Cork Food Policy Council is developing a sustainable and healthy food policy for Cork which aims to create a resilient and local food system that is 'inclusive for all.'
The initiative was launched during Cork on a Fork Festival last week at an event at Good Day Deli in Nano Nagle Place.
'Carbon Neutrality'
“Cork City Council’s commitment to carbon neutrality by 2030 reveals a commitment paired with an urgency for local action to address the current unsustainable food practices driven by national policy in Ireland with local action to help to improve the situation," said Committee Chair, Dr Janas Harrington.
"Attaining a population-based diet consistent with a sustainable diet requires major and rapid population-level changes given that unsustainable food systems producing unhealthy diets are the global norm and inflict the double burden of being bad for human health and bad for the environment."
Community Food Initiatives
The ambition of the new public consultation is to influence local food policy to follow best practice, to support new initiatives that promote knowledge, skills and experience around food, and to advocate for innovative community food initiatives to improve the food system and access to quality food.
Their final plan hopes to outline what Cork can do to support a fairer, healthier, more secure and sustainable food system.
'Biodiversity Loss'
"Changing diets and access to affordable healthy food have huge public health and environmental implications," said Denise Cahill, coordinator of Cork Healthy Cities.
"Food production is also a major contributor to biodiversity loss, freshwater use, change in land use and deforestation. Meanwhile, many urban residents still struggle to access healthy food.
"We will be reaching out to stakeholders and communities across the city in the coming months to inform our plans."
Consultation Phase
The consultation phase which is now open, invites input from anyone curious to know what a ‘A Resilient and Local Food System for Cork’ might look like. The public can share their voice to the conversation on consult.corkcity.ie.
Cork Food Policy Council, established in 2014, is a partnership between representatives of the local community, food retail, farmers, restaurants and the catering sector, education, environmental and health sectors and Cork City Council.
Horizon Europe FEAST
Cork City recently joined the Horizon Europe FEAST project on sustainable local food systems development and will serve as a living lab alongside 11 other European cities including Gent, Lodz, Oxfordshire, Tuscany and Leuven.
This project will support the delivery of the food policy for Cork and help to develop a Sustainable Food hub for the city to provide new entrant organic farmers with access to land, infrastructure, facilities and educational resources.
