Inspiration on the Menu at Fife Food Summit

Our Media Volunteer Barbara attended the Fife Food Summit on Tuesday 22nd June and she shares what happened and her main take away from the event in her latest blog. 

On Tuesday, I attended Fife Food Summit, an online event created in partnership with Nourish Scotland, Fife Council and Greener Kirkcaldy as part of the Climate Action Fife project.   

The event featured dozens of workshops, events, panel discussions and Q&A sessions, discussing topics like:

• Growing and processing food
• Distributing food
• Reducing food waste
• Local and sustainable food 

The aim of the summit was to bring people together across businesses, communities, organisations to discuss how we can make changes to the way we grow, produce and access food, for the benefit of the community, the economy and the planet as a whole.  I checked out some of the expo booths:

NHS Fife

NHS Fife are adopting a ‘Whole Systems Approach’ tackling high levels of obesity across Fife.  The presentation looked at some of the social and environmental factors which can lead to people becoming overweight or obese and highlighted the fact that there is no one single cause.  The aim is to focus on how businesses, communities and individuals can all play a part in tackling the problem. They aim to bring people and organisations together to come up with an action plan.

Food For Life, Scotland, ‘Putting more Scottish Food on the Table’

Head of Catering at Fife Council discussed increasing the amount of locally produced food across schools and nurseries in Scotland.  The discussion looked at the benefits of choosing local suppliers, including healthier foods, higher animal welfare standards, sustainably-produced foods and using fewer miles transporting food.

Greener Kirkcaldy

Greener Kirkcaldy highlighted their community-led projects which aim to help people across Kirkcaldy eat well, save energy and reduce their carbon footprint.  The presentation looked at some of our main projects including the Lang Spoon Kitchen where people can learn to cook, eat locally and reduce their food waste; the Community Garden which is growing locally and sustainably and the Community Fridge which gives businesses and individuals a place to redistribute food which has passed its sell-by date, thereby reducing food waste. 

Soil Association

Farmers discussed some of the challenges and the benefits of tall grass grazing.  The technique lets grass grow longer and encourages livestock to graze for short periods of time on the grass, and then allows the soil time to recover.  The process creates healthier, more nutritious pasture with a more diverse range of plants and flowers, giving livestock more choice, and a healthier, more diverse diet.  The flowering plants also attract small mammals, bees and birds, encouraging biodiversity.

These were just a few of the events featured as part of the Food Summit.  The event is part of  Fife Council’s Climate Change/Zero Waste Team’s ‘Vision for Fife’.  Their vision is to create a sustainable ‘climate and friendly food partnership’ and this event was to bring people together to discuss ideas and inspire change.

What did I take away from this Event?

What we eat, how we access food, where our food comes from and how its produced, all have a significant effect on our health and wellbeing, and there is an inextricable link between our health and the health of the planet.  We can all get involved in making changes to the way in which we access food, which will not only improve our own health but also the future of our planet.