Food Cardiff: Good Food Governance and Strategy
Food Cardiff: taking a strategic and collaborative approach to good food governance and action.
Transforming a place’s food culture and system requires a joined-up strategic approach and long-term collaboration between individuals and organisations across all sectors and levels — from community groups and third-sector organisations to businesses and public bodies.
Since its establishment over a decade ago, Food Cardiff, the city’s food partnership, has consistently worked in collaboration with a diverse range of stakeholders and its recent Sustainable Food Places Gold Award is a testament to the partnership’s success in bringing together sectors to drive meaningful and strategic change in the capital’s food system.
Coordinated by Pearl Costello, Food Cardiff, operates through coordination, strategy, and operation, overseen by the Strategy Board. This Board is composed of core members from organisations such as Cardiff Council and the Cardiff and Vale University Health Board, as well as representatives from third sector organisations and professionals and citizens who are part of the local sustainable food movement.
The wider partnership is made up of over 250 members which includes businesses, community organisations and individuals. Together, they their collective efforts are aligned with the Good Food Strategy, which was collaboratively developed to guide the city’s long-term food sustainability and access goals.
Food Cardiff also coordinates subgroups such as the Cardiff Community Food Collective which is made up of almost 30 local community food projects. Cardiff Community Food Collective presents a collective voice for change to tackle the root causes of food poverty; and works collectively to deliver projects, for example on securing resilient sources of food supplies.
“My role is really making sure all the different links of the partnership work together,” explains Pearl. “And the idea is that through those different layers, from the coordination to the strategic to the operational, we create the city-wide good food movement reaching hundreds of thousands of people.”
Mission & Strategy
At the heart of Food Cardiff’s success is its clear strategy that’s been shaped by Cardiff’s residents, aiming to meet the needs of the diverse communities that make up the city. The partnership has developed a Good Food Strategy – a roadmap for transforming the city’s food systems through collaboration, inclusivity, and sustainability – as well as the five Good Food Goals that are key to delivering change.
“The work of the Strategy Board and the wider food Cardiff partnership is really shaped by our good food strategy, which was developed in collaboration with citizens and organizations from across Cardiff,” explains Pearl.
“If there wasn’t a food partnership in Cardiff, I know that there’d be lots of amazing work happening from lots of different people and organizations, because there’s so much energy and enthusiasm for making good food accessible in the city. Without the strategy and that vision, we would probably see more duplication, we wouldn’t see as big an impact of people working together and creating things that are more than the sum of its parts.”
Strategic Collaboration Across Sectors
Collaboration is the cornerstone of the Food Cardiff model.
“There are so many different projects and different groups across the city doing amazing things, but you need a way to bring all those voices and projects together so that people aren’t working in silos,” says Jane Cook, a freelance PR and social media consultant and a member of the Strategy Board.
Jane has lived in Cardiff all her life and feels strongly about being part of a movement that is making tangible improvements to the city’s food system. As someone deeply invested in sustainability and urban environments, she finds it rewarding to work strategically within the partnership to amplify the positive change happening in Cardiff.
“Being part of that strategy board and being part of Food Cardiff in general, means that you can start to pull together all those threads and make sure that everybody’s singing from the same hymn sheet, or being able to help each other, widen that network and really increase the impact of what everybody’s doing,” continues Jane.
“For me, it just means being able to get involved with things that I’m interested in and that I care about, and feel like that I’m part of a movement. I really enjoy the fact that I’m in a capital city, but I’m connected to all of this information, these projects around food and farming. It feels like a privilege to be part of.”
Camilla Lovelace, another key member of the Strategy Board, stresses the need for a holistic approach to ensure that people across the city have access to healthy, nutritious and sustainably produced food.
“If we’re going to have a big impact on food – the food that people eat – we need to think strategically. We need to join up all the dots,” says Camilla.
“I think it’s really important that we have the NHS on the board, we have community groups, we have the private sector, we have the public sector, we have the local authorities. And it takes the synergy from everybody working together to actually produce the changes that we need to see.”
The recognition of Cardiff as a Gold award-winning Sustainable Food Place, underpins the effectiveness of this strategic, city-wide approach and Camilla is excited to see what happens next across Cardiff.
“I think there’s always room for improvement. There’s always room for more collaboration. There’s always room for new projects, and there’s always room to expand existing projects. And I feel positive about the future of food Cardiff and food in Cardiff reaching the people that it needs to reach.”
Dietetic Expertise in Action
A unique strength of Food Cardiff is the integration of nutrition and dietetic expertise into its operations. Emma Holmes, the Head of Nutrition and Dietetic Services at Cardiff and Vale University Health Board, has been involved with Food Cardiff since its inception and emphasises the critical role that dietitians play in making the principles of good food a reality for all residents in Cardiff.
By working within the strategic framework set by Food Cardiff, dietitians ensure that their expertise is accessible to everyone, enabling the partnership to make a meaningful difference.
“From my point of view, I think it’s really important the dietitians are involved…because we bring that dietetic knowledge and expertise, but translate it into real, everyday messages that we can include within the Food Cardiff strategy” says Emma.
Through initiatives like Nutrition Skills for Life and Food and Fun, Emma and her colleagues ensure that residents can access evidence-based advice and practical tips on making healthier food choices.
“We have nutrition education programmes of work and we can ensure that local communities can access. But also, it’s about how we work with individuals, with public and third sector organisations to make sure that those messages that we’re giving are real evidence based clear, simple and straightforward for people to understand.”
Emma goes on to highlight the fact that collaboration is key. “Food is everybody’s business, and no one organisation or group can do it on their own. There are too many facets to it, so we have to come together to enable that to happen.”
The Food Strategy in action
One of Food Cardiff’s current flagship projects is the Planet Card, an initiative, which aims to make healthy, planet-friendly fruit and veg more accessible and affordable for everyone. Planet Card is a pilot project, co-produced by citizens and farmers and now being led by a team involving Cardiff Farmers Markets, Cardiff University and Food Cardiff.
The Planet Card offers discounts on organic produce at Cardiff Farmers Markets and is designed to address the issue of food insecurity and to improve access to healthy, sustainable food options for people experiencing low-income.
“The Planet Card is just one example of how, through strategic collaboration, we can bring organic food to more people. The initiative would not have been possible without the input and support of our diverse partners,” says Pearl.
In addition to the Planet Card, Food Cardiff continues to explore new projects, renew existing partnerships, and expand its impact. Membership on the Strategy Board is renewed annually, allowing for fresh ideas and perspectives to guide the partnership’s work.
The Future
Even though Cardiff is now a Gold Sustainable Food Place, Food Cardiff is committed to deepening collaboration across sectors, expanding successful initiatives, and exploring new opportunities for positive change. With its strong foundation and growing momentum, Food Cardiff is well-positioned to continue transforming the city’s food systems and ensuring that good food becomes a reality for all Cardiff residents.
Watch the video that accompanies this case study below.