Food, Farming and Countryside Commission

The North East: what works here? Findings from the Citizen Advisory Council's inquiry for the Food Strategy.

Read the report and watch the film ffcc.co.uk/the-north-ea...

⚖️ But infrastructure gaps & social inequality, rooted in the region’s industrial past, are hampering growth.

This week, citizens are heading to Westminster to meet with DEFRA minister Angela Eagle and other MPs from the inquiry locations to present their findings. Watch this space... 👀

💡 Community organisations are finding innovative ways to tackle social issues through food – like helping get ex-offenders into employment, improving health through recipe boxes, and addressing root causes of food insecurity.

Some key insights...

🤝 Partnerships are helping regional food businesses to grow, creating jobs, getting good food to local people, and helping regenerate high streets and rural areas.

Regional pride & community resilience at heart of the North East’s food system ❤️

Last but not least, a new film and report from the fourth and final ‘What Works Here Inquiry’ on food in the 📍 North East.

Watch the film & read the report ffcc.co.uk/the-north-ea...

📅Next week, CAC members will meet with DEFRA's Angela Eagle (MP for Wallasey) to share insights from inquiries across the country and discuss what they think should feed into the government’s new Food Strategy.

🔗More on the Liverpool & Merseyside Inquiry here: ffcc.co.uk/liverpool-me...

🍓Everyone eats and food is something that connects us all. Here, Citizen Advisory Council members Keira and Cathie, Squash Liverpool’s Anita Welsh and Councillor Jane Corbett talk about why citizens and communities need a real say in shaping the policies that affect them.

dancardenmp.bsky.social

💥“No more making decisions about us without us.”

➡️Report & film: ffcc.co.uk/liverpool-me...

lpoolcouncil.bsky.social lpoolcityregion.bsky.social kindlingtrust.bsky.social alchemickitchen.bsky.social lucyantal.bsky.social feedingliverpool.org anneliesemidgleymp.bsky.social kimjohnsonmp.bsky.social

Liverpool & Merseyside: what works here? Findings from the Citizen Advisory Council's inquiry for the Food Strategy.

Citizens will be meeting with Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Secretary @angelaeagle1.bsky.social, MP for Wallasey in Merseyside, next week to discuss their findings from inquiries across the country.

🚨Read the report and find out more: ffcc.co.uk/liverpool-me...

📈 Good food should be good business, and those businesses should be rewarded, rather than businesses that prioritise profit over health....

@alderhey.nhs.uk @scousescene.bsky.social @exploreliverpool.bsky.social

💔 Local food partnerships rely on goodwill and short-term support, rather than the secure footing needed to drive change - grant funding dependency means food projects are set up to collapse....

🗺️ High streets are filling with fast food and vape shops while good food businesses struggle - local planning has a role to make sure healthy food is easy to access....

🍽️ Food deserts persist because the physical links – transport, markets, distribution – between where food is grown and where people live are missing or underfunded...

@paulabarkermp.bsky.social @ianbyrnemp.bsky.social @sfoodbanks.bsky.social

Today, a new film and report from the third ‘What Works Here Inquiry’ in 📍Liverpool & Merseyside is out, coordinated by @feedingliverpool.org. Some key findings from the citizens who led the inquiry:...

@anneliesemidgleymp.bsky.social @kimjohnsonmp.bsky.social @dancardenmp.bsky.social

💪 In Liverpool & Merseyside, people are building their own solutions to get good food to communities.

➡️Find the report & film here: ffcc.co.uk/liverpool-me...

@lpoolcouncil.bsky.social @lpoolcityregion.bsky.social @kindlingtrust.bsky.social @alchemickitchen.bsky.social @lucyantal.bsky.social

Why do some communities have easy access to organic eggs, while others have easy access to blueberry vapes and cherry vodka?

Dominic reflects on visiting food projects in #Yorkshire as part of a citizen-led inquiry

Report out now! foodfoundation.org.uk/news/whats-d...

@ffc-commission.bsky.social

🥦As a member of the Citizen Advisory Council, she is bringing those everyday realities directly into the policymaking process to help shape Defra’s new Food Strategy.

👉Read Rebecca’s story: ffcc.co.uk/field-guide-...

➡️Citizens are helping to shape Food Strategy: ffcc.co.uk/food-strategy

🍟Rebecca speaks about the pressures families face: tight budgets, limited time and a food environment saturated with ultra-processed convenience products – resulting in a system that makes healthy choices harder than they should be.

🍎Working with schools across the country, Rebecca sees first-hand how many children rely on school lunches as their most consistent meal of the day. Yet school food is still too often underfunded and undervalued. For Rebecca, that’s not just a policy gap – it’s a fairness issue.

🩶In our latest #FieldGuideForTheFuture, Rebecca – a mum, food educator and Citizen Advisory Council member – shares why good school food and lived experience must be at the heart of food policy.

🗣️“We need policies that make nutritious food the easy choice, not the hardest one”

🛋️Read Citizen Advisory Council member Rebecca's Field Guide here: ffcc.co.uk/field-guide-...

➰See how the Citizen Advisory Council are helping to shape Defra's new Food Strategy: ffcc.co.uk/food-strategy

York & North Yorkshire: what works here? A citizen-led inquiry for the Food Strategy

The full findings will help inform the new Food Strategy, with citizens meeting with Defra Secretary Angela Eagle and other politicians next month to discuss this work.

➡️Watch the film, read the report & find out more: ffcc.co.uk/yorkshire-wh...

@ynyca.bsky.social @lukecharters.bsky.social

🎒 Great work is already happening in the region, including the auto-enrolment of children for #freeschoolmeals, which citizens think could be rolled out elsewhere

🌱 Local farm businesses are struggling to compete in a system dominated by multinational corporations – but local procurement could be a way forward

@keirmathermp.bsky.social

Citizens heard from leaders across the food system, including Mayor @davidskaith.bsky.social and found:

⚡Strong devolved and joined-up leadership on food is having a real and positive impact on people living and working in Yorkshire

Yorkshire leading the way on food 💡

Today, a new film and report from the second ‘What Works Here Inquiry’ in York & North Yorkshire is out, coordinated by ‪Deliciously Yorkshire and ‪FixOurFood.

👉Film & report here: ffcc.co.uk/yorkshire-wh...

@ynymayor.bsky.social @ynydeputymayor.bsky.social

KFC, Nando's, and others ditch chicken welfare pledge as demand soars Wingstop, Burger King, and others have walked away from an industry commitment to avoid using fast-growing chickens

🍎Citizens are also clear: they want government to hold large food businesses to account – rather than relying on promises that can be dropped when commercial pressures intensify.

👉BBC article: www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

➡️What citizens really want from food: ffcc.co.uk/food-strategy

🌿In FFCC’s work with citizens across the UK, people consistently say that high animal welfare standards are important to them – they want good quality, healthy and sustainable food from British farmers who are paid a fair wage.

‼️It’s also yet another reminder that self-regulation doesn’t work, despite repeated claims by the food industry that there’s no need for strong government intervention. As soon as profit margins are threatened, commitments are quickly revised or abandoned.

🏭Industrial and factory farming doesn’t just fall short on animal welfare – it’s responsible for widespread damage to our rivers and natural environment – and doesn’t reflect the kind of food and farming system that citizens and farmers want in the UK.