Food Issues Census 2017

Rosina Borrelli, IFSTAL Workplace Engagement Lead, who recently attended the launch of the 2017 Food Issues Census, shares her thoughts from the launch event.

The 2017 Food Issues Census, conducted by the Food Ethics Council, provides an overview of the work of civil society organisations working on food and farming in the UK. The results were based on 138 organisations who responded to the census survey

This is the second survey of civil society organisations operating in the space of food and farming, which was last published in 2011.

The key findings of the survey, as outlined by the Food Ethics Council are:

One in five civil society organisations working in food and farming relies on European Union funding;
Food poverty moved from 15th place in 2011 to 2nd in 2016 in terms of number of organisations working on the issue;
However, food poverty was the issue that the largest number of respondents said needed more funding;
41% of respondents said the government was the biggest hindrance to addressing food and farming issues;
The environment was the top motivation for the majority of CSOs who responded to the survey.

The launch event took place on 6 March 2017 in London hosted at the Kings Cross Hub run by Dan Crossley and the team at the Food Ethics Council who wrote the final report.

Many of the survey respondees were represented at the the launch and the afternoon was an opportunity to see the headlines of the report and work together on some key issues.

Professor Corinna Hawkes (Director of the Centre for Food Policy, City University, London) provided the closing keynote lecture and referenced her own experiences in the US and beyond.

The whole presentation and a highlights video have now been released and contextualise some of the rest of the material on the site. The full report is also available to download.

For IFSTAL participants and those interested in working in the food system the findings give a real flavour of the size and shape of the organisations involved and what binds them but also what keeps them unique.

Even for those venturing into the private and public sectors post studies, these organisations represent key collaborative partners to make change happen.