How and what to measure basedon the London experience

Sustainable Food Cities

Kath Dalmeny, Policy Director, Sustain – also member of the London Food Board

• Food growing: 1,300 new community food growing spaces in London, created towards a target of 2,012, with over 45,000 participants and volunteers, and establishing 50 community beehives

• Good food in schools: 20 boroughs serve food in schools to at least Bronze Food for Life standard, with 4 committing to Silver standard.

• Healthy and sustainable food procurement: £6 million of public sector catering will now now be spent on sustainable food (£1.4m agreed, with several more large contracts to come).

• Sustainable food supply: £20 million of new business created for UK fruit and vegetable producers through the wholesale markets.

• London 2012: 14 million meals for the London 2012 Olympics will be covered by healthy and sustainable food standards, including British and seasonal food, Fairtrade, verifiably sustainable fish, and a proportion of higher welfare and organic food.

• Sustainable fish: Caterers serving over 100 million meals per year have adopted the Sustainable Fish City standards, plus 15 universities serving over 200,000 people, plus Central Government Buying Standards, serving over 400,000 people.

• Fairtrade food: 22 boroughs are Fairtrade - London is the biggest Fairtrade city in the world. • Good food training: 2,500 people who work in catering (particularly schools and hospitals) have

been trained in healthy and sustainable food.• Good food in restaurants: over 500 food outlets have joined the Sustainable Restaurant

Association (not all in London) and taken specific actions on food sustainability.

• Spatial planning: Farming, community food growing and support for local retail are embedded in the London Plan – the statutory framework for borough planning decisions.

• Food strategy: There is an active food strategy, an implementation plan, enthusiastic staff, money.

Measurable progress so far…

Borough committed to creating food growing spaces with Capital Growth

Borough making good progress towards supporting community food growing

Borough not yet making significant progress to support community food growing

What are London Boroughs doingfor community food growing?

2011 datadetailed measures available

2011 dataevaluation available

What are London Boroughs doingto improve school food?

Borough committed to Silver Food for Life catering in schools

Borough achieving Bronze Food for Life catering in schools

Borough not yet taking significant action on school food standards

Borough taking at least two significant actions on sustainable fish

Borough taking one significant action on sustainable fish

Borough not yet taking significant action on sustainable fish

What are London Boroughs doingfor sustainable fish?

2011 datameasurements in process

2011 dataspecific commitments / progress available

What are London Boroughs doingto support Fairtrade?

Borough having achieved Fairtrade status

Borough making good progress towards Fairtrade status

Borough not yet taking significant progress towards Fairtrade status

• Childhood obesity: boroughs taking specific steps to address childhood obesity; ideas in development with London Health Improvement Board

• Healthier Catering Commitment: uptake of CIEH standards, with support of environmental health officers

• Catering standards: uptake of the London 2012 Food Vision standards, working with the new Food Legacy programme, certification bodies, Food for Life, Sustainable Restaurant Association and others

• Animal welfare: borough catering gaining a Compassion in World Farming Good Egg Award

• Food waste: food waste collection, saved food redistribution, e.g. FareShare• Access to fruit & veg: number of street market stalls selling fruit and

vegetables per thousand population, working with NABMA• Markets and retail diversity: borough support for markets and small shops• Working conditions: boroughs adopting the Living Wage; proportion of

public sector catering staff trained in healthy and sustainable food• Public procurement: boroughs participating in collective food purchasing to

achieve sustainable food and cost efficiencies• Food safety: percentage of businesses achieving top food safety ratings• Planning: boroughs including food and farming in local planning policy

Other measurable progress we are looking at…

The convening power of food: Another measure is what these organisations get out of their involvement, and what more they can be helped to achieve.

• Importance: Would action on this issue make a significant difference?• Action: Are there straightforward, practical actions that institutions can take to join in? • Support available: Is there an organisation that will enthusiastically champion the

cause and help to achieve, measure and celebrate progress?• Progress: Can we set a “gold standard” for the measure, but also bronze and silver? • Simplicity: Is it simple to collect the data? Can it be built in to someone’s job?• Target: Is the measure pitched at the type of organisation that most needs to act?• Audience: Who are you trying to convince? Are you talking their language / priorities?• Accessibility: Can the result be communicated easily? Does it make common sense?

Will it make a good graphic? Will it make people feel proud and motivated to join in?

• Bigger picture: Are there some critical measures that everyone should be tracking? (e.g. school meal uptake? free school meal uptake?)

• Climate change: How do we build food and climate change measures into this?• Race to the top: Can one region, council, institution or sector be rated against others?

Would a bit of competition help?• Tackling big companies: How do we address food issues we believe to be beyond

local authority control, such as supermarkets, national fast-food chains, BOGOFs and junk food promotions? Or can we in fact take action?

• Permanent change: Indicators of progress are OK; how do we achieve permanence?

Some questions to ask about what to measure…