Sustain and Sustainable Food Places are hosting a session to support food partnerships and other organisations who want to influence planning in their areas to deliver healthier and more sustainable food systems. This event is for food partnerships and other organisations that have so far not considered how local planning policies affect the food environment, or want to be better equipped with skills and approaches.

In this session, you will:

• better understand how the planning system works and affects the food system
• find out how planning can unlock a healthier food environment
• learn how planning can address the climate & nature emergency and river pollution

Who is this session for:

This session is for food partnerships and other organisations that have so far not considered how local planning policies affect the food environment, or want to be better equipped to influence planning. Attendees based in rural and periurban areas, especially those in river catchments or areas with a high presence of industrial scale farming, will especially benefit from the final portion of the programme.

Programme and speakers

• Planning for a good food environment (Gillian Morgan, Sustain): an introduction to local plan making and the role of Sustainable Food Places in unlocking a healthy food environment
• Local perspective – Sheffield (Ben Arnold, Sheffield City Council & Gareth Roberts, Regather): Contributing to Sheffield Local Plan consultation, submission content, achievements and outcomes
• Q&A
• Discussion: Local experiences, areas with Local Plans open for consultations, upcoming opportunities
• Planning for the Planet (Ruth Westcott, Sustain): Local councils have the power to support nature friendly farming, tackle river pollution and protect wildlife through planning – but are they using these powers, and how can SFPs help?
• Q&A and discussion

Before the session:

• Is there a local plan consultation ongoing in your area right now? When is the next consultation due? Follow this link to find out how to find out: https://www.sustainweb.org/planning/how_to_get_involved/
• Check out Sustain’s online toolkit Planning Food Cities which helps communities use the town planning system to achieve a more sustainable food system.
• Sign up for a monthly newsletter for updates on food in planning https://www.sustainweb.org/planning/