Creating a vibrant, prosperous and diverse sustainable food economy is at the heart of the Good Food Plan.
Organisations who are funded through Feeding Liverpool’s Household Support Fund are encouraged to use this funding to support the work of the Good Food Plan through following the three Good Food Procurement principles:
- Buy local and independent: This means supporting ‘short supply chains’ – which both reduce the carbon footprint of products and ensure this funding supports the local economy.
- Support organisations that enable fair employment: Purchase from suppliers who pay their workers at least the Real Living Wage. To find out more visit: www.livingwage.org.uk. A list of accredited Real Living Wage suppliers can be found at www.livingwage.org.uk/accredited-living-wage-employers although this does not constitute a complete list of suppliers who pay the Real Living Wage.
- Encourage good health and wellbeing: Prioritise purchasing food which encourages good health and wellbeing, supporting people to eat a healthy, balanced diet. For more information visit www.nhs.uk/live-well/eat-well/food-guidelines-and-food-labels/the-eatwell-guide/
Looking for inspiration?
Food Active have produced guidance for organisations providing emergency food parcels which focuses on how to improve the nutritional content of food items typically found within 3-day Food parcels that are distributed via local foodbank networks: read Food Active’s guidance here.
Organisations supported during our last round of funding shared how they put the Good Food procurement principles into action:
“We used local food providers wherever possible, such as Liverpool Produce for fruit and vegetables, Harrisons Diary for milk, cheese and eggs and ADM for extra meat.” Kensington Fields Community Association
“All our food supplies were purchased from local and independent suppliers. Before selection, we introduced ourselves and provided some information about Feeding Liverpool to each potential supplier. Each store manager was asked if their employer paid their workers the Real Living Wage. Two suppliers initially selected were unable to confirm, so we proceeded to purchase only from those suppliers who were actually able to confirm that they paid the Real Living Wage.” PAL Multi-cultural Centre
“Fresh vegetables and fruit were sourced from “Queen of Greens” (local, mobile greengrocer) to ensure as long as possible shelf life for the sourced produce.” Riverside Learning and Education Centre
“We used our local, family-run butchers.” Our House Walton Community Hub