Katie Chappell Food Power
We’ve launched a new report to share the key lessons from Food Power on how to empower local action to tackle food poverty and deliver effective, dignified responses. Cecily Spelling, Food Power Coordinator summarises the lessons in this blog.
Katie Chappell Food Power
For those that aren’t familiar, Food Power was a project run by Sustain and Church Action on Poverty between 2017 – 2021. It aimed to strengthen the ability of local communities to reduce food poverty through developing solutions in partnership and with the support of peers from across the UK.
I started in my role as Food Power Coordinator in September 2020, 3 years and 3 months into the programme. By this point, food poverty alliances up and down the UKhad been working hard to tackle the root causes of food poverty and had been responding to the impact of the pandemic since the spring. Through this work, alliances, people with lived experience of food poverty and allies in the movement have learnt a lot of lessons about what makes successful local action on food poverty.
We’ve summarised these lessons, along with national recommendations for government and funders, in our new report – Empowering local action on Food Poverty: Key lessons from Food Power. We’ve identified 10 key lessons which can you read in detail in the report, but to whet your appetite, here is a brief summary:
Local action plays an important role in tackling food poverty but there are a whole host of structural barriers in place that are hampering progress. So, in addition to local lessons, we identified national recommendations for government and funders that we believe would lead to the real change we need to ensure everyone is able to access healthy, affordable, sustainable food. These are:
Through following these lessons, food poverty alliances and people with lived experience have, and will continue to, play a vital role in ensuring we work towards food justice for all. They must be supported to deliver this work though, by local authorities, national governments and others in their community, because they cannot and should not do it alone.
Download the full report and find more resources, including guidance for local authorities, case studies and webinars on the Food Power website.
Food Power: Food Power is an exciting new programme working with local communities across the UK to strengthen their ability to reduce food poverty.
Sustain
The Green House
244-254 Cambridge Heath Road
London E2 9DA
020 3559 6777
sustain@sustainweb.org
Sustain advocates food and agriculture policies and practices that enhance the health and welfare of people and animals, improve the working and living environment, promote equity and enrich society and culture.
© Sustain 2025
Registered charity (no. 1018643)
Data privacy & cookies
Icons by Icons8