• Archive: Food Access Network
• Archive: network update
• What is food poverty?
• UK Liaison
• Successes and achievements
• Who we work with
• SAUCE Toolkit
• FAN Database
• Publications
• NE Food Access Network
• How to get involved with Sustain
• How to make a donation

The Food Access Network (FAN-UK) was formerly the Food Poverty project, and is now superseded by the Local Action on Food Network. These archive pages give background information on the activities of FAN-UK, which worked to tackle diet-related ill health amongst the UK’s most disadvantaged communities. By addressing the underlying causes of food poverty, it aimed to ensure that everyone in the UK has access to healthy, affordable food – regardless of their income, age or social exclusion.

The Food Access Network consisted of some 300 food projects working to improve the nutrition, health and wellbeing of their local communities. The Food Access Network provided vital support to these local projects through, for example, a quarterly newsletter, publications, information, events, and the Food Access Network database. In 2008, the Food Access Network merged with Food Links UK, to form the new network for Local Action on Food.

The Food Access Network’s successes (formerly the Food Poverty Project), include setting up and running the Food Access Network, providing toolkits for setting up community food projects and social enterprises, and organising UK networking events.

'In July 2007 the Food Standards Agency (FSA) launched the results of their Low Income Diet and Nutrition Survey.  The survey provided an opportunity to develop policy options to ensure that all people have access to healthy affordable food and working with Tim Lobstein (from the International Association for the Study on Obesity), Sustain produced a paper for discussion at a meeting on the 5th November 2007.  The meeting was held to identify priorities for action in tackling food access and the diets of low income communities.  Our original discussion paper is available here - download "Low income diet and health – next steps" as a 382kb PDF.