From Thursday 1st February 2018 through to Wednesday 28th February 2018 voting is open for projects looking for support from Scottish Borders Council Localities Fund. Abundant Borders, local communities and partners want to co-create a Good Food Hub for Berwickshire; to help connect and support communities and local food businesses to grow, source, cook and eat local food.
To help create a Berwickshire Good Food Hub, VOTE NOW
So, what is a GOOD FOOD HUB?
The Berwickshire Good Food Hub will:
- Tackle Household Food Insecurity
Feeding hungry people with donated or re-directed food waste is not culturally appropriate and does not address the root cause of hunger. No comprehensive action has been taken, locally or nationally, to reduce the need for food banks. There are no statistics for Scotland (Citizens Advice Bureaux (CAB) are currently working to collect and collate date) but, according to UN polling, in the UK 10% of people experience moderate to severe food insecurity, placing the UK in the bottom half of EU nations. This figure may be higher in Scotland, where 27% of incomes fall below the Minimum Income Standard and CABs report an increase of 11% in issues relating to food banks and food parcels in 2016. The Good Food Hub will support people in growing and cooking affordable meals from fresh, locally sourced ingredients.
To help create a Berwickshire Good Food Hub, VOTE NOW
- Promote Community Food Growing
Community growing has many benefits ranging from increased health and wellbeing to reducing inequalities. Home-grown and community grown produce contributes to the local economy and communities learn about seasonal and local food. Community growing projects help to address issues of social isolation, particularly important to rural communities in Berwickshire, by creating open spaces where people get to know one another and start to take pride in, and shape, their community. Mental health problems can lead to isolation. A lack of fruit and vegetables in people’s diets is a risk factor in health conditions such as type-2 diabetes and obesity and less than 50% of people in Scotland meet physical activity guidelines. The lack of adequate transport and access to more affordable healthy options in rural settings such as Berwickshire, contributes to this problem. Growing food in a community setting can address these issues. The Good Food Hub will aim to ensure that everyone who wishes to, can have access to growing space within their community.
To help create a Berwickshire Good Food Hub, VOTE NOW
- Address issues of Food and Health
All of Scotland’s dietary goals have been missed every year since monitoring began in 2001. The Scottish diet is characterised as being high in fat, sugar and salt and low in fresh fruit and vegetables. The situation is made worse as 75% of Scottish adults don’t believe that their diets are unhealthy (Food Standards Scotland). Obesity rates in Scotland are amongst the highest in the world, with one in four adults and one in six children categorised as obese and two in every three adults overweight (Scottish Government 2016). The Good Food Hub will make it easier for people in Berwickshire to access good quality, affordable food. It will encourage people to grow their own food and provide training in how to cook healthy, inexpensive meals, in line with the action plan developed by the community.
To help create a Berwickshire Good Food Hub, VOTE NOW
Within the project are several brand new initiatives
- To scope new community growing projects in Duns
- To run four day-long food workshop events, using seasonal produce grown in the community, to show how produce can be used, cooked and preserved
- Hold monthly social food sessions for community volunteers
- Hold an annual Big Lunch, to bring together community volunteers
- To create a tool and book library to support people who want to grow food/cook healthy meals
- To pilot Healthy Meal Bags
The hub will build community capacity by providing extra resource to support and expand some existing projects.
- Planting and growing on three community garden sites in Ayton and Eyemouth
- Support community meals, including Eyemouth Tea Dance, Pots and Pans cooking sessions supported by Healthy Living Network and soup clubs in Greenlaw.
To help create a Berwickshire Good Food Hub, VOTE NOW
