The letter, signed by 20 food partnerships from across the UK follows the Sustainable Food Cities conference in Edinburgh on the 13 June.
Ben Reynolds, Deputy Chief Executive of Sustain, one of the founding partners of the network, commented on the letter, "It's hugely encouraging to see this network come of age. Combining the populations of those cities, towns, boroughs, and places in the SFC network, it amounts to almost 20million people. Put another way, over 30% of the food eaten in this country is within those places in the network, and much more if you include those commuting in, and eating out. In Edinburgh last week, we saw the network come to terms with the fact that it could influence, and was influencing, the food system. Now it’s time for others to recognise this. A movement covering a third of the UK’s population needs to be heard."
Read more of Ben's response in his blog about the need for the recognition of the Food Cities network within policy making.
Sustainable Food Cities is a network of almost 50 food partnerships across teh UK, supported by Food Matters, Soil Association and Sustain.
Sustainable Food Places: Network bringing together over 100 local food partnerships.
