Stepping Towards a More Sustainable Food City

Over the past year, Swansea Environmental Forum has been supporting an active group of individuals and representatives of several partners organisations that share a passion and vision for transforming the food system in Swansea and the south-west Wales region.

In Spring 2021, concern was raised by a small group of people that felt food production and consumption was not a high enough priority in conversations and consultations linked to the climate and nature emergencies. An informal Food Resilience Group was formed and started to hold regular evening meetings to discuss how to raise the profile of food systems, get it on the agenda of key organisations and partnerships, and push for a more strategic approach for a healthier, fairer and greener food system – better for people and the planet.
The group has engaged with a huge range of individuals, organisations and projects involved in many different aspects of the food system and have been exploring the Sustainable Food Places scheme as a useful mechanism for moving things forward.

On the 30th March, with support from 4theRegion, Swansea University, SEF and other partners, the group, now operating under the banner of Bwyd Abertawe, is hosting a Food Forum: bringing together around 80 stakeholders to take the first step in the Sustainable Food Places process – developing a vision for food in Swansea. The hope is that funding will then be secured to employ a coordinator to help setup a formal partnership to oversee the journey towards becoming a more Sustainable Food Place.