We are very excited to be working on refining Manchester's school meals to make them more sustainable, a piece of work which has huge potential. It has been made possible because of the partnership between Kindling, Food Futures, Manchester Fayre and Climate Friendly Food.
Latest news
Friday the 8th April (2011) saw the finalisation of plans for the Carbon Saving Society (CSS), an organisation that seeks to attract investment in low carbon technologies in Manchester. The CSS forms an essential part of the finance model for the Carbon Coop, which aims to make it financially viable to retrofit buildings to achieve an 80% reduction in carbon emissions.
We have very recently completed our report: Sustainable Fayre, for Manchester City Council, which extensively explores ways for Manchester Fayre (the Council's in-house caterer responsible for school meals etc.) to lower the carbon impact of its food purchases and increase the uptake of sustainable food in the city, actively contributing to Manchester's Climate Change Action Plan.
In March, the Forgotten Fields project worked with a present day, small scale market garden - Glebelands City Growers in Sale - to find about the wealth of growers that existed in the area before supermarket culture took over.
On Monday 11th April Helen and Chloe visited Dunham Massey to meet with one of our organic growers, Chris Hewitt (pictured). Having discussed the Land Army project at FeedingManchester #6, the first stage of the project is now under-way, with 3 of our local growers having been interviewed and another two interviews to take place this week. The grower consultation will be the foundation for designing the Land Army pilot(s).
February saw the time of year for Peace Brigades International Guatemala training again, only this time Kindling's logistics role was very different from normal. The co-ordinator of the training team brought her 6 month old son Eduardo with her from Guatemala, so alongside logistical support Helen was the childcare for the 10 days.
We were chuffed to hear we have been awarded a Gold standard as part of a sustainability audit carried out by Sustaining Change – a project of Environmental Charity: MERCi.
Our Helen has been to London for a meeting with Defra officials on food policy and community food enterprises. Defra (Department of Environment, Food & Rural Affairs) is refreshing the previous Government's Food 2030 report. A mix of organisations with a strong track record of supporting community action on food and inspiring examples of on-the-ground activity from across the UK, were invited by Peter Couchman of The Plunkett Foundation, to put forward their ideas and opinions.
The University of Manchester & the Kindling Trust have been working to bring one of the City's largest food purchasers and some of the region’s greenest farmers together to increase sustainable food for the city.
We've just had our second visit from MERCi's Sustaining Change team as part of our ongoing commitment to minimise our environmental impact and increase the sustainability of Kindling.
Last year we began the audit process looking at our activities in eight areas: Food and Drink; Purchasing and Procurement; Energy and Water; Travel; Buildings and Local Neighbourhood; Inclusion and Participation; Partnership and Promotion; and Waste.