Thank you for your interest. Future Food Beacon closed in July 2023 and these pages will not be further updated. We thank all those involved in making the Beacon a success. The ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ Food Systems Institute launched in Aug 2023 please visit their webpages for more information.
ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ Good Food Partnership (NGFP) collaboration
Social eating in ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½
Photo by Marsha Smith
ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ has an expanding social eating movement, with community groups putting on events all around the city. Social eating can be described as group, public mealtimes where a variety of people meet to enjoy an affordable, freshly-cooked meal that is made from supermarket food surpluses. Social eating is beneficial to health, wellbeing and community cohesion because it:
- Supports the development of food socialisation and food literacy;
- extends food choice, accessibility and availability;
- facilitates new ‘performances of care’ and social bonding beyond traditional familial relations.
Social eating also has a number of environmental benefits:
- it can ensure that edible food does not enter landfill unnecessarily;
- it promotes carbon-neutral food practices through larger-scale, one-pot cooking, thereby conserving fuel, water and food resources.
The Future Food Beacon obtained a UKRI Research England QR impact fund grant and used it to fund ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ Good Food Partnership (NGFP) to explore how social eating might align with ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ City Council’s (NCC) (CN2028).
The Future Food Beacon supports the Social Eating City concept. If adopted as part of the food-strand of the CN2028 plan, it could:
- contribute to improvements in local health;
- widen access to low-carbon, affordable and nutritious food;
- support local biodiversity;
- maintain and expand green and growing spaces;
- and create pride in a vibrant local city food culture.
The research adviser to the project, Marsha Smith, now sits on the CN 2028 Consumption committee, where she continues to promote social eating.