Support, Policy, Strategy

The City Council adopted a Sustainable Food Policy in 2018, which formally recognises CSF as lead partner in the city. Sustainable food is one of six key objectives in the new 2021- 2026 Climate Change Strategy; it is included in the Anti-Poverty Strategy and in the recent Sustainable Design and Construction Supplementary Planning Document. The Council has also officially endorsed the Food Poverty Action Plan and created the post of Lead Councillor for Sustainable Food, who sits on the Cambridge Sustainable Food Partnership board. The council supports Cambridge Sustainable Food with funding for food poverty, community outreach and business work, as well as allocating funding for a surplus food redistribution hub and community kitchen. Cambridge University and Colleges Catering Managers' Committee Sustainable Food Policies here and here support Cambridge becoming a Sustainable Food City. South Cambridgeshire District Council is funding Cambridge Sustainable Food to deliver Food for Our Future, a climate change campaign.

The Wider context

Natural Cambridgeshire is establishing a sub-group on sustainable food. Cambridge Sustainable Food was a founding member of a campaign group, Cambridge 2030, formed in 2020 to address inequality and improve progress towards the UN Sustainable Development Goals – a member of Cambridge Sustainable Food Partnership Board is on their advisory board. Cambridge Sustainable Food’s CEO is part of the City Reference Group for the Covid-19 response, as well as the Climate Leaders group hosted by the City Council, and on the Cambridge Doughnut Economics Group which is being promoted by Cambridge City Council. 

Manifesto

Our Manifesto supports the Action Plan and asks people, businesses and organisations to join the Food for Change movement and contribute ideas to the new Action Plan, as well as pledging to take personal action. There is a pledge-award scheme for food businesses, backed up by detailed business support pages. Cambridge Carbon Footprint (represented on the CSF Partnership Board) has recently developed a Carbon Footprint calculator (for individuals) and a Climate Change Charter (commissioned by Cambridge City Council) – Cambridge Sustainable Food had input into these and provided the background support information for the food section of the charter, which links to Cambridge Sustainable Food’s website. The Charter has one pathway for “individuals and households” and another for “businesses and organisations” and is being widely promoted by the City Council.

Partnership Board members are involved in delivery of partnership projects and campaigns as well as giving strategic direction and oversight. They are also at the forefront of developing new and innovative food initiatives, such as Cambridge Food Hub and CoFarm Cambridge, projects, such as Healthy Start Veg Box scheme involving Cambridge Organic, Vegetable Festival (with 46 partner organisations) and Sugar Smart (which had a multi-agency steering group, including public health representatives).

Inspire and engage the public about good food

Prior to the establishment of the Cambridge Sustainable Food partnership there was little focus or promotion of sustainable food in the city. Cambridge Sustainable Food has worked hard to build a solid foundation for an overarching umbrella campaign - our Good Food Movement through it’s campaigns, communications and website. During winter 2019 CSF relaunched its Food for Change Manifesto at a Grafton Centre event, starting a conversation about sustainable food in Cambridge, with visitors asked “What fires you up about food?” and invited to sign the sustainable food pledge.  This campaign will be further developed in 2021 post-Covid. 

Cambridge aims to involve people from all social and cultural backgrounds in food activities. Cambridge Ethnic Community Forum sits on the Cambridge Sustainable Food Partnership Board and Food Poverty Alliance steering group.

Time Credits are used in Cambridgeshire by many organisations, including CSF, to encourage volunteering.

Media

CSF has a strong social media presence and regular coverage in wider media and regularly hold public talks and presentations e.g. workshop and talk on food waste. In April 2021 Cambridge Sustainable Food had:

• 2,260 Facebook followers

• 2,903 Twitter

• 1,771 Instagram

• 897 bimonthly newsletter subscribers

Sugar Smart 

Launched in partnership with Cambridge United Charitable Trust with 3000+ people in attendance. A campaign with with Cambridge University Hospital with videos, quizzes and a stall. 10 young people got involved and made a video for the campaign and in total 22 people took up a Sugar Smart challenge.

Waste Less Save More

This Waste Less Save More campaign was carried out over 5 different projects, to raise awareness of reducing food waste. During the Cambridge Pumpkin Fest 2018, 17 events were held over 10 days with over 3000 people participating. A zero waste kitchen challenge was ran involving 8 cookery workshops with 20 households completing the challenge. In addition a Feed the 1000 event using surplus food was held alongside Food Saver Champions stalls held at events and fairs.

Veg Cities

A week long Cambridge Veg Fest 2019 was ran involving 41 partners to deliver 16 events, 7 stalls, 4 cookery demos, 3388 people participate. Cambridge had 10 Big Dig participating groups, and diverse cuisines were represented at Veg Fest town meal. Local restaurant group Cambs Cuisine promoted the ‘Kids Veg Out’ campaign. Field to fork to face! event was run with special veg dishes and menus from eight local food businesses, totalling over 1,963 covers.

Click on the images below to learn more about our campaigns.

Demonstrations, Workshops, Films, Stalls

Cambridge Sustainable Food regularly holds demonstrations, workshops, films and stalls to raise awareness of sustainable food in Cambridge.

• Talks and demonstrations such as celebrity chef Ready Steady Cook (pg17) and regularly held community meals.

• In 2018 a Sustainable Film Festival, Films for Our Future, was organised by a multi-agency steering group (including Cambridge Sustainable Food), and a film screening of ‘Just EAT It’ was shown to kickstart the Food For our Future.

• Cambridge Sustainable Food runs cooking workshops for children, such as Thyme to Cook and 30-40 City Council-funded free cookery sessions (pg 8/9).

• The annual Eat Cambridge Festival promotes local food to thousands via Food Fair and fringe events, where Cambridge Sustainable Food hosts a stall.

Food Growing

Cambridge has a thriving community growing culture in the city. Some examples include:

• Cambridge University Botanic Garden runs Community Growing Group (12 community gardens)

• Transition Cambridge runs food growing projects, Facebook and has a newsletter. 

• CoFarm, Cambridge city's new community farm, encourages local volunteers to co-create the farm under expert guidance.

Cambridge has strong communal food growing traditions, fostered by Transition Cambridge, which initiated many still-active projects. The lead is now Cambridge Community Growing Group, with 12 core members (including Cropshare, Growing Spaces, Empty Common Community Garden) and another 7 on its community garden map. It runs events, free training sessions, identifies funding opportunities, encourages volunteering, promoting members’ activities through social media. Transition Cambridge website includes “what can I do?”, such as where to source seeds/compost. Transition runs free “Grow Your Own” sessions at Trumpington Allotments. Seedy Sunday is Cambridge’s major annual event for food-growing activists, attracting hundreds of visitors. 

CoFarm, Cambridge’s first community farm (7 acres, started growing in 2020), runs volunteer training days, working with local volunteers for its 2-acre organic market garden. 

Over 3 years, Cambridge Food Poverty Alliance has:

• Produced a report on food poverty in Cambridge 

• Organised Cambridge’s first food poverty conference with 70 attendees

• Co-created Cambridge Food Poverty Action Plan (endorsed by City Council) through consultation workshops, interviews and questionnaires

• Led Cambridge’s Coronavirus Emergency Food Response (see report)

• Constantly updated signposting to emergency services

• Created 9 community food hubs in low-income areas, with central supply of surplus/fresh donated food.

Between March 2020 to April 2021 

• 4518 holiday lunches to 308 families, including 785 children 

• Distributed 266 tonnes of food, over 37 tonnes of which was surplus food 

• There were 36,636 visits to the Food Hubs with 2390 deliveries made to households by the hubs 

• CoFarm donated 2.3 tonnes of locally grown fresh produce 

• 8251 community meals prepared, of which 4611 were delivered to households and 3640 sent to the Food Hubs. 

High-quality social food provision in Cambridge

• Holiday hunger programme is run by a steering group of voluntary sector organisations, including Cambridge Sustainable Food and the City Council 

• Council-funded cookery workshops programme for low-income families (recipe booklet created by Cambridge Sustainable Food)

• 4 City-Council funded community fridges (transitioned into community food hubs for COVID-19)

• Fairbite Food Club 100-member social supermarket 

• Free/ low-cost community meals (FoodCycle, lunch clubs for older people, churches) – see community food map

• Meals-on-wheels service

• Karim Foundation and Cambridge Ethnic Community Forum ensure that culturally appropriate food is available 

• Cambridge Sustainable Food CIC runs campaigns to increase Healthy Start voucher uptake (5% increase in uptake in CB4) including the creation of Healthy Start Veg Box Scheme.

Cambridge United Community Trust 

• CUCT runs community fitness groups including: healthy stadium tours (and healthy eating talk) and Man v Fat football 

• They also run free, socially-distanced, multi-sports sessions in low-income areas throughout summer holidays with free lunches.

Breastfeeding

There are a range of initiatives supporting breastfeeding:

• Cambridge Breastfeeding Alliance provides resources and a Facebook group

• Rosie Maternity Hospital provides specialist advice and resources

• La Leche league Cambridge provide online breastfeeding support via Zoom/Facebook

• Ely Milks provide online breastfeeding support

• Cottenham Breastfeeding Cafe provides a drop-in session

• Haverhill Breastfeeding Friend provides peer-to-peer support.

Campaigns

Cambridge Sustainable Food runs regularly healthy eating/drinking campaigns, such as:

• Sugar Smart, Veg Cities: both reaching 3,000+ people

• World War 2 Rationing Challenge (pg 13) with events including a dietician talking about health improvements during rationing

• Cambridge City Council promotes a Refill scheme with 110 refill points and is installing 10 new drinking fountains in the city. 

Cookery Workshops

Free cookery classes are run across the city:

• Cambridge Sustainable Food ran 16 sessions 2019/20, plus sessions at holiday hunger programme

• Red Hen developed online courses, holding 2 lots of 6 week budget course 2019/20

• Let's Cook Project delivers sessions at Romsey Mill, online content/cookery sessions for Abbey People.

Healthy Start

We have an ongoing campaign to increase uptake of Healthy Start vouchers, including:

• Stalls/materials promoting vouchers

• Cookery sessions based on fruit and veg

• Cambridge Food Poverty Alliance/Cambridge Sustainable Food CIC partnered with a local box scheme to deliver weekly veg boxes plus healthy recipes, 12 targeted families in return for Healthy Start voucher + £2.

Food For Life

There are 25 nurseries/schools/colleges catered by Food For Life Served Here (FFL) contractors/hold an award themselves (9 Gold Served Here, 15 Bronze Served Here, 2 Early Years). A Food For Life representative sits on the Cambridge Sustainable Food Procurement Group.

Development strategies

City Council is supporting Cambridge Food Hub as anchor sustainable food business with meanwhile lease (15 years) in Cambridge North development, with larger plans for sustainable food quarter. This includes 20,000sqft affordable workspace for local start-ups focused on sustainable food and fighting climate emergency, incubator kitchens, food growing, café and potentially Cambridge Sustainable Food’s community kitchen and food redistribution hub. 

Cambridge Market, foodPark and Food Social are thriving food zones, supporting sustainable food SMEs through flexible and affordable leasing options. Tourist Information and Cambridge Food Tours focus strongly on food independents. Doughnut Economics (including food) under development with City Council support.

Sustainable food infrastructure 

Cambridge Market is at the heart of the city's sustainable food culture, with stalls trading in the Market Square since the middle ages. Fresh, local produce is available every day, with the Sunday Market featuring many local and organic food traders. It won the NABMA award in 2017. The council allows award-winning pasture-fed CamCattle to graze city commons. CoFarm rents unused urban farmland from the church, receiving in-kind help from Council rangers plus grants to grow for Community Food Hubs. 

Cambridge Food Hub created infrastructure facilitating direct trade between local food producers/processors and buyers, such as independent shops and restaurants, and the University colleges. Goods are traded on Open Food Network with the Food Hub providing logistical services (including electric van delivery). It is a value-based system with supply chains coordinated to eliminate waste and enable equitable food distribution, through schemes such as Healthy Start Veg Box. ClickitLocal/Mecommi also use zero-emission delivery service for local producers. 

Promoting good food businesses and local spending 

Thousands attend EAT Cambridge's annual two-week festival, celebrating 50+ independent, local food and drink producers with stalls at main events, talks and demonstrations in Corn Exchange and a wide range of fringe events, including talks and stalls on food sustainability.  

Businesses participating in Cambridge Sustainable Food’s campaigns, such as Veg Cities (36 businesses) and Taste Not Waste (15 businesses) are promoted through press, radio and social media. There was promotion of 33 local food businesses assessed for Cambridge Sustainable Food's Award Scheme, with 28 award-holders (7 gold, 16 silver, 5 bronze). Winners received a certificate, window sticker and email logo, with the scheme featured in local media. There are 59 subscribers on a business newsletter mailing list, functioning as a peer-learning network, offering training, events and a platform to share good practice. 

Award-winning Cambridge Food Tour promotes local food businesses to hundreds of tourists. Cambridge Sustainable Food developed an online sustainable food tour (12 businesses, including market, which saw 250 visits). Cambridge BID promotes local food businesses and runs Love Cambridge Restaurant Week featuring 40 independents. Cambridge BID offers a Love Cambridge gift card, which can be used in participating food businesses. Indie Cambridge promotes local independents through regular magazines and online, including 109 local food businesses.

Box schemes: Cambridge Organic sources vegetables and fruit from 12 local growers and a larger number of local food producers/processors, doubling weekly box deliveries during Coronavirus. Cambridge Fruit Company delivers fruit, veg and other local produce e.g. meat and bread. Waterland Organics CSA has its own veg box scheme and CSA scheme with Cambridge Cropshare volunteers. Flourish Produce (Cambridgeshire farm using regenerative agriculture) delivers veg boxes to Cambridge.

Markets: Cambridge market is open every day with local veg stalls. Sunday farmers’ market has several local fruit and veg stalls, eggs, meat and bread. Traders also sell online via clickitlocal and/or mecommi. City Council promotes markets, stallholders and those offering delivery. Cambridge Sustainable Food usually holds annual pop-up farmers’ markets showcasing local producers as part of campaigns (e.g. Pumpkin Festival and Veg Fest). For press coverage of the Pumpkin Festival, see here.

Direct selling: Hodmedod’s (East Anglian company) sells British beans and pulses via mail order and stocked by Cambridge shops (Arjuna) and box schemes (Cambridge Organic); Prospects Trust, Darwin Nurseries (therapeutic community farms) and Radmore Farm Shop sell their own produce direct to the public. Radmore and Cambridge Organic also sell other local food (including home deliveries). foodPark’s 12 food trucks travel to four outdoor venues weekly across Cambridge, promoted on social media, and can draw hundreds each day. 

Council Policy

The City Council’s Sustainable Food Policy and newly agreed Climate Change Strategy commits to incorporating sustainable food principles in catering contracts and food procurement, including public events. Folk Festival (14,000 visitors annually), specifies sustainable food (Fairtrade, organic where possible, Red Tractor minimum, some traders vegan) and packaging (no plastic bottles, compostable serving trays and reusable cups) in trader terms and conditions. The encourage implementation through advice and green deposit scheme, the donation of surplus food, and an ‘outstanding A Greener Festival’ award (including procurement). Similar approach has been used for other events. The council is in process of installing 10 new drinking fountains in the city, switched to reusable cups from indoor water dispensers and promotes Refill scheme (110 refill points).

Wider food policies and accreditations 

Cambridge University has had a comprehensive sustainable food policy since 2016 including no ruminant meat, reducing meat and dairy, and promoting plant-based options. The University Sustainability Department, which includes sustainable food, latest reviewed policy states that land use footprint has reduced 25%, and their carbon footprint has reduced3 4%, while still increasing profits. Colleges’ Catering Managers’ Committee (CMC), represented on Cambridge Sustainable Food’s Partnership Board, has an agreed Sustainable Food Policy (2018). 12 colleges have sustainable food policy statements. Colleges serve 100 million meals plus per year to students, tourists and conference delegates. University Sustainability Department links to colleges’ food actions.

Chair of College Catering Managing Committee (represented on the Cambridge Sustainable Food Partnership Board) collects data on colleges and university: 

• 9 Colleges and University Catering Service Good Egg Award

• University Catering Service and Anglia Ruskin University and 3 colleges have Fairtrade status, 8 others sell products/follow principles 

• 4 colleges have a Sustainable Restaurant Association award (3-star (1), 2-star (2), 1-star (1)) 

• Anglia Ruskin University, University Catering Service and 6 other colleges use MSC fish; and 22 have signed the Sustainable Fish Cities pledge (following Cambridge Sustainable Food’s campaign, Cambridge received one Sustainable Food Places star)

• 19 colleges have won Green Impact Scheme awards (including food), run by University Sustainability Department: 5 platinum, 11 gold, 2 silver, 1 bronze

• 19 colleges have a “no single-use plastic bottles” policy, using water fountains and selling Keep Cups, serving tap water in reusable glass bottles at formals.

25 nurseries, schools, and colleges, teaching over 9,000 children, are catered by a Food For Life Served Here contractor and hold award Food For Life awards themselves (9 Gold, 15 Bronze, 2 Early Years). Lunchtime Company caters to 9 schools (Bronze FFL, Good Egg Award, MSC fish). Aspens Services caters to 4 schools and colleges, (Gold FFL, Good Egg Award). Sodexo has a Bronze Food For Life award (Nuffield Hospital and Astrazeneca). Bradfield Centre catered by CH & Co (Food For Life Silver Award, 3-star SRA, use cage-free eggs, higher-welfare meat, and has responsible seafood policies).  

Moller Institute serves 25,000 per year and has a purchasing policy, using MSC fish, free-range eggs and chicken, Fairtrade products, ISO 14001, Gold Green Tourism Award (both include food). Wilson Vale caters to Microsoft Research canteen and Clare Hall (with a MSC fish, European Chicken Commitment). 16 Cambridge venues are Sustainable Restaurant Association members.

Cambridge Sustainable Food’s Business Award Scheme (33 assessed, 28 award-holders (7 gold, 16 silver, 5 bronze)) includes points for sustainable sourcing policy, seasonal menus and stock, higher welfare meat, eggs and dairy, organic produce, MSC fish, Fairtrade products, and links to the Healthier Options scheme membership and providing healthy products. Cambridge Sustainable Food offers online guidance materials and sustainable food policy templates for businesses and organisations. Developed policies and self-assessment toolkit are available for EIT Food MAKEit programme members and caterers across Europe, led by Cambridge University.

Cambridge University/ Colleges

Cambridge University and many associated Colleges have sustainable food policies and successfully reduced meat consumption. Research conducted found a CO2 reduction of 34% per kg of food purchased due to policy changes by Cambridge University (79,863kg purchased 2018). Most of Cambridge University's rural estate and farm is managed under Higher Level Stewardship agreement with Natural England. Cambridge University worked with #NoBeef to develop a 'change pack' for organisations and educational settings showing that removing beef/lamb isn’t only environmentally better, but also healthier and more profitable.

Cambridgeshire

Fens Biosphere creation programme includes protection of Grade 1 and 2 land. Natural Cambridgeshire (sustainable food sub-group) promotes initiatives that foster stewardship and good farming practice. Countryside Restoration Trust purchases farmland and woodland where traditional farming methods, wildlife habitat and biodiversity are threatened. For example Lark Rise Farm in Cambridgeshire. 

Cambridgeshire County Council is working with county farm tenants to introduce carbon assessments and to promote nature and soil friendly techniques, and is actively seeking opportunities for peri-urban agriculture on county land.

Peterborough Environment City Trust ran Business Energy Efficiency Cambridge and Peterborough programme to improve energy efficiency in 270 small businesses (including food) through grants and support to end March 2020. 

Redistribution Centre, Food Hubs

The City Council has committed to funding Cambridge Sustainable Food and the Food Poverty Alliance to set up a surplus redistribution centre and kitchen. At present they are supporting a temporary community centre site. In 2020/21 the hub distributed 266+ tonnes food to those most in need - 37 tonnes sourced through local businesses, 120 tonnes from Fareshare Ipswich and the rest from donations and surplus from FareshareGo and other schemes, such as Neighbourly. This food has gone to local groups, organisations and 9 Food Hubs. They are part of a Whatsapp group who coordinate pickups and share produce. Cambridge Sustainable Food has created nutritional guidelines for use by community groups.

Redistribution

• City Council funded Cambridge Sustainable Food to set up 4 Community Fridges, these are at present being used as the basis for the Community Food Hubs 

• Cambridge community organisations receive surplus food from Fareshare to distribute to people in need (City Food Bank’s Fairbite Food Club) 

• Volunteer-run Cambridge Foodcycle, cooks three healthy community meals every week for vulnerable people, using surplus food.