Exploring Glasgow: Fork In The Road

Glasgow Community Food Network’s (GCFN) goal is ambitious yet simple: to give everyone in the city improved, equal access to affordable, healthy food. They aim to work with everyone who has an interest in food, from chefs and restaurants to farmers and market gardeners to foodbank and soup kitchen volunteers.

In bringing together practitioners and organisations from the private, public and third sectors along with other interested individuals, GCFN are having a real impact in their collaborative approach to developing local food systems. In the words of Abi Mordin, chair of GCFN:

There has never been a time quite like this – nor such a need for such coordinated collective action. The challenges from COVID 19, Brexit and climate change require a food system that can respond and recover from shocks.

Projects vary from responding to COVID 19 by working with groups and organisations to provide food to communities, to supporting local growers and the Glasgow local food economy, to shaping the Food Growing Strategy of Glasgow City Council with input from the Growing Community within the city.

Just last week, GCFN received a National Lottery boost to bring community food partners together to act on climate change. ‘A Low Carbon Sustainable Food City for All’ is a new initiative led by GCFN in partnership with Urban Roots, Glasgow Eco Trust, The Space, St Paul’s Youth Forum and Central and West Integration Network. It builds on the aims of the current Glasgow City Food Plan, aiming to improve food education, establish a local green assembly, increase the amount of land being used for urban agriculture and mobilise young people to become climate leaders.

As part of GCFN’s expanding initiative, community groups will also be able to pitch for micro-funding to get good food projects underway and new jobs will be created encouraging ‘community activators’ to inspire change in their communities. Perhaps the most exciting thing about this momentum amongst the people of Glasgow is how it brings to life the real, everyday benefits of people taking the lead in tackling climate change. 

We have reached a fork in the road. We can try to improve equal access to affordable, healthy food around the country with or without reducing the impact of our food system on the climate crisis. In taking the fork that addresses both opportunities together, we not only create a food system that can respond and recover from shocks but also reduce these shocks at source.

Carbon Copy launched the UK Carbon Zero Explorer in November 2020 to help people to discover what’s happening in their local area. Councils, public sector organisations and businesses all around the UK are putting plans in place to reach carbon zero sooner – if there’s a story you think we should be telling please contact us.

Image courtesy of Veg Cities