The City of Edinburgh Council has today launched an online consultation to gather views for the city’s first Food Growing Strategy. Under the Community Empowerment Act 2015, all Scottish Local Authorities are required to produce a Food Growing Strategy for their area.
In November 2019, Edible Edinburgh hosted an event for those involved in food growing projects across the city. The event brought together anyone interested in food growing that wanted to find out more about the Edinburgh Food Growing Strategy and what could be done to shape it. The event provided an opportunity for promoting and supporting a network of community growing projects and facilitated discussions surrounding the vision of Edinburgh becoming a food growing city.
The draft Edinburgh Food Growing Strategy, Growing Locally, was approved for consultation by Council Committee in February 2020. The three key objectives of the Strategy are to:
- Grow more locally
- Consume more locally
- Increase awareness and engagement
An online consultation to gather views on the Strategy and how it would be implemented was due to be launched for a six-week period in March and early April 2020. This has been delayed due to the Coronavirus outbreak.
As part of the Council’s response to COVID-19 it was agreed that the final strategy should also seek to respond to any future challenges the city may face in the wake of the pandemic, including incorporating the issues of food security and food poverty, and ensuring the development of a green economic recovery for the city.
City of Edinburgh Council are now launching a consultation on the draft strategy and would welcome your views on food growing, and on the role local good growing could play in supporting the city’s recovery from the impact of COVID-19 in particular. Your views and any additional information you can provide, will help develop a finalised strategy that also responds to these broader issues. We encourage anyone involved in food growing across the city to respond to the public consultation. The consultation period will run from 27th November and closes on 18th January 2021. Edinburgh’s first Food Growing Strategy is due to be published in early 2021.
Take part in the Food Growing Strategy consultation here.
Visit our Food Growing Strategy page to see details of public consultation engagement events near you.