Bedford Borough Council to discuss Food Strategy

At tonight's Executive Meeting, Mayor Dave Hodgson and Councillors will adopt a short term action plan and support the development of a 'whole system' long term Food Strategy.

The Food Strategy will champion access to healthy food, with a focus on children and young people and those from socially excluded and deprived communities.

Mayor Dave said "Coronavirus has put our health, in particular our diets, in the spotlight. The economic impact of the pandemic has given rise to further food poverty and outright hunger and in addition, obesity increases the risk of adverse outcomes for those who contract the virus. Those living in the most deprived parts of the Borough are most likely to suffer with both food poverty and be living with obesity, further widening inequalities."

Last year Bedford Borough Council and partners in the voluntary sector launched a package of support for families and households as part of a campaign to say 'No To Hunger in Bedford Borough'.

Dave added "Before the pandemic, several organisations in Bedford Borough were providing support to people at risk of hunger in the form of lunch boxes, foodbanks, financial support or provision of cooking equipment. During the pandemic Bedford Borough Council and other organisations have developed new partnerships to support more people to access food when they most need it. In addition, and pre-pandemic, work towards a healthy, nourished local population had started following comprehensive stakeholder workshops which identified actions to systematically tackle obesity."

You can find out more about the Food Strategy Report at https://www.councillorsupport.bedford.gov.uk/documents/s53869/Item%2008%20Food%20Strategy.pdf and the 'No To Hunger in Bedford Borough' campaign at https://mayordave.org.uk/en/article/2020/1386585/no-to-hunger-in-bedford-borough