“Harvesting knowledge: gleaning experience”

Sustainability, small island food and health enterprises

“At a time of major policy challenges around food, practical challenges faced by local initiatives and personal challenges faced by many individuals and families, it is reassuring that these are being addressed through the application of the collective knowledge and experience of local communities, practitioners, planners and academics across the country.”

See a short article in FareChoice 73 on our work on small island community, food and health related enterprise: https://www.communityfoodandhealth.org.uk/publications/fare-choice-73/

This commentary is provided as “An insight into the world of research provided by the members of the Scottish Colloquium on Food and Feeding … incorporated within the British Sociological Association’s food study group http://www.britsoc.co.uk/study-groups/foodscoff-(scottish-colloquium-on-food-and-feeding).aspx

Thanks to colleagues at both the Scottish Colloquium on Food and Feeding and at scoff  (BSA) for this inclusion.

For more information on Community Food and Health (Scotland) please visit their website at: https://www.communityfoodandhealth.org.uk/about-us/

“Community Food and Health (Scotland) was established, originally under the name Scottish Community Diet Project, as a result of recommendations contained in the 1996 ground breaking government strategy “Eating for Health: A Diet Action Plan for Scotland”. The task identified was the need to ‘promote and focus dietary initiatives in low-income communities and bring these within a strategic format’.

Our aim remains to ensure that everyone in Scotland has the opportunity, ability and confidence to access a healthy and acceptable diet for themselves, their families and their communities.

We pursue this aim by ensuring the experience, understanding, and learning from local communities informs policy development and delivery. Communities, planners and policy makers are encouraged and enabled to constructively engage with each other in addressing inequalities in food and health.

CFHS works with both geographical communities (eg. neighbourhoods, villages) and communities of common interest (eg. users of mental health services, travellers), the common feature being that the work is focused on those communities that suffer disadvantage and would benefit most.

CFHS runs programmes of work around information, engagement, practice development, capacity building, inclusion and impact, within an approach that has recently been referred to as an assets-based approach; in other words, where local communities are seen as part of the solution, rather than part of the problem.

CFHS is funded through the Scottish Government and in April 2013 became part of NHS Health Scotland, following 16 years as part of Consumer Focus Scotland, formerly the Scottish Consumer Council. NHS Health Scotland is a special Health Board with a national remit to tackle health inequalities.”