Bristol is in the running for up to €5 million of competition cash to “spark a local food revolution”.
The English city has been named among 21 on a European shortlist for the Bloomberg Philanthropies Mayors Challenge Award, which is handing out prizes of between €1m and €5m for EU cities proposing “bold and innovative solutions to urban challenges”.
Bristol’s proposal is the ‘Learn, Grow, Eat Revolution’, a project to bring healthy and affordable local food to residents who need it most.
The idea was put forward by Mark Goodway, founder and charity director of The Matthew Tree Project, a Bristol-based charity addressing the underlying causes of poverty in the UK. Goodway developed the idea working with a range of local organisations, including the Better Food Company/Chew Valley Community Farm, FareShare South West,Bristol councillors Gus Hoyt and Daniella Radice and Mayor George Ferguson.
The plan supports and encourages people from less advantaged areas to buy and cook fresh healthy food in order to maintain a healthy nutritious diet. It aims to overcome traditional barriers including the availability and cost of good food.
The project also supports Bristol’s status as European Green Capital 2015 by supporting sustainable local food production and reducing food miles.
If successful in winning funding, the council says it would work with local people to further encourage and support food growing and production while also making local produce far more available to a wide range of communities.By working in partnership with local growers and providers across the city, the council says it would introduce several new outlets in areas that currently have limited access to this type of local food for residents to purchase affordable local produce from.
These will be tested and explored in a range of venues such as children’s centres, standalone kiosks and “pop-up shops”, and include opportunities to taste and learn through cookery demos and fun cooking events.
“Good food is at the heart of a healthy lifestyle and should be available to everyone, irrespective of where they live or how much they earn,” said Mayor Ferguson. “This proposal would make good, affordable, local food an absolute reality for many of Bristol’s most disadvantaged areas, especially for those currently fighting food poverty.
“Our shortlisting for this award is a tangible recognition of the vision and capability of the council to initiate change.If we are successful, I hope that this award will help us to tackle the vital issue of health and wealth inequality and share this learning with others.”
The winner of the competition will be announced in the autumn. Alongside the overall winner of €5m, four runners up will also receive €1m each and support to implement and share learning on their projects.
