Stockport entered a new era on Friday 27th June with nearly eighty people joining Stockport Council, Stockport Homes and The Kindling Trust for the formal launch of a major initiative to make the borough one of Britain's first sustainable food cities.
The launch of Feeding Stockport included speaches from Councillor Martin Candler (Executive Councillor for Communities & Sustainability), Chris Walsh (Kindling Trust), Jemma Grimme (FeedingStockport Co-ordinator) and James Douglas, the Development Chef of Damson Restuarant on Why Sustainable Food Matters.
The launch at Blackshaw’s Café in the historic Stockport Marketplace coincided with the wonderful Foodie Friday in the neighbouring covered market, providing a wide variety of food, drink and entertainment
Last year Stockport became one of only six places in the UK to secure a share of £1 million in funding following a successful joint bid to the Sustainable Food Cities prorgramme. Over the next three years, this will help to co-ordinate public, private and voluntary organisations and local communities to work together to improve our food system and to use food as a catalyst to tackle social and economic challenges.
Cllr Martin Candler – Stockport's Executive Councillor for Communities & Sustainability said:
“This three-year programme neatly brings together many Council aspirations around bringing people together through the public, private, voluntary and community sectors and empowering them in engaging ways around food. The overall aim is to improve our food culture in Stockport, by helping people understand where their food comes from, support the local economy, improve health and wellbeing and reduce our environmental impact.”
At the heart of the Sustainable Food City campaign is an awareness that every link in our food chain, from our fields to our retailers to our plates, has implications for our local economy and community, has consequences for our health, wellbeing and happiness and can have impacts on our local and global environment.
In practice, efforts will include building stronger local food networks; providing support, guidance and awareness to businesses and people to assist them in making the best advantage of opportunities on offer such as local food delivery schemes, and working with public and private sector bodies on local food procurement policies. Information on these initiatives, details for how to join the networks and much more can be found on the website at www.feedingstockport.org.uk
Jemma Grime, Sustainable Food Co-ordinator for Stockport says:
“This is the start of a long journey, and we are all part of it. We have ideas and a vision for Stockport as a sustainable food city, but it is down to everyone who lives and works here to help shape the future of this borough and decide exactly how this opportunity should be used.”