Key Issue 4

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. 

Support for food enterprises

City Council offers market pitches £10+/day, some commercial units for independents (lower rents and 3-month notice) and rate relief for eligible food businesses. Cambridge BID has a support fund for independents. Grub Club runs award-winning networking events for people in/supplying the food industry. Cambridge Sustainable Food has a mentoring scheme and online advice/signposting.

Allia provides a free incubator programme, training/support for social or environmental start-ups e.g. COGZ online marketplace for surplus and imperfect produce. Food start-ups/SMEs access support through Cambridge University-hosted EIT Food, Cambridge Social Ventures, Accelerate Cambridge, ideaSpace and CISL.

Combined Authority funded Barn4: office/laboratory/outdoor trial space for sustainable agri-tech start-ups/SMEs. Support Eastern Agri-Tech Growth Initiative, including food producers, with funding. NIAB runs ‘Meeting of Minds’, a free, SME service to discuss sustainable farming ideas with experts.

Retail diversity

As well as supporting Cambridge Market, City Council sets sustainability standards for food traders at events on Council-owned land. Folk Festival (14,000 visitors annually), specifies sustainable food and packaging in trader terms and conditions and is increasing local traders. They encourage implementation through advice and a green deposit scheme, leading them to receive an ‘outstanding’ Greener Festival award. A similar approach has been used for other events.

FoodPark (started 2014 as an alternative to high rents), moves its high-quality street food vans to different venues. COFCO and University Botanic Garden are Better Food Traders. Arjuna and Daily Bread are whole food cooperatives. Fairbite operates a pantry model.

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 (46 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.

Promoting and connecting producers with consumers

Cambridge Sustainable Food and its partners have developed a wide range of initiatives through which local producers can better promote and sell their produce direct to consumers including:

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.