New Food4Fife strategy unveils Fife Council’s five year plans

The strategy was unanimously approved at a Cabinet Committee meeting. However, Council Leader David Ross said the challenge will be finding the capacity to deliver and resource it.

The strategy aims to create a system that improves access to affordable food while addressing climate emergency concerns.

“I think I’ve been somewhat of a sceptic on this,” he said.

He explained that there are challenges and issues facing the rollout of the strategy over the next five years, but ultimately it sets down a good set of ideals for the council.

“It’s easy to get into the details, but I think it does set out a direction of travel that we should be getting behind and promoting,” said Cllr Ross.

“The capacity issue is a real one, but it’s something we should be making positive strides on.”

The strategy will ultimately aim to reduce Fife’s reliance on imported foods, enhance local food security, and encourage sustainable growing and procurement practices.

It has lofty goals of combating food poverty and mitigating the climate crisis and is built on six pillars:

• Healthy food for all
• Community food: including increased access to growing spaces, food skills and education.
• Food economy: Supporting local food producers and suppliers
• Catering and procurement: Using Fife’s public procurement for community wealth building to bring local food into public buildings including schools, hospitals and learning institutions.
• Farming, soils and climate: Growing food in Fife that is climate friendly and climate ready, reduces waste, redistributes excess and supports soil health and biodiversity.
• Partnership Working: Working together the council’s joint Food4Fife partners at NHS Fife and the wider Food4Fife Partnership – including communities, food businesses, public procurement, farmers and growers

However, putting the strategy into action will require “additional, external funding and appropriate resources” .

“The full scope of this strategy will only be possible where additional external funding is provided and considered alongside other priorities,” the committee report stated.

However, the council won’t be acting alone. The strategy is a product of collaboration and joint working between the council, NHS Fife and the wider Food4Fife Partnership – including communities, food businesses, public procurement, farmers and growers.

In order to pull off the strategy, councillors were told that “partnership working will be key.”

“Food is a crucial issue for everyone in Fife as well as globally. Partnership working is more important than ever as we seek to deliver changes to the way food is processed, distributed, purchased and how much food is wasted to help meet environmental, health and economic challenges,” said Councillor Jan Wincott, the Labour Spokesperson for Environment & Climate Change.

“The Food4Fife Partnership’s vision is to create a sustainable food culture for a healthy Fife. We are working to end and prevent food poverty by providing fair access to healthy and affordable food for all. Fife Council’s commitment to ending food poverty and addressing the climate emergency marks a significant milestone in our journey towards a sustainable and more equitable future.”