Closing The Gap
Solihull Food Strategy
Consultation
Alison Trout
Senior Public Health Specialist
Current Situation
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Population 200, 000
Takes 50,000 hectares of land to feed us
Farm land 50%
21 Allotments
Fast food outlets 52.7 per 100,000 people
3 food banks (one of which is less regular)
Going forward?
2005 Strategy
• Health focused not
food focused
• Does not focus on
wider determinants
• Does not refer to
ethical and
environmentally
friendly
Proposed Strategy
• Considers health, safety and
sustainability
• Refers to networking,
national campaigns,
economy, local food, waste,
planning
• Database on eating patterns
deemed not cost effective
Some Solihull Highlights
• Food For Life Partnership – silver award for
school catering
• Make and Taste
• Three Trees
• Healthy Schools and Eco Schools
• Food Dudes
• Restriction of proliferation of hot food takeaways
• Make Every Contact Count
Reduced Food Nutrients
50 Years Ago
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Low variety
Fewer processed foods
Local
Bio- diversity
Soil high in nutrients
Food smaller, at risk to
pests
Food in the 21st Century
• Increased variety/
nutrients
• Refined and processed
• Global
• Destruction of natural
habitats
• Soil depletion
• Genetically modified
Ethical Spending on food in the UK
Source: Ethical Consumer Markets Report
2012, The Cooperative Group
Local Food
DEFINITION:
“a system in which foods are grown, produced, or
processed and then distributed or sold within a similar
area –be it a particular distance from producer to food
retailer or consumer, or defined by a geographic area
such as a particular distance, municipality, or state”
Farmers Markets – 30 Mile radius
Local Food
Source: Mintel 2013
Food Waste
• UK throws away 7
million tonnes of food
and drink each year
• Costs the average
household £470£700 a year
Vision
“A healthy, safe,
sustainable and
fair food system
for Solihull”
Closing The Gap
Solihull Food Strategy
Consultation
Ian Mather
Public Health Senior Consultant
We live in a world shaped by food
“We eat to live they
live to eat”
Our homes and lives
revolve around food
RJ Over the Hedge
Food and Health
Tackling Health Inequalities
Marmot Review
Health and wealth are
intrinsically linked
We need to make
systematic
improvements
focusing on the
underlying causes of
premature illness and
death in poorer
communities.
Food and Health
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Malnutrition and obesity (over nutrition)
Diabetes
Strokes
Coronary Heart Disease
Cholesterol
Cancers
Cognitive and behavioural problems
Annual cost of obesity alone, in Solihull
to NHS = £13,636,285
ARRAN WAY
“You never see a carrot on the
Arran Way”
Parent Chelmsley Wood
Food Poverty
• 13 million below line of poverty in UK higher
than other OECD countries
• 2012-13, 350,000 people fed by food banks
of which 130,000 were children
– Solihull food banks handed out over 3,500 food
parcels last year (2013).
• Not national lack of food, unequal access,
• Utilising food industry surplus and gleaned
food - ‘balanced diet’
Good Planning For Good Food
• Access to food shops
• Diverse retail
environments
• Restrict takeaways
• Protect existing and
new allotments
/community growing
• Growing (new housing
and commercial
developments)
• Supporting farming
• Support composting
(individual, commercial
and community)
• Support regional and
local supply systems
• Support small and
independent retailers
(Sustain 2011)
Market v’s Supermarket
Market
Supermarket
• £10 spent = £25
economic activity
• £1.00 invested = £6.00 to
£8.00 of economic
outcomes and social
health
• £10 spent = £14
economic activity
• Creates half the number
of jobs per square foot of
retail space
(New Economics Foundation in London 2006)
Community Action
• Community farms, allotments and gardens
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Grow products for their own consumption
Sell produce to supplement income
Employment through small businesses
Environmental Education
Community cohesion
Biodiversity and access to nature
Increase inclusion making sites more accessible to
people with mobility problems.
Conclusion
• Equal access to affordable food reduces health
inequalities
• Food enriches and brings communities together
• Local food is better for the economy