Media Release – Bridport Food Security Plan
A Food Security Plan for Bridport
Bridport Town Council (BTC) has secured support from the Dorset AONB Sustainable Development Fund to produce a food security plan for the town and surrounding rural area. BTC will be working with the Landworkers Alliance and Bridport Food Matters over the coming months to gather data and define actions that would ensure our community has access to healthy, nutritious and high welfare food, and that we can all benefit from the best of local produce.
Food prices have reached a 46 year high; the price of a weekly basket of adequately nutritious food has increased by 24-26% since April 2022. In January 2023, for example, more than nine million adults in the UK (17.7% of households) experienced food insecurity. Currently we import 32% of our fruit and vegetables from areas defined as climate vulnerable, and 54% from countries likely to face high water scarcity by 2040, threatening the resilience of our supply chains. British farmers urgently need better protection and support to produce the healthy, sustainable fruit and vegetables we need for a nutritious diet, while restoring biodiversity and capturing carbon.
The ambition is to publish a Bridport Food Security Plan by December 2023, a first for a small market town, and for the plan to shape the ongoing review of the Bridport Climate Emergency Action Plan.
Bridport food security plan will explore the steps required to shift our local food system toward greater resilience. It will cover:
- Food security –how to secure a reliable supply of healthy, fairly traded, and nutritious food and ensure everyone can afford it;
- How to best use our land to create resilient, climate and nature friendly farming;
- How to support local horticulture and make it easier for everyone to eat more fruit and veg;
- A fair deal for farmers and farm workers;
- How to rebalance prices, availability and marketing so that nutritious food is the easiest choice for everyone;
- Setting core environmental and animal welfare standards for domestic food and imports alike.
To find out more about work on food security and the review of the Climate Emergency Action Plan see: Climate Action Plan Under Review – Bridport Town Council (bridport-tc.gov.uk)
Or contact, [email protected]
