The first ever London Food Strategy should be good news for the city’s wholesale markets as getting more regional fresh produce to city dwellers, particularly in more deprived areas, is a key priority.
Launching Healthy & Sustainable Food for London with London Food chair Jenny Jones, Mayor Ken Livingstone said: “If you go to the 10 poorest wards there’s not a single place where you can purchase fresh food…Obesity levels are rising and many people don’t have access to healthy and nutritious food.”
However, despite the ambitious nature of the report, which also aims to reduce the negative impact of London’s ecological footprint through supporting local producers and connecting them to the city’s markets, Jones told FPJ she thought the dominant role of supermarkets needs addressing.
Talking about the possible creation of either one central food hub or a series of sub-regional hubs to offer small businesses and caterers a one-stop-shop for their fresh goods, she said: “[The report is] radical for a city of this size but it’s not radical enough,” she said. “There have to be more links between the farmers and the customers.
“…We are very much at the mercy of supermarkets and that’s something that I think has got to change. Clearly supermarkets have such a strangle-hold.”
The strategy recognises that wholesale and retail markets continue to play a significant role in London, and remain a crucial source of supply for a growing number of small and medium-sized enterprises, small catering establishments, independent retailers and street markets.
Gary Marshall, chairman of NCG tenants’ association, said he sees the future of his market as a food centre for London: “Our grand plans [for the future development of the market] change every day but... when it comes to the food centre for London proposed by the Mayor, we are in the right place,” he said at the Re:fresh Conference.
“This is a great market and we have the space and scope to do a lot more. We are determined our market will stay where it is.”
