In 2014, Belfast was selected as one of just six cities in the UK to share in one million pounds of funding to be invested in improving food culture and support its efforts to become a Sustainable Food City. In partnership with Belfast City Council, Sustainable NI made a successful application to become one of the founding members of the Sustainable Food Cities Network.
The Network aims to make healthy and sustainable food a defining characteristic of a city, using it to address some of today’s most pressing social, economic and environmental problems including dietary health, food poverty and climate change. The funding allowed Sustainable NI to appoint a dedicated officer to work with many other local partners to transform access to local, affordable and sustainable food for people across the city.
The Belfast Food Network project has been managed by Sustainable NI and the Project Co-ordinator, Kerry Melville, has worked with over 50 organisations to develop the project.
In March 2016, we secured Sustainable Food City status for Belfast with our carefully researched application, which reflected the plethora of projects and activities taking place across the city, covering the award’s six different themes.
For more information about the Belfast Food Network, see www.belfastfoodnetwork.org.