A food system needs assessment for Forth Valley

BiGGAR Economics worked with Forth Environment Link to seek sustainable and dignified solutions to food insecurity in Forth Valley. The project was commissioned by NHS Forth Valley.

Background

The study was intended to broaden the understanding of local food culture, mapping existing activity against the six Sustainable Food Places themes. It describes different perspectives of need relating to food security and makes recommendations about future approaches to addressing food insecurity. There were three aims:

  • Broaden current understanding of local context and food culture, including mapping of provision against Sustainable Food Places themes;
  • Explore perspectives of need in relation to food security and facilitate participation and representation of partners; and
  • Make recommendations to support a more sustainable and collective approach to addressing food insecurity in Forth Valley.

Key Findings

Poverty is an underpinning theme raised by people in the emergency food system, including those using services, volunteers and workers in the voluntary and public sector.

Community and place are of fundamental importance. This study has highlighted the advantages of place-based, community led support. A sense of place, history and local culture is crucial to the successful delivery of services that address the dignity of those using them.

Access to food is a consistent challenge right across Forth Valley.

The intersection between mental ill-health and food insecurity is circuitous. Organisations operating at the ‘coal face’ of food insecurity are consistently challenged by the mental health crises faced by people needing their services.

There are issues around knowledge and skills. These include skills and confidence in food growing. There is demand for lessons and courses involving cooking, this is to expand people’s repertoire, for social connections and access to well-equipped facilities, rather than for basic cooking skills.

Larger organisations noted the lack of operational and strategic co-ordination in the system as a challenge, and organisations of all types and sizes raised the need for a system to allow collaboration.

There are seven interlinked recommendations:

  1. The issues, challenges and needs identified through this study are addressed by a whole system collaborative effort. Sustainable Food Places should be used as the basis for developing a strategic approach to food security across Forth Valley;
  2. Each local authority in Forth Valley continues to work towards its own strategic approach to food security and feed into the Forth Valley plan;
  3. Sustainable Food Places is embedded within the Community Planning Partnerships, where joint action among anchor organisations can be coordinated
  4. Co-ordination and action planning should be resourced at a Forth Valley level under a Sustainable Food Places umbrella. It needs to be resourced with an overarching central co-ordinated funding mechanism and a team, for a minimum of three years.
  5. Resourcing voluntary and community sector organisations working on food security should be a priority.
  6. Stakeholders should build on the momentum created over the COVID emergency. Regular meeting and networking on this agenda by Councils and Forth Valley wide anchor organisations should progress the agenda. These meetings need to be coordinated, focussed on developing support, change and impact, for all partners.
  7. Enhance the understanding of needs for people experiencing food insecurity and those supporting them, to help develop better solutions and to be able to tell their stories so that we can engage decision makers and drive change. 

Food Organisation Map

As part of this study, we mapped the provision of services that are currently supporting food security in the area.

Further Reading

The full report and outline presentation can be found at the links below:

Posted 19.10.21

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