What’s Happening

Our Sustainable Food Places Journey

Check out our blog which delves into Great Food Gloucestershire’s journey to Bronze Award as part of the Sustainable Food Places programme!

Gloucestershire joined the Sustainable Food Places Network in 2022, and once our coordinator was in post, we began to explore and evaluate all the inspiring communities and food projects within our county, to see how we could help shape the partnership’s plans and visions around the Sustainable Food Places framework and share the new ideas, connections and learning we were now exploring.

GFFP Action Planning Workshop – Spring 2023

We quickly established that the county had much to celebrate, and after taking a deep collective breath, decided to go for Bronze Award in our first year. We launched our Great Food Gloucestershire umbrella campaign to try to weave together and communicate a county-wide Good Food Movement and held a Sustainable Food and Farming Action Planning Workshop in 2023 to help translate vision into practice.

‘Growfest’ in Cheltenham supported by Feeding Gloucestershire – Summer 2023

Feeding Gloucestershire spearheaded our work on Healthy Food For All, an epic undertaking, crisscrossing the county and tackling food insecurity from the depths of the Forest of Dean, across the Severn Vale, through the city of Gloucester, down the streets of Cheltenham, up the Stroud Valleys and high into the Cotswold Hills.

FWAG SW lead our work on Food For The Planet, getting out and about in all weathers to connect with the land, listen to farmers in fields and village halls, give advice, talk about soil, restore hedges and rivers, plant meadows, count farmland birds, teach children and even set up a new no-till horticultural project.

FWAG SW Flourishing Floodplains Project in the Forest of Dean – Winter 2022

Visit Gloucestershire supported our Good Food Economy, hosting a ‘meet the producers’ event for hospitality, creating a sustainable transport ‘good food trail’ across the county, supporting ‘sustainability champions’, as well as exploring carbon neutral menus with the UWE and the county’s restaurants, festivals and events.

Farmer Guardians of the Upper Thames learning about a sustainable beer from waste bread at Cotswold Lakes Brewery – Summer 2023

On one very hot day in the summer of 2023, we visited Westminster in London with our fellow Sustainable Food Places Network members and spoke to our MPs about the importance of food partnerships. We returned to add the final touches to our Bronze Award application and just a few weeks later we were delighted to find out that we had been successful! We’re now planning a Sustainable Food Gathering for Autumn 2024, to both celebrate and inspire the county’s next steps.

Projects and plans are evolving, and we hope to carry on the work we’ve started, but it hasn’t been an easy journey – there is so much still to do, its messy and complicated, and we often feel we are just ‘nibbling at the edges’, but then we recall the wise words of the Lorax by Dr Zeuss, “unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”.

What’s Happening – Events near you!

At any time of year, there is a wealth of sustainable food events taking place across Gloucestershire. Whether it’s farm walks, community growing events, cookery classes, or food forums you are interested in, there will be something going on you can get involved with.

Check out our social media pages for weekly updates! 

@GREATfoodglos

greatfoodgloucestershire

If you are an event organiser and you would like to reach people in Gloucestershire to let them know about your event – then send over your details using this form and we will post it here for you.

What’s Happening – Funding Opportunities

Spring 2024 – Check out the following grant opportunities open to sustainable food projects in Gloucestershire

Gloucestershire County Council Greener Gloucestershire Community Fund up to £4,999

Forest of Dean Rural Business Grant from £3-£25k

Naturesave Trust Sustainable Food £500 – £2500

Strengthening Local Communities £1k- £5k

Grants from the CLA to help disabled or disadvantaged people connect with nature up to £5k

Spring 2024 – Check out the following grant opportunities open to sustainable food projects in Gloucestershire