Lancaster district's ‘remarkable’ national food award win

The Sustainable Food Places (SFP) Awards recognize towns, cities, boroughs, and counties in the UK that take a holistic, cross-sector approach to transforming their local food systems.

North Lancashire – which includes Lancaster, Morecambe and Heysham, Carnforth and the Lune Valley – received a Silver award in 2023, enabled by north Lancashire’s FoodFutures partnership and backed by Lancaster City Council.

The ‘North Lancashire is Golden campaign’ has run since with partnership-wide backing, supported by the FoodFutures working groups and more than 20 ‘gold pledges’, which have been shared on Youtube.

FoodFutures submitted North Lancashire’s Gold application over the summer following a visit from representatives of the national network in July.

Jamie Murphy, chair of FoodFutures North Lancashire, said: “This is such an amazing achievement and a tribute to all the hard work from everyone involved in our partnership.

“The Sustainable Food Places assessors rightly pointed out the accessible nature and diversity of the communities that make up our partnership, and it’s been a pleasure to work alongside many of them.

“This is a true grassroots partnership.

“I’m particularly excited by the recognition of our Food Circle model and how it brings people together to create real, regenerative change.

“I’m looking forward to seeing how the Gold Award may help our partnership and these change-making concepts and projects develop in the future."

The food partnership will now host a special event at the Platform in Morecambe on November 29 to celebrate the award and the many organisations and people that have contributed to it.

North Lancashire joins Oxfordshire, Aberdeen, Brighton & Hove, Bristol, Cambridge, Cardiff and Middlesbrough in achieving the highest award offered by the national Sustainable Food Places network.

SFP assessors were particularly struck by three elements of north Lancashire’s gold application: building a food movement that enables diverse communities and sectors to participate, joining up food justice with a stronger local food economy, and building relationships and infrastructure that make change last.

The assessors said that projects such as Food Circles, Local Food for Local People, Gather, FarmStart and Summerhouse Community Farm increasingly form parts of the same system rather than separate projects.

“Across their projects,” they said, “a depth of critical and curious thinking about the way the local food system could be reimagined and rebalanced to enable more people to access land, resources, skills and fresh local produce.”

Paul Hart, Lancaster city councillor and cabinet member for environmental services, said: “Achieving Gold status is a remarkable accomplishment and a testament to the passion, commitment and collaboration that exists across north Lancashire.

“This award recognises years of hard work by community groups, volunteers, growers, businesses and partner organisations who share a vision of a healthier, fairer and more sustainable local food system.

“Lancaster City Council is proud to have supported the FoodFutures partnership on this journey and we are delighted to see north Lancashire recognised as a national leader in sustainable food.”

Chloe Smee, programme lead for Sustainable Food Places, said: “Sustainable Food Places is delighted to award north Lancashire a Gold Award - only the eighth place in the country to achieve this badge of honour.

“Across the Sustainable Food Places network, we’re learning from north Lancashire’s example: how patient, collaborative work can help good ideas take root in communities and grow into lasting change that creates a food system that is healthier for everyone.”

The FoodFutures partnership is an alliance of organisations and individuals that seek to bring about the vision of a “thriving local food system that is healthy, resilient and fair” and the ideas laid out in Our Food Futures: A community food strategy for north Lancashire.

LESS (Lancaster District) CIC currently holds the secretariat for the FoodFutures partnership and employs a number of staff that support the development of the Our Food Futures community strategy for North Lancashire.

FoodFutures’ annual series of events for 2027 currently includes a Strategy Day on February 24, Spring Into Action from April 19 to 30, and Share the Harvest in September.

It also organises an annual programme of training and events, including the Growing Food and Community training programme.

Anna Clayton, FoodFutures coordinator, said: “This Gold Award marks and celebrates the work of many people and organisations working around food systems issues in north Lancashire over more than a decade. Amazing!

"It's a privilege to have been part of the journey and I look forward to celebrating this work in November and beyond in 2027.

"I am also curious to see how this Gold award can be leveraged to continue building the food resilience and sovereignty of north Lancashire.

Joel Stewart, Lancaster District Food Justice Partnership development worker, said: “It's brilliant that north Lancashire has been recognised with the Gold Sustainable Food Places award, and it is testament to all the people in food clubs and the wider network who are doing, and have done for many years, fantastic work to create a just and sustainable local food system.

“This award comes at a really exciting time for Lancaster District Food Justice Partnership, as we continue developing new and existing Food Circles that empower people to connect, learn, build resilience, share and eat well.

“It also comes at a time of acute food insecurity for many in our communities, making shared and accessible spaces for growing, composting, cooking and eating all the more vital. Congratulations to everyone involved across north Lancashire, and thank you for your invaluable work.”