New London Plan: How could it change the food you grow, cook and eat?

The plan has taken positive steps to ensure Londoners have access to tap water and healthier catering and to stop new junk food outlets opening near schools, but there are missed opportunities to create improve the health and sustainability of London’s food system.

This key plan for London covers a decade, so  orward-looking policies are needed to address the huge challenges of obesity and food security, including food retail, and increased farming in the peri-urban fringe. In particular, we want a stronger policy to uphold London’s achievements in creating community food gardens and urban farms. 

We are encouraging individuals and organisations to submit a response online. Here are five suggestions for you to include:

1. Show strong support for access to free drinking water and a ban on fast food outlets near schools
2. Ask for commitment to space for growing food and diverse food retail in new housing and other developments
3. Call for a stronger policy to support food growing and more recognition within the vision for green infrastructure of the positive role that food growing spaces play and the many benefits they provide
4. Push for a vision of a productive Green Belt as a protected greenbelt, providing multiple benefits for Londoners in terms of health, education and employment
5. Ensure protection of high-grade soil within London.

Read more here and download our draft response, with overviews of key chaptersand specific recommendations.  We welcome others to use our document as a basis to submit their own response before the deadline on 2 March 2018.