Photo credit: Claire Pritchard, chief executive of Greenwich CDA. It shows healthy Food Boxes for vulnerable non-shielding residents in Greenwich
Briefing on organising food for vulnerable people in Covid-19 lockdown - for local authorities and Local Resilience Forums working in partnership with local community and voluntary organisations.
Photo credit: Claire Pritchard, chief executive of Greenwich CDA. It shows healthy Food Boxes for vulnerable non-shielding residents in Greenwich
This briefing aims to inform strategic emergency planners, local authorities, food partnerships, Local Resilience Forums (LRFs) and voluntary sector groups – especially those working in partnership to organise food provision – at large scale – for vulnerable people needing to self-isolate or stay at home during Covid-19.
Published by Sustain and the Greenwich Cooperative Development Agency, the publication can be downloaded free of charge on the Sustain website.
The first headline to take from this briefing is this: There is not enough free food or volunteer capacity to feed all economically vulnerable people through local authority and charitable means. Vulnerable people must have their needs "triaged" to direct them to the appropriate support, including local authority welfare assistance grants. This is the "money first" principle, so that as many people as possible can buy their own food; relieving local authorities, LRFs and charities to focus on those most in need.
Then, if we can bring the scale of food need down to a manageable level, we have a chance of being able to feed the people who are most in need – those who cannot access food by any other means. Learning from Greenwich and other places, vulnerable people requiring food support need to be identified as:
The briefing shares the Covid-19 response pathway, triage and payment systems, and packing lists for four types of Food Boxes developed by Greenwich Cooperative Development Agency, working in partnership with the Royal Borough of Greenwich and Charlton Athletic Community Trust. Within just two weeks of establishment, it is already delivering 200 Food Boxes that meet Covid19-safe as well as nutritional guidelines, also supported by the local authority environmental health team to ensure food safety, for vulnerable non-shielding residents in Greenwich. It is providing food for vulnerable people who can afford to pay for it (with a payment scheme), and for people who are not able to pay.
Food procurement by the local authority is directed via local food businesses to support the local food economy and jobs that Greenwich’s diverse communities rely on in the longer term. The system is strategic, well planned and the organisers are confident that this can be scaled up to meet greater need over the coming weeks.
The authors of this briefing (published 7 April 2020) are:
Coronavirus Food Alert: Sustain's work on food resilience in the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.We are helping secure food for vulnerable people and supporting local emergency responses.
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