Local Peoples Food Forum

We believe food is a right and the food system should be focused on meeting the needs of people and planet.

We are part of the food sovereignty movement.

Local People’s Food Forum Manifesto

Who we are

We are a network of different individuals/ groups in Waltham Forest who are actively involved in practical initiatives to make our food system work better for local people, the environment and the local economy.

Our network is a horizontal association. We meet to connect and support each other, within our community. We share information and skills and decide on the next practical steps for the network.

What we believe

• Food is a right and the food system should be focused on meeting the needs of people and planet.
• Food can be a tool for change and can unite people of all backgrounds, faiths and class.
• The current industrial food system is environmentally unsustainable, socially unjust and has created huge food inequality in our borough – we will offer a challenge to these exploitative practices at the local level. Growing food is important to have a better relationship with food, to improve health, to reduce food waste and to increase our connection with nature.
• Children and young people should be inspired to make good food choices both in and out of school.
• We work towards a world where everyone has access to affordable high quality, nutritious, local food produced in a low impact way.
• We endorse the ‘food sovereignty’ principles, as declared at Nyeleni.

We exist to:

• Provide a space for people active in food projects in Waltham Forest, to provide moral and practical support, aid and inspiration.
• Facilitate the exchange of ideas and information within the network and to the public.
• To increase community food activities and initiatives, for example through education, awareness raising, lobbying, campaigning and direct action.
• Facilitate the creation of local ‘food partnerships’ (formal or informal) where these can help meet our aims.
• Promote more creative and sustainable forms of food production (especially organic).
• Enable people to have sufficient good food and promote more equitable forms of food distribution.
• Promote and enable food waste reduction by businesses and individuals, including redistributing unavoidable food surplus.
• Promote food sovereignty at the local level, and will seek to align ourselves with other groups and networks and the regional, national and international level that share our goals.

We will campaign to ensure:

• Everyone has access to high quality, nutritious and low impact food that they can afford, and that Waltham Forest Council prioritises this and the necessary infrastructure to support this aim when implementing its food strategy.
• Waltham Forest Council provides practical, logical and financial support to enable communities in the borough to begin the process of taking back control of our food system.
• Waltham Forest Council and other statutory bodies, where relevant, make available resources to support education, training and skill-sharing in food growing and food storage and preparation.

Who we are

We are a network of different individuals and groups in Waltham Forest who are actively involved in practical initiatives to make our food system work better for local people, the environment and the local economy.

Our network is a horizontal association. We meet to connect and support each other, within our community. We share information and skills and decide on the next practical steps for the network.

The forum has a low traffic email list for people to share ideas and updates. To get on the list, email: mel@organiclea.org.uk