The Cork Food Policy Council has initiated a public consultation to shape a sustainable and healthy food policy for Cork, aimed at creating a resilient and inclusive local food system. The ambitious plans were announced yesterday evening at the Cork on a Fork Festival, during an event held at Good Day Deli in Nano Nagle Place.

The initiative seeks to influence local food policies, promote knowledge, skills, and experience related to food, and advocate for community food initiatives that improve access to quality food. The final plan will outline practical steps Cork can take to support a fairer, healthier, and more sustainable food system. The consultation phase, now open to the public, invites feedback on what “A Resilient and Local Food System for Cork” might look like. Contributions can be made at consult.corkcity.ie.

Established in 2014, the Cork Food Policy Council is a partnership that includes representatives from the local community, food retail, farmers, restaurants and catering sectors, education, environmental and health sectors, and Cork City Council.

This policy work comes at a critical time when both global and local food systems are under severe pressure from challenges such as climate change, obesity, malnourishment, and food insecurity. With Cork City’s population expected to rise to 330,000 by 2040, the city faces significant challenges in ensuring a sustainable food system, especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, ongoing global conflicts, and the over-reliance on food imports.

Ireland is committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 20% by 2020, with Cork City aiming for a 30% reduction by 2030. The Cork Food Policy Council’s efforts are aligned with these goals, seeking to address the environmental and health impacts of the current food systems.

Dr Janas Harrington, Chair of the Cork Food Policy Council, expressed the urgency of local action:

Cork City Council’s commitment to carbon neutrality by 2030 reveals a commitment paired with an urgency for local action to address the current unsustainable food practices driven by national policy in Ireland with local action to help to improve the situation. She added, Attaining a population-based diet consistent with a sustainable diet requires major and rapid population-level changes given that unsustainable food systems producing unhealthy diets are the global norm and inflict the double burden of being bad for human health and bad for the environment.

Cork City has recently joined the Horizon Europe FEAST project on sustainable local food systems development. This project, involving 11 other European cities, will support the implementation of Cork’s food policy and assist in developing a Sustainable Food Hub for the city, providing new entrant organic farmers with access to land, infrastructure, facilities, and educational resources.

Denise Cahill, Coordinator of Cork Healthy Cities, highlighted the broader implications of the initiative:

Changing diets and access to affordable healthy food have huge public health and environmental implications. Food production is also a major contributor to biodiversity loss, freshwater use, change in land use and deforestation. Meanwhile, many urban residents still struggle to access healthy food. We will be reaching out to stakeholders and communities across the city in the coming months to inform our plans.

The public is encouraged to participate in shaping this vital food policy to ensure that Cork’s future food system is both sustainable and inclusive for all.