Celebrating the successes of Food Roots 2

The original Food Roots programme was funded by the Greater London Authority (GLA) between 2021 and 2022. It supported ten food partnerships across the capital, helping them tackle food insecurity in their local areas.

Building on this success, the Food Roots 2 learning programme was delivered by a coalition of organisations including Sustain, The Social Investment Consultancy, Food Matters, and the First Love Foundation. Additionally, Citizen’s Advice delivered a programme of training on Healthy Start awareness to frontline teams. The scheme expanded in the second phase by supporting 21 local food partnerships across London. Funding was used to invest in dedicated coordinator roles for each partnership, enabling more joined-up, strategic efforts to tackle food insecurity and better support Londoners experiencing financial hardship.

The project had four main objectives:

• Sustainable support out of food poverty: including cash first, wrap-around approaches and referral to advice services. 
• Increase in Healthy Start: increasing visibility of the scheme and better linking between statutory and voluntary sector work.
• Strengthened partnerships: developing stronger relationships between local authorities, community food providers to embed solutions to food challenges. 
• Sustainable funding for food partnerships: improving the ability of food partnerships to access sustainable external funding.

Food Roots 2 meeting at the Hornbeam Cafe | Credit: Isabel Rice

The learning programme was developed using co-design with the participating food partnerships to create a learning curriculum, which brought coordinators and partnerships together through a mix of in-person and online sessions. These included site visits, 'spotlight' sessions where partnerships could share good practice, themed workshops, peer mentoring, and informal coffee mornings. These elements of collaboration and support were seen as essential to building momentum and sharing practical ideas. Many participants reflected on how valuable it was to be able to step out of their local silos and connect across boroughs. One participant said:

“Bringing partnerships together across a region like London is invaluable for so many reasons, but it is enough that we can feel isolated. We work collaboratively at the local/borough level, and it just makes sense to connect across the city of London/greater London”

Food Roots 2 meeting at the Sustain Office | Credit: Isabel Rice

While Food Roots 2 may have officially drawn to a close, its legacy continues. This includes a shared toolkit capturing learnings from the programme that will support both current and future coordinators, as well as continued collaboration across London’s food partnerships through the set up of a regional London Sustainable Food Places network, rise up email group and WhatsApp group. This continuation of contact across London food partnerships was seen as key:

“The connections and learnings that have come from FR2 have been incredibly valuable, it's so reassuring to know we’ll still have this after the programme”

By growing sustainable, community-led solutions, Food Roots 2 has successfully illustrated how bringing together food partnerships can creating meaningful and sustainable change to local communities. We look forward to seeing these partnerships grow and adapt, ensuring that London remains a city where everyone has access to healthy, dignified food.

If you want to find out more about the legacy of Food Roots and how you can get involved, contact isabel@sustainweb.org.uk