The Islington Food Week (6-12th March) saw the launch of the Islington Food Strategy, 2023-28 – a community-led and inclusive approach to jointly tackle many of the food issues that is prevalent in society.
The food strategy is predicated on four key themes and principles: Affordable healthy food for all, Sustainable local food economy, Climate and nature emergency, People-powered change. It evokes the spirit of our inner self, encouraging everyone reading the strategy to come up with an action they want to take – even as small as taking 15 minutes to reflect on what change they would like to see and making a pledge towards achieving it. Similar pledges are asked of other stakeholders and actors: organisations, businesses, policy makers, education sector, service providers and more.
The food week and strategy are spearheaded by the Islington Food Partnership (IFP), which has worked to set up a network of food cooperatives in Islington, providing residents with access to cheap wholesale and free surplus food, and focusing more on broader food issues rather than just food poverty.
Together with IFP, Islington Giving is managing the Islington Food Fund – thanks to a generous donation from Google. The first round of this fund has seen 30 food services in Islington share some of the £150,000 fund to increase and sustain their food services. A second round is now open to successful applicants from Round 1.
Islington Food Partnership and Islington Giving are managing the Islington Food Fund. This initiative is made possible through Google.org funding for Cripplegate Foundation.
