Publication
Community food initiatives in Scotland: activities and issues
| Contents: | 1. Introduction 2. Research methods 3. Small group discussions 4. Telephone interview 5. Conclusions 6. References Summary |
5. Conclusions
Clearly Community Food Initiatives are continuing to grow and flourish throughout Scotland. A wide range of projects are on-going and new developments are planned. The enthusiasm, experience and motivation of people in local communities in raising funds, identifying premises, finding staff and marketing services is impressive.
It is apparent that problems relating to funding (initial, continuing and development) remain a major barrier to further development of projects within all areas of work. Issues such as staffing, venues and marketing appear universal challenges throughout all project categories. Some work on training appears to have developed and some further contact with retailers has been established .
The total number of projects still remain relatively small and can only ever be used by a tiny proportion of the population who may benefit from increased access to good quality food at reasonable prices, locally grown fruits and vegetables, community cafes, breakfast initiatives, lunch clubs and improved cookery skills. Many of the general food and health work carried out by health promotions or community development and others help to foster interest and focus on food, hopefully paving the way to make dietary change more acceptable.
Networking at a local or national level does seem to help initiate and develop activities. Many projects reported contacting the Scottish Community Diet Project or referred to information from Fare Choice.
It is likely that all of these projects help some of the most disadvantaged in our communities to attain food choices for the benefit of their physical health, although direct evidence is almost completely absent and evaluation of such work is long overdue. Health is more than just physical well -being and increasingly the discussion groups have provided information on the wider psychological, social and community benefits of these food projects. Many provide a route to gnawing at the environmental causes of ill-health such as poor shopping facilities, poor provision for young people to meet, poor educational opportunities, poor employment prospects and help to promote local action for local people.
The work of these projects alone will never deal with the reasons for poor dietary choices in Scots, but they provide local opportunities to address local issues and raise awareness of food issues. The expansion of all types of community food initiative work is to be welcomed providing continued networking, support and advice is available.
The implementation of The Scottish Diet Action Plan remains an on-going process, community food activities have been documented and the need to relate to other players in the food chain identified. Further development to improve the diet of Scots in low income communities will need networking between retailers, caterers , local authorities and others to assist the difficult process of dietary change.
Ultimately, community food initiatives and actions by other agencies in the food chain will have most effect when combined
“within a framework which recognises, and focuses on, the underlying social, economic and environmental circumstances which influence health”
Working together for a healthier Scotland- The Scottish Office- Department of Health, 1998