Case studies

Barnet: Transitioning from emergency response to broader coordination of food work 

In Barnet, in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, the local voluntary and community sector started working together in more coordinated ways, for example communicating regularly about the logistics of food aid provision and local need. During the pandemic, the Barnet Food Hub was established by Barnet Council Alliance with financial support from the council.  The Food Hub acts as a hub for coordination and redistributing food to a network of food banks across Barnet.   Barnet Council has recently finalised its Food Plan 2022-2027 which builds on the Food Security Action Plan 2019-2021 to address wider food issues and opportunities in the borough.

Haringey: Healthier advertising success

Haringey Council implemented its healthier food advertising policy in July 2019, aligning with the Mayor of London’s flagship policy on the Transport for London (TfL) network, restricting the advertising of products that are high in fat, salt and sugar (HFSS), and was the first council in the UK to do so. In addition to the evidence of the health impacts from the University of Sheffield and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, both TfL and Haringey have reported that they have not lost advertising revenues since implementing the policy.

“Haringey’s advertising policy is an integral part of its action to protect children’s health and encourage healthy behaviours through targeted interventions. All agreements with external providers adhere to this policy and there has been no financial loss to the council as advertising spaces are allocated to other advertisements that don’t promote HFSS products, alcohol, gambling or other activities that are harmful to the health and wellbeing of communities.”
Haringey Council

Newham: Community wealth building

Newham launched its Community Wealth Building Strategy in 2020, with the aim of using its purchasing power and influence to keep wealth in the local economy. The council procures food and catering from local SMEs, co-ops and social enterprises and is actively helping these food providers get onto council supplier lists, as well as integrating them into contracts for healthy and sustainable food in council run settings such as nurseries and care settings.

Newham’s LATCO catering company, Juniper Ventures, serving 23,000 meals each school day, have a procurement policy that makes it able to bring on SMEs as suppliers swiftly and simply.

As part of a social value approach to how property is managed, the Council’s Commercial Property Services team review the food offer of potential tenants, not leasing to those with a high sugar, salt and fat content. The same approach is taken to tenanting and licencing in park and library food spaces. Ice cream vans are not licenced to trade in council parks. Benefits of this include the absence of diesel engines in public spaces and more Sugar Smart spaces.

A council-wide approach to catering and hospitality has been implemented, and is included in the manager’s portal. Supported by their SMART Food team of nutritionists, it makes it easy for officers to use in-house and small local business suppliers for events, however large or small, that promote health and well-being, community wealth building, inclusive employment and the Climate NOW agenda.

Tower Hamlets: increasing access to healthy food

Tower Hamlets Public Health team commissions two fruit and vegetable voucher schemes operating via Children’s Centres and GP surgeries, for people on low-incomes to increase access to healthy food and support the local food economy. One of these is the Tower Hamlets Rose Fruit & Vegetable on Prescription Project. Inspired by similar models in the US which ‘prescribe’ fruit & vegetables to residents who need it most, the council is working in partnership with Alexandra Rose Charity and the Bromley by Bow Centre on a new 12-month project that helps people on low incomes and with health problems through Bromley by Bow’s social prescribing service. The project helps increase participants’ spending power to be able to make healthier food choices and source fruit & vegetables in the local economy from traders at local markets. Through this project, as well as individual 1:1’s with social prescribers, nine healthy lifestyle group sessions are being delivered to build knowledge and connect with others.

Greenwich: A charter for good food organisations 

Through the Good Food in Greenwich partnership, a charter model has been developed where local organisations are recognised for their contribution to the good food agenda. The charter outlines a number of criteria from being a London Living Wage employer through to the promotion of fruit and veg and reducing food waste. There are 11 criteria in total and organisations are encouraged to initially complete five and then work towards the others over time. These charters bring the public health and sustainability agenda together, and are tailored for both the hospitality and retail sector.

Waltham Forest: Flourishing food growing

Waltham Forest Council has long supported and promoted community food growing gardens and small plots in the borough. In the last year, the council has doubled the offer to residents by reducing the maximum size of an allotment from 10 rods (traditional full-size allotment) to 5 rods, getting more newcomers to grow their own. The council ensures allotments are used at their full capacity, keeping allotment lists active and diverse, and encourages allotment plot holders to grow organic. Further work is now taking place across council services to encourage the use of public realm land for greening and food growing.

The council-owned Hawkwood Nursery leased to OrganicLea is a training centre for organic and agroecological growing in the borough and beyond, as well as running the local Food Growers Network. The council, in collaboration with OrganicLea, provide a free 2-day training programme to allotment holders entitled ‘Getting started on your allotment plot’. The council have also developed a ‘first of its kind’ food growing strategy (to be published in 2023), which recognises the impact of climate and the economic pressures faced currently.

Merton and Waltham Forest: Serving more plant-based meals in schools

Merton Council has recently put more emphasis on reducing emissions from school meals provision and increasing the plant-based meals offer for schools. This includes implementing an optional second meat free day in the standard menu offer for primary schools and offering a broader range of plant-based dishes for schools to select. These changes have been well received by schools, as the council worked with the catering company to promote the menu.

In 2022, Waltham Forest won the Green Menu League Award for serving up one million plant-based school meals a year across 50 primary schools, naming school dinners in Waltham Forest ‘the greenest in the UK’. In addition, where food and catering are required by the Council, it is specifically purchased from local providers, plus onsite catering services are delivered by a local SME.

Lambeth: Increasing plant-based and reducing food waste

Lambeth council has led the development and co-creation of the borough-wide Climate Action Plan, including a target to "increase the consumption of healthy plant-based food in Lambeth through procurement power, individual and organisational choices." Starting in January 2023, the council is extending its food waste recycling to an additional 3000 flats in the borough. In addition, it has supported a local food growing project with BIGKID and Incredible Edible to raise awareness on the links between local, plant-based foods, and the impacts on climate change.

Camden: Raising standards on food provision

Through the Camden Food Poverty Alliance Steering Group, Camden’s network of food providers are creating principles to set out what constitutes good food support in Camden. They are designed to ensure food aid providers in the borough provide the best quality, healthiest and most dignified forms of food aid possible, and seek to help organisations that may struggle to identify how to make their services better. These principles were finalised at a recent boroughwide summit and will be ratified as the Camden Good Food Principles.

The council recently funded a co-ordination post for the alliance, committing the support for 18 months. The coordinator is employed by a borough-wide food aid provider, with collaborative supervision. This embeds the voluntary sector as the local lead in tackling food poverty and insecurity in Camden. For the past two years the Alliance has hosted a bi-annual food poverty summit, most recently in February 2023, with attendees from the local VCS and other partners. Council officer time from across public health, strategy and community partnership teams is dedicated to making these summits happen.

Barnet: Transitioning from emergency response to broader coordination of food work 

In Barnet, in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, the local voluntary and community sector started working together in more coordinated ways, for example communicating regularly about the logistics of food aid provision and local need. During the pandemic, the Barnet Food Hub was established by Barnet Council Alliance with financial support from the council.  The Food Hub acts as a hub for coordination and redistributing food to a network of food banks across Barnet.   Barnet Council has recently finalised its Food Plan 2022-2027 which builds on the Food Security Action Plan 2019-2021 to address wider food issues and opportunities in the borough.

Islington: Transitioning to a sustainable food partnership

Islington first launched a food strategy in 2010 and, while council led, the partnership was far wider. Over the years, the council supported the group with officer time and support in the delivery of their objectives but more recently actively sought to transition to a more sustainable model of governance. This included finding an independent chair and supporting the steering group to also become more independent.

The partnership is now council supported rather than council led, with a strategic partnership board that is independently chaired with representation of elected members, senior council officers, voluntary sector and NHS. The co-ordinating group reflects this with a tight-knit selection of 50/50 council officers and voluntary sector. As well as providing support at meetings, various council teams continue to offer support and deliver on objectives, for example by helping with funding bids and delivering community meals and engagement activities.

The partnership is realigning its goals, having focused on food poverty between 2017-2022, to return to a whole food system approach.

Sutton: Flying the flag for Meals on Wheels

Sutton Council remains the only council in London to continually offer a robust, popular, and affordable meals on wheels service, despite a context of increased pressures on local authority budgets. The council receives referrals from social services and other ‘in house’ teams such as START. These services have been working together continuously over time, with healthcare professionals easily able to refer patients onwards to the service. The service now also takes referrals directly from the public, so they can be reached quicker, and residents do not have to wait to be referred by a professional.

The number of service users varies, but in 2022 approximately 220 customers were using it regularly. Meals are affordable at around £4, and a variety of diets are catered to including vegetarian and coeliac, and religious and cultural needs are provided for. Welfare checks are also included as part of delivery, with any issues or concerns flagged immediately and raised with social care services if necessary.

Ealing: Targeting health inequality 

The London Borough of Ealing is a diverse, multicultural part of the city with more than 200 languages spoken and over half of the 350,000 residents coming from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds. The council recognises and values the boroughs diversity and supports a range of projects which improve access to and ownership of food projects and spaces for all communities to support health and wellbeing. Examples include the Let’s Go Southall Connect with Food initiative, Urban Edible Gardens community growing projects at Northolt Library and Radcliffe Estate, and The Store Cupboard project in Hanwell.       

Alongside this, in 2020, an independent Race Equality Commission was set up to recommend ways that the council can act to reduce inequality across the borough. The priority areas identified included improving health outcomes for Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities and directing small pots of money to support residents in emergencies.  

Southwark: Celebrating diverse diets in the community

In 2022 Southwark Council held a Community Feast event which celebrated the culture, resilience and contribution of refugees & asylum seekers in the borough, with traditional food from a variety of cultures being a focus. The council also worked to ensure the Take and Make boxes used in the holiday and food programme met diverse dietary requirements, given that 76% of the children attending were from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds. Additionally, the council have supported a number of services offering food aid, pantries, fridges and food cooperatives to better meet the cultural food needs of the communities they serve.  

*Sustain usually avoids the term BAME to describe people from diverse ethnic backgrounds, but uses it in this report due to common usage by local authorities. See our diversity style guide.

Waltham Forest: Championing Black Breastfeeding Week and Healthy Start

Waltham Forest Council runs an annual Black Breastfeeding Week which celebrates Black mums locally and offers advice and support for women of colour who want to breastfeed. The event was started in response to data identifying the opportunity to improve rates of breastfeeding and maternal health in Black and Asian mothers through highlighting the challenges and successes of breastfeeding, particularly in the Black community. Find out more in this video.

This work sits within a wider context of work in the borough to promote infant and maternal health. This includes Waltham Forest Council investing in the Healthy Start food vouchers scheme by funding a new role in 2022 that works exclusively on the scheme; increased promotion of the scheme with partners; exploring how the Healthy Start card could be used to buy food from veg box schemes; and making vitamins available free of charge to all pregnant women, meaning that Healthy Start vouchers in effect go further.

Kingston: A holistic approach to infant feeding

Kingston’s Infant Feeding Partnership includes representatives from public health, health visiting, infant feeding teams, Kingston hospital midwives, and an independent lactation consultant. Crucially, volunteer mothers who represent ‘Maternity Voices’ are also included, who provide insight and feedback that helps develop local breastfeeding services and initiatives. The partnership also facilitates peer-led breastfeeding sessions where there is a need for support.

The Infant Feeding Partnership has an ambition for all partners to be Baby Friendly accredited at Level 3 and whenever progress is made, it is reported and celebrated at the Kingston Partnership Board. This work is just one part of the approach Kingston takes to promote healthy eating and tackle food insecurity, and is part of the reason that the borough has some of the highest rates of breastfeeding at 6-8 weeks in London.

A number of attendees of the partnership also attend the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Infant Feeding and Inequalities, to ensure that local issues and concerns are fed upwards to national government.

Waltham Forest: Championing Black Breastfeeding Week and Healthy Start

Waltham Forest Council runs an annual Black Breastfeeding Week which celebrates Black mums locally and offers advice and support for women of colour who want to breastfeed. The event was started in response to data identifying the opportunity to improve rates of breastfeeding and maternal health in Black and Asian mothers through highlighting the challenges and successes of breastfeeding, particularly in the Black community. Find out more in this video.

This work sits within a wider context of work in the borough to promote infant and maternal health. This includes Waltham Forest Council investing in the Healthy Start food vouchers scheme by funding a new role in 2022 that works exclusively on the scheme; increased promotion of the scheme with partners; exploring how the Healthy Start card could be used to buy food from veg box schemes; and making vitamins available free of charge to all pregnant women, meaning that Healthy Start vouchers in effect go further.

Newham, an integrated approach 

In Newham, their Eat for Free scheme has been integrated into their wider community wealth-building approach. All schools sign up to a programme of grant conditions and principles that include: London Living Wages for all staff working on the catering contract; Food For Life Served Here accreditation; the ability to on-board new SME suppliers in a short timeframe; becoming a water only school; working to engage parents as active partners in supporting healthy eating; food literacy work being integrated into the mainstream curriculum, as well as caterers co-producing menus with children and families; and food growing on the school’s site.

Westminster rolls out free schools meals as part of its cost-of-living response

In Autumn 2022 Westminster City Council passed a motion to fund universal provision of free school meals for all primary age pupils for 18 months, beginning January 2023. The decision forms part of their cost-of-living crisis response, and will therefore be reviewed after the 18-month period.

“Westminster City Council is determined to help our most vulnerable residents as food prices and energy bills soar. The free school lunch offer is in addition to a £10 million package of cost of living support which will create new food banks and help residents pay their energy bills.”
Councillor Adam Hug, Leader of Westminster City Council

Hammersmith and Fulham’s pilot study in two secondary schools

Since 2019 Hammersmith and Fulham Council have expanded the availability of free school meals on the borough through two mechanisms. Firstly, the council has funded an offer of free breakfasts to all of its primary schools. Secondly, the council is running a pilot programme which gives all pupils in two secondary schools access to free lunches. The free school lunches started in January 2020 and are being offered to pupils at Fulham College Boys’ School and Woodlane High School.