunities for children to stay active, build confidence and connect with others in their communities.

In a city where inequalities in health and access to food remain significant, this provision matters. It supports children to develop positive relationships with food, maintains their access to physical activity and provides reassurance to families during what can be a challenging time of year.

The HAF programme, however, is also part of something bigger.

It reflects the strength of Liverpool’s community networks, the commitment of organisations working on the ground and the value of a joined-up approach to supporting children and families. At the same time, it highlights the ongoing challenges – from unequal access to wider structural issues – that cannot be addressed by holiday provision alone.

As we look ahead, the programme continues to play a vital role. But it also points towards a wider ambition; a city where access to good food, opportunities and support is not limited to the school term or holiday periods, but is a consistent part of everyday life.

That is the direction of travel – and this Easter, the HAF programme remains an important step along that journey.

At Feeding Liverpool, we know that good food is about more than what we eat. It is about health, opportunity and fairness – and whether people across our city can access the basics needed to live well.

During Nutrition and Hydration Week, there is an opportunity to look more closely at how nutrition and hydration shape health across the life course, and why access to good food remains a challenge for many communities in Liverpool.

To explore this further, we spoke with a Consultant at Liverpool City Council Public Health, who shared insights into how food insecurity continues to affect people across the city from early childhood through to older age. Their perspective highlights not only the health implications that limited access to nutritious food presents, but also the importance of improving access, affordability and awareness in order to support healthier communities across Liverpool.

 

Inequality Across Liverpool

Liverpool is a city of strong communities and local pride, but it is also one where health inequalities and deprivation continue to impact daily life for many people. Indeed, access to affordable, nutritious food is not consistent across the city, with some neighbourhoods facing limited availability of fresh, healthy options.

Our Consultant speaks of this issue being reflected in wider public health data and the growing pressures on long-term health:

Liverpool has high levels of deprivation and significant health inequalities, which can impact on a person’s nutrition and hydration. The 2040 State of Health Report projects a rise in chronic health conditions, a reduction in healthy life expectancy for women and our children facing issues around mental health, obesity and child poverty.

Good nutrition and hydration is essential to a person’s physical and mental wellbeing – making it essential that we raise awareness of the importance of this to people of all ages.

 

Food Insecurity and Its Impact on Health

For many households across the city, access to food is uncertain, inconsistent or reliant on emergency support.

The health impacts of this are wide-ranging, as confirmed by our Public Health Consultant :

In Liverpool, one in three people are living in food insecurity – meaning that they lack consistent access to enough nutritious food. In the short-term, this can lead to nutritional deficiencies, stress, malnutrition, fatigue, sleep issues and a weakened immune system. Longer-term, this can result in chronic conditions such as diabetes, obesity and high cholesterol.

Food insecurity also has a profound impact on mental wellbeing; the stress and uncertainty of not knowing where your next meal is coming from can affect a person’s mood, increase anxiety and make everyday life more difficult to manage.

 

The Reality Behind Low-Cost Food

For many people, the challenge is not simply access to food – but access to the right kind of food.

Healthier food options are often more expensive, less accessible or harder to store and prepare. As a result, people may rely on cheaper, more processed foods that are higher in calories but lower in nutritional value.

This creates complex health outcomes across the city, as our Consultant at Public Health explains:

Low-cost, less nutritious food often contains more calories, which can lead to people becoming overweight or obese – a challenge often seen in the city. It can, however, also cause people to become underweight and can lead to nutrient deficiencies. This can have an impact on children and young people, who could then face developmental delays, experience stunted growth and have difficulty concentrating in school.

This highlights a key issue: malnutrition is not always visible and can have severe long-term consequences for both physical and cognitive development.

Supporting Health at Every Stage of Life

Good nutrition and hydration are essential throughout life, but the risks of poor access to food are particularly significant at key stages.

In early childhood, nutrition supports growth, brain development and immune function. Without access to nutritious food, children may face developmental challenges that affect them long into adulthood.

As our Consultant at Public Health notes:

Healthy diets from a young age are really important and often start with breastfeeding, as breast milk contains vitamins and minerals that can offer protection from certain infections and help improve a child’s health in the long-term.

They then went on to explain how good dietary behaviours and preferences established in childhood should continue into adulthood, as good hydration and nutrition are required to maintain a healthy weight and manage long-term health:

As we age, although people may become less physically active, our vitamin and mineral requirements do not change. Ensuring good nutrition and hydration in later life can help to increase quality of life, reduce the risk of falls and maintain a healthy weight.

This life course perspective is critical. It shows that improving access to good food is not just about addressing immediate need – it is about supporting lifelong health and reducing future inequalities.

Good Food as the Foundation of Long-Term Health

Access to nutritious food is one of the most effective ways to support long-term health and prevent illness according to our Public Health Consultant:

Access to and intake of nutritious food is vital for long-term health, as having good nutrition can reduce the risk of falls, increase the body’s ability to fight infections, aid healing and have a positive impact on a person’s wellbeing. It can also reduce the risk of a number of illnesses such as diabetes, heart disease, stroke and cancer.

This reinforces the idea that food is a key part of prevention, not just treatment.

 

Making Healthy Food More Accessible

Despite the clear benefits of good nutrition, many people continue to face barriers when trying to eat well – particularly around cost.

With healthier food often being significantly more expensive, households on low incomes are often forced to make difficult choices. However, across Liverpool, there are practical ways people are being supported to access better food.

As our Consultant at Public Health highlights:

Unhealthy food is three times cheaper than healthy food, which can be a challenge for people who are trying to eat well on a low budget. Initiatives like the Queen of Greens mobile greengrocer and local markets – which are often rooted in the communities they serve – can support people to access affordable, healthy food closer to where they live and in smaller quantities, which enables people to buy exactly how much they need.

They also provided some tips that people can incorporate into their shopping habits to help support their dietary needs:

Making a meal plan and having a shopping list can prevent people from buying things they already have or do not really need. Value brands are often just as good, and are available at a lower cost. Tinned fruit (in natural juice) and vegetables (in water with no added salt) are also cheaper alternatives that can be easily added to a meal.

 

The Role of Community and Partnership Working 

Community organisations play a vital role in addressing food insecurity across Liverpool. From foodbanks and community kitchens to growing projects and shared meals, these initiatives provide both practical support and social connection.

This has been confirmed by our Public Health Consultant:

Liverpool is home to three of the top ten food deserts in the UK – this is an area that is at least one mile away from a supermarket – which makes access to healthier food challenging for many in the city. At the Council, we have seen that working with local community organisations and having partnerships can help to bring affordable, fresh, healthy food into the heart of communities. Community organisations are also great at providing support that increases awareness of the importance of eating healthy food and keeping hydrated.

Through partnership working, community organisations across Liverpool are also helping to:

• Improve access to affordable food
• Build skills and confidence around cooking and nutrition
• Create spaces for communities to come together

This collective approach is essential in building a fairer, more resilient food system.

Small Changes, Big Impact 

While systemic change is essential, small individual actions can also support better health.

When asked to recommend one small change people could make to support their nutrition or hydration, our Consultant at Public Health said:

People need to ensure they drink water regularly throughout the day and focus on eating a well-balanced diet.

These simple habits, when supported by the right environment, can make a meaningful difference. That means creating a city where people have affordable options in local shops and markets, access to community food initiatives and the knowledge and confidence to make healthy choices day to day.

 

Working Towards a Healthier Liverpool 

Nutrition is not just about personal choice – it is about access, affordability and the systems that shape our daily lives.

From early childhood through to older age, access to good food and hydration plays a crucial role in determining health outcomes. Yet across Liverpool, too many people still face barriers to achieving this.

The work of community organisations, partnerships and local initiatives shows what is possible when we act together. By continuing to invest in these approaches, we can move towards a city where everyone has access to the food they need to live healthy, fulfilling lives.

 

Further Resources: 

• Save Kids From Sugar 
• 24 Magic Months
• Liv Life Liverpool

Last autumn, Feeding Liverpool supported Engage Liverpool CIC to deliver three seminars exploring Liverpool’s food culture.

The series followed the 2025 Good Food Summit, which identified several priorities for the Food Alliance as we continue to develop Liverpool’s Good Food Plan. ‘Liverpool’s Food Culture – Have We Got One?‘ addressed many of these priorities:

• Creating opportunities for communities to participate in the Food Alliance
• Making healthy food an easy choice for all
• Working with food businesses to develop a good food economy
• Embedding sustainable practicies in the local food system and championing organisations leading the way

 

Seminar One: The Food System in the UK – How Good is It?

The first seminar featured a keynote from Sheila Dillon, renowed food journalist and presenter of The Food Programme on BBC Radio 4. Sheila offered a bold, candid assessment of the Uk food system, taking a macro view of its current challenges.

She highlighted deep concerns about the ruthlessness of the system – a concern that we share. A food system should centre people; those who both grow and produce food, and those who eat it. Food is a universal need, but it also has the capacity to nourish, bring joy and connect people. At present, the conventional supply chain is extractive, profit-driven and problematic.

All food costs money to produce and, therefore, it does have a monetary value. The value of food, however, stretches beyond profit. Food shapes our physical and mental health, sleep, learning, work and relationships – meaning that we need a system that recognises food as a driver of social change, not simply a commodity. Sheila articulated this point brilliantly when pointing to the cheapest price model – a legacy of Margaret Thatcher’s approach to food policy – which features ruthless efficency, free market competition and cheaper food for ‘consumers’. A small number of businesses now hold immense power, claiming to act in the interests of their customers. But cheap food always comes at a cost. The question is: who pays?

The answer is public health, the environment and farmers.

We need a food system that is fair, equitable and supports improved health. We need to work together – locally and nationally – to create viable alternatives to a supermarket-centric, profit-driven model that harms agricultural businesses, local economies and communities.

 

Seminar Two: Farm to Fork – Is our Food Journey Sustainable? 

The second seminar focused on sustainability, with a keynote from Helen Woodcock and Chris Walsh of Kindling Farm – a 77-acre agroecological farm in Knowsley.

Helen and Chris spoke about purchasing the farm through a community share scheme, their long-term vision and the progress they have made since securing the land in 2023. Excitingly, the farm has now begun producing food, and 2026 marks its second full growing season. We are delighted to have Kindling Farm in our region and look forward to seeing more of their produce reaching local tables.

Chris also provided evidence to the What Works Here Inquiry – this will inform the UK Food Strategy – and hosted the Citizen Advisory Council at the farm to discuss future plans and the challenges of producing food in the current climate. Both events left us optimistic and grateful to have Kindling Farm nearby, but also aware of our responsibility to support the introduction of their produce into the city and to the realisation of their wider vision. We will continue working with Chris, Helen and the team to establish clear pathways for their food into Liverpool.

The seminar’s panel included Daniel Heffy, Executive Chef at Graffiti Spirits Group; Sally-Anne Watkiss, Chair of Homebaked Anfield; and Jens Thomas, Technical Director at Farm Urban. Each shared their perspectives on producing and procuring food and the impact of supporting local, sustainable and independent producers. One message came through clearly: strengthening the local food economy brings far greater long-term benefits than buying solely on price.

We left the seminar with a vivid sense of what Liverpool’s food system could be, inspired by the panel’s passion and commitment. The questions from attendees, however, were a sobering reminder that the possibilities we were discussing simply do not exist for many people in Liverpool and across the UK. The gap between potential and reality is stark, underscoring one thing: we have work to do.

 

Seminar Three: Food Home and Away – Are we Making the Best Decisions?

The final seminar was delivered by Lucy Antal of Alchemic Kitchen, who operate several projects across the Liverpool City Region, including the Queen of Greens mobile greengrocer. Having worked with Lucy for years, her messages were familar to us but no less vital. Our current food system is creating and deepening inequality, as well as damaging our planet. This means that the choices made by organisations, and by citizens, matter.

Lucy emphasised the importance of valuing social impact alongside economic impact, reminding us that food spaces are social spaces and that communities have been hollowed out by efficiency-driven, profit-centred approaches. She shared the story of a regular Queen of Greens customer – a single parent who said that their weekly visit to the bus was often their only chance to speak to another adult. Further, Lucy often notes that in parts of our city, it is easier to buy a vape than an apply. Sadly, she is right.

These two anecdotes are a stark indictment of our food culture.

They reinforce the vital role played by community food spaces and value-driven businesses like the Queen of Greens; they provide a connection to others, to local identity and to the meaning and origins of our food. These spaces help build food environments shaped around community needs and aspirations – not only in terms of culturally-appropiate and nutritious food, but also in regards to dignity, social connection and a sense of place.

Lucy also encouraged us to re-think how we talk about funding and investment. Funding often implies short-term, stop-gap support. Investment, by contrast, recognises the long-term value of socially-centred food enterprises and the future benefits they generate – from improved health to better educational outcomes. If we truly invest in organisations delivering social value and food equity, we give them the stability and recognition needed to compete with the corporate, profit-focused food system operators that currently dominate.

Fittingly, Lucy ended the seminar series with a call to action: to recognise and act on our collective responsibility to create the change that we want to see. We know that opportunities to participate are not equal, which is why we remain committed to supporting communities to actively engage in shaping the local food system and drive the change we all want.

 

Final Thoughts

One of Sheila Dillion’s reflections that remains poignant is her description of the power of a ‘web’ of good businesses. It makes us think about Liverpool’s Food Alliance and our role in strengthening the connections between people committed to good food. When those connections stretch across our city and link into similar efforts around the country, they form a resilient web: diverse, interdependent and far stronger than any single strand. That collective strength matters; if we work together, locally and nationally, we can build a food system where everyone has access to good food.

Engage Liverpool asked participants across the three seminars: what one action would you like to see to improve Liverpool’s food culture?

Their responses reflect four key themes:

• Make fresh, local food easier for everyone to access
• Create regular, affordable food markets across the city
• Support better food knowledge and better food for children
• Support local food businesses and improve food options in the city

All of these themes align with the aims of Liverpool’s Good Food Alliance and we welcome further participation from communities and organisations across the city to work towards achieving them.

If you would like to work with us to develop and deliver actions relating to Liverpool’s Good Food Plan and the themes set out in Engage Liverpool’s Evaluation Report, please contact us:

• Keenan Humble, Director
• Samir Karnik Hinks, Communities Lead
• Michael Fitzsimmons, Food Enterprise Coordinator
• Hannah Williams, Policy Lead
• Antonia Parry, Projects and Communications Coordinator

As Liverpool welcomes the start of the Chinese New Year, we are reminded that food is never just what is on the plate. Instead, it is about who we are, where we come from and how we connect with one another. Across cultures, the New Year is a time for gathering, reflection and hope – and, at the heart of thet celebration, is always food.

At Feeding Liverpool, moments like Chinese New Year invite us to pause and think about what good food really means in our city, beyond just access to meals. The belief that food reflects people’s cultures, memories and identities sits at the heart of our Good Food; Our Food photo and story exhibition – a project that captures the lived food experiences of people across Liverpool and celebrates the role food plays in building belonging.

 

Good Food; Our Food – Sharing Liverpool’s Food Stories

Since launching the Good Food; Our Food exhibition in 2021, Feeding Liverpool has been listening to communities across the city and asking one simple question: ‘What does good food mean to you?’

The answers go far beyond nutrition. Through photography and storytelling gathered by local photographer Emma Case fron residents across a range of the city’s communities, the exhibition shows how food connects generations, preserves heritage, creates comfort in unfamiliar places and helps to open doors between cultures. It reminds us that good food is about dignity and being able to eat in ways that feel familiar, respectful and meaningful to who you are.

One contributor explains how food shapes both identity and connection:

I do mix the English culture with the Caribbean culture because there are things I like now, but it is so important to have your own food because it gives you a sense of belonging, a sense of who you are. Food is a massive part of people’s culture, probably the main part. People have clothing, or how they do things, how they marry and stuff like that, but food, any occassion is celebrated with food – from the cradle to the grave.

They go on to describe how food creates a bridge between people:

It gives you a sense of belonging but also something that you can share with people who haven’t experienced your culture. In this country, British food is made up of food from around the world. The main dish is the Vindaloo, Indian, Italian, Mexican, Caribbean – it has all become a part of British culture. The mixture of food and culture – it just makes life so much better and it opens the door to so many things. With food, you could say to somebody: ‘Is this what you eat in your country?’ and then they might start telling you why they eat it and at what occasion. It is all about bringing people together.

These reflects capture why the Good Food; Our Food exhibition exists – to amplify voices, honour lived experience and show that Liverpool’s food system is made stronger when it reflects the people who live here.

 

Chinese New Year: Food as Memory, Meaning and Togetherness

Chinese New Year is a powerful reminder of how food carries stories, values and care across generations. The dishes we eat, the way we prepare them and the people we share them with all hold meaning.

One contributor to the exhibition describes the symbolism behind a traditional New Year meal:

We have the whole fish with the head and the tail to symbolise family togetherness and unity. You eat the fish by starting from the head to the tail and not flipping it; doing so is really bad luck as it can cause a fisherman’s boat to capsize.

Another reflects on how food preperation itself becomes a cultural celebration:

For me, the dumpling is most important as, growing up, it was very much a family activity. Everyone gets involved. My grandparents, my parents, me, my children, aunties, uncles – everyone is together during Chinese New Year time, and that reminds me of the traditions.

These moments show that good food is about much more than eating; it is about learning from elders, passing knowledge to children and creating spaces where people feel connected and seen. Chinese New Year is not just a date in the calendar, therefore – it is a living example of how food sustains culture and community, and serves as an opportunity to honour the flavours and traditions that enrich our city and contribute to its rich tapestry.

 

Community, Culture and Food in Liverpool 

Liverpool is home to Europe’s oldest Chinese community and organisations such as Chinese Wellbeing that help to ensure that people remain connected to culture, care and one another – with food often at the centre of that work.

Chinese Wellbeing supports individuals and families across the city through services that recognise how closely wellbeing is tied to everyday life. Alongside advice, health and social support, they create spaces where people can come together around food – whether through shared meals, culturally-familiar activities, community cooking or opportunities for people to maintain traditions that might otherwise be lost through isolation or change. For many, preparing and sharing food becomes a way to build confidence, strengthen relationships and feel at home in the city.

Their approach shows how food can be both practical and emotional at the same time; offering nourishment, reducing loneliness, supporting independence and helping people hold on to what feels familiar in a new environment.

Observing work like this helps shape how food is understood across Liverpool – not just as something people need, but as something people use to connect, care for each other and express who they are. It reflects a wider truth seen across the city; when communities are supported to share food in ways that feel meaningful, wellbeing grows alongside it.

 

Why Cultural Food Matters

Food carries us through life’s moments – celebration, comfort, change and remembrance.

One Good Food; Our Food exhibition contributor shares how cooking connects them to home and family:

I love cooking, It makes me feel good because it reminds me of who I am and where I come from. Whenever I miss home, I cook a certain dish and I feel like I am there. That is what it is about and I want the same for my daughter. It will always remind her of who she is and where she came from. It reminds her of her roots.

This sense of grounding, pride and continuity is what Feeding Liverpool works to protect, believing that good food should be accessible, dignified and culturally meaningful. Everyone deserves food that nourishes both body and identity, tells their story and helps them feel they belong.

 

Host The Exhibition

Chinese New Year invites us to celebrate Liverpool’s diversity and reflect on the role food plays in shaping our communities.

Through the Good Food; Our Food exhibition, Feeding Liverpool continues to create spaces where people’s voices are heard, stories are valued and food is recognised as a powerful connector between culture, wellbeing and justice.

Feeding Liverpool are always looking for new places to take the Good Food; Our Food exhibition across Liverpool and beyond. If you are part of a community group, school, workplace, venue or organisation and would like to host the exhibition at your event or space, we would love to hear from you.

By hosting the exhibition, you are helping to open up conversations about culture, dignity and access to good food – giving more people the chance to see their expeiences reflected in Liverpool’s food story.

 

Learn more:

• Learn more about the Good Food; Our Food exhibition.
• Get in touch to host the exhibition.

“Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food…” – The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 25, originally published in December 1948

The UDHR was written, in the aftermath of the horrors of genocide and World War, to create inalienable rights for all. The preceding years had also seen mass famines in the imperial colonies such as Bengal, whilst hunger and economic hardship had laid the foundation for the rise of Fascism in the European metropoles. It is, therefore, unsuprising that food would be included as a fundamental human right.

Today, Liverpool is a city where 2,300 emergency food parcels are distributed every week. A Right to Food feels abstract to the daily reality of many people both here and across the UK.

But what could change if Parliament passed a law enshrining a Right to Food and made it a universal right applicable to a UK context? This is what the Right to Food Commission – originally launched in September 2025 – is aiming to find out.

On Thursday 30th January 2026, the Commission launched its first Citizens Assembly which we attended at the Joseph Lappin Centre in Old Swan. The meeting began with Vice Chair, Ian Byrne MP, addressing a room of around 50 people to lay out the aims of the commission and his hope to find a political roadmap to achieve the five aims of the Right to Food Campaign. We then heard from the student campaigners at Monksdown Primary School, who have been at the forefront of the Universal Free School Meals Campaign. The main aim of the aseembly, however, was to collect testimony from the attendees regarding the effects of food insecurity that could then be submitted to the Commission.

The day after, we were invited to provide evidence at the Right to Food Commission Hearing at Knowsley Council. Early in the day, our partners at Public Health submitted evidence on the deleterious effects food insecurity has on the health of people in Liverpool, as well as the evidence base for policies such as universal free school meals to alleviate hunger and improve health outcomes. The Commission also heard took evidence from Feeding Liverpool trustee, Michelle O’Dwyer, on the positive effects of community cooking for health, wellbeing and community cohesion.

Feeding Liverpool gave evidence in the Work and Welfare session, alongside members of the Royal College of Nurses, Public and Commercial Services Union and Knowsley Council. Our evidence focused on how poor working conditions, low wages and an inadequate and punitive welfare system are creating food insecurity. We drew upon the evidence from our Without Access to Justice Report to show how the work conditionality attached to benefits is forcing people to accept low-wage, poor quality jobs – sustaining the conditions for those very same jobs to exist in the first place. It is a vicious cycle which is creating health issues and perpetuating food insecurity in our communities.

There are many challenges to establishing a Right to Food in law – one of which is the scope of the law to change our food systems. If a Right to Food law only addresses the minimum income people receive through work and welfare, then people will have to continue spending their money in Tesco, ASDA and other supermarket giants who created a failed system in the first place. People living in food deserts will remain cut off from access to fresh fruits and vegetables that will continue to be imported, rather than more sustainable and equitable agricultural production being supported at home.

Furthermore, just because people have a right in law, does not necessarily mean that they can benefit from it. Our Without Access to Justice Report shows how people presenting at foodbanks are regularly having to survive on incomes lower than the minimum guaranteed by law already. People are also not receiving sick pay and their full welfare entitlement – with no way of challenging their employer or the DWP for re-dress.

History has shown that the most durable human rights are realised when ordinary people stand up together; the Suffragettes led large-scale civil disobedience to obtain women’s voting rights, campaigns such as the Bristol Bus Boycott paved the way for anti-racial discrimination laws in the 1960s, and the repeal of Section 28 came after years of tireless campaigning by LGBTQ+ people.

An expansive and meaningful Right to Food requires new laws, but also a movement of good food for all. The Commission is open for individuals and groups to submit evidence up until Sunday 31st May 2026. This could be an opportunity to connect communities affected by food insecurity with local growers calling for access to land, schools campaigning for free school meals, supermarket and delivery workers organising for better pay and conditions, and land-workers fighting for sustainable livelihoods. These are the connections which can sustain a movement to enshrine the Right to Food for All.

If you are interested in hearing more about this work or the Right to Food Commission and how you can get involved, please email Samir.

Last week, Michael Fitzsimmons – Feeding Liverpool’s Food Enterprise Coordinator – attended the 2026 Oxford Real Farming Conference to find out how progressive approaches to food and farming can help shape the food system of the future and inform the work we do at Feeding Liverpool. This blog highlights Michael’s take-aways from some of the sessions he attended and his reflections on the event as a whole.

Based in Oxford Town Hall and across several satellite venues, the conference – now in its 17th year – covers a broad range of discussion, from farm practices to food policy and justice. The opening plenary was an inspiring call to action from a selection of land workers; it was put to the gathering that change is possible and that it will come from the ground up.

I first attended a talk on how ethical wholesale businesses can bridge the gap between agroecological farms and the hospitality industry – building good values into the supply chain, educating chefs on the realities of farming, facilitating routes to market for producers and embedding good business practices. This ties into the work Feeding Liverpool have been developing with Kindling Farm and offered insight and inspiration into how we can support food producers within the city region, as well as the Liverpool Food Growers Network to meaningfully engage with food retail and hospitality SMEs in the city.

Sustain‘s Local Food Lead, Rachel Jones, later facilitated a workshop discussion around implementing findings from Sustain’s Local Food Growth Plan and Bridging The Gap reports, and FoodRise and Better Food Traders‘ Purpose Over Profit report. Lucy Antal also presented on the work of FoodRise and Alchemic Kitchen; it was heartening to see attendees’ positive response to the Queen of Greens service. Participants then had a chance to reflect upon presentations from Rachel, Lucy, Better Food Traders’ Lucy Kirby-Smith and Georgia Phillips from Soil Association, which all demonstrated how increasing the visibility of and access to high quality fresh produce had been identified as an important lever from improving health outcomes in communities.

Continuing on the theme of health, I next attended a panel discussion on how increased engagement with horticulture can have beneficial health outcomes for those who struggle to access fresh, nutritious produce. Jo Poulton, Co-Lead Grower at Sim’s Hill Shared Harvest in Bristol, spoke about how they offer opportunities for their members to get involved in volunteering on the farm; this helps to give members a chance to engage with food growing – connecting them with nature and improving their wellbeing. The Mazi Project – which is also located in Bristol – works with victims of domestic abuse, asylum seekers, care leavers and youths recovering from homelessness, creating and distributing meal kits and running cookery classes. Lily Farmer from The Mazi Project believes that increasing a community’s access to local produce is a key driver in creating a more sustainable, secure and equitable food future – a belief that has been echoed in Liverpool through the creation of a wealth of community food growing projects.

In the next session, I was given an insight into how Sussex Surplus, City Harvest and the Felix Project redistribute surplus from farm produce. Attendees were told that 3.3 million tonnes of produce goes to waste on UK farms each year and that these organisationsaim to make use of the surplus to tackle food insecurity. The panel discussed the mutual benefits of working closely with farmers to not only give people the opportunity to get onto farms and learn where their food comes from, but to also provide farmers with social engagement. There was a valid question made about whether this kind of surplus redistribution lets large businesses of the hook who, it was suggested, should be facing stricter regulations to prevent this much avoidable waste being created in the first place. Charlie Neal from the Felix project spoke about how they would like to see farmers receive government payments for donating surplus to food redistribution networks. Sussex Surplus, on the other hand, run a particularly interesting and potentially duplicable model of running volunteer gleaning days for community groups and companies. Gleaning is an age-old practice in which leftover crops are salvaged from farms after commercial harvest; in modern times, a large amount of produce may be left in fields as it does not conform to the strict specifications set by supermarkets. Sussex Surplus take the produce they glean and turn it into long-life products such as soups, provide a weekly, free community meal and raise funds through event catering. This is a great example of how innovative approaches to using farm surplus can create social value for communities.

The conference was an incredible boost to morale and offered plenty of inspiration for the work we are developing at Feeding Liverpool. Despite all the difficulties facing our communities, it was heartening to see so many working on the solutions to these issues and having real, positive effects.