Towards a Resilient Food Plan for Bristol

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* Report: Who feeds Bristol?. Towards a resilient food plan. Research report written by Joy Carey. Bristol Cith Council et al. March 2011

URL = https://www.bristol.gov.uk/documents/20182/32619/Who-feeds-Bristol-report.pdf

A baseline study of the food system that serves Bristol and the Bristol city region

Description

"The report is primarily a descriptive analysis of the food system serving Bristol. In addition, the report gives some global context, and in later chapters there is a discussion of resilience in relation to inputs, outputs and threats. It includes an analysis of the positive powers that Cities have in shaping their food system, and it makes suggestions for action.

Much of the information used in this report came from national, regional and local data designed for purposes other than for understanding food supplies. It included marketing information, regulatory information on food standards and food businesses, and data held by Defra. Some information was from surveys and interviews conducted exclusively for this report.

The lack of specific information about food supplies inevitably means that some conclusions were derived as best estimates drawing on data from a number of different sources. Explanations of sources, the basis of essential assumptions, and of the limitations of the data are contained throughout the report, and in the appendices.

Bristol’s food system is inextricably linked, now and in the future, with that of the wider region and the rest of the nation. This report looks at the national picture, the South West region and in detail at the area known as the West of England, comprising the four Local Authorities of Bath & North East Somerset, Bristol, North Somerset, and South Gloucestershire. In food planning terms this can be described as a ‘city bioregion’.

The report confined its analysis to staple food items namely meat, dairy, eggs, fruit, vegetables, cereals, grains and bread. The report did not look at luxury items (confectionary and chocolate), or alcohol, and nor did it look at fish."

Excerpts

From the foreword, by Dr Hugh Annett, Bristol Director of Public Health:

"Bristol is regaining its awareness of food – for the health of our local economy, for the health of our people, and for the health of the ecosystems upon which our future food production will depend.

We read dire predictions of potential global food shortages, and conflicting reports as to whether these problems are real or imagined, and whether the solution lies with more biotechnology or with less. Yet we cannot begin to assess whether our own food system is healthy and robust unless we know more about it.

The task of tracking down and making sense of what information is available has not been easy. We are indebted to Joy Carey, who in a short time and with a very modest amount of funding, has pulled together information from numerous sources and pieced it all together into this important research report.

At the same time, work has been progressing behind the scenes to establish Bristol’s new Food Policy Council. This will be a small group of committed individuals with expertise and local experience relating to food production, preparation, distribution and retail.

Under the chairmanship of Professor Kevin Morgan from Cardiff University, the Food Policy Council will drive forward the changes needed to make Bristol a city where eating and celebrating good food becomes something that everyone is proud to be part of.

We already know this is what people in Bristol want. In a survey conducted in late 2010, our own Citizen’s Panel tells us that the majority of ordinary people in Bristol care about the quality and the ingredients in the food they eat, and a very significant proportion are concerned about production methods, local farming, and animal welfare. Over a third of respondents said they are involved in food growing in gardens or allotments, and half had switched to healthier ways of eating in the previous year.

The Bristol city region has not yet lost its diversity of independent local producers, wholesalers, processors, caterers and shopkeepers. With the right mechanisms and with the growing public interest in the future of food, we can start to rebuild a food culture for Bristol that has the health of people and planet at its heart."