A new programme is seeking to ease food insecurity while testing an approach that offers food support within community hubs.
The two-year programme, which has received £200,000 of investment from Devon County Council’s (DCC) Public Health and Communities Directorate, is being led by Devon Community Foundation (DCF). It aims to test key themes of DCF and DCC’s 2024 research The Face of Food Insecurity in Devon. This research highlighted the chronic nature of food insecurity within the county and the potential benefits of placing food support in locations that also offer other related services and advice.
The aim of the programme is to further develop understanding of the sustainability of food hub models and their potential role in connecting communities, particularly families experiencing chronic food insecurity, with other forms of support.
Following a strong field of applications, start-up grants have been awarded to five projects:
- Project Food in Axminster
- Nourishing Dartmoor, a partnership between Wellmoor and Knead to Connect
- Stepping Stones Totnes CIC in Bridgetown
- Love Food CIC in Exeter
- A new cooking and eating hub at Queen Elizabeth School in Crediton led by Involve Voluntary Action in Mid Devon
The projects will deliver a variety of initiatives to help alleviate food insecurity, increase positive eating practices and build skills including;
- Provision of food boxes, frozen meals, affordable food clubs and social supermarkets
- Community larders, cafés, allotments, cook along events, swap shops, foraging walks and breakfast clubs for school children
- Cooking lessons, courses and online cookery content
In addition to grant funding, the programme will provide facilitated group learning, capacity building training and development, sharing of best practice and evaluation. Further support will be provided by Devon County Council’s Public Health team to facilitate food hub connection with wider services and from the Devon Food Partnership Food Insecurity sub-group where updates on progress will be shared.
Nicola Frost, head of Impact, Insight and Learning at Devon Community Foundation, said: ‘This programme is an important opportunity to support an evidence-based approach to investment in our voluntary, community and social enterprise sector’s response to the challenge of household food insecurity in our communities. But we are also keen to understand how the funding and support of community hubs might provide a blueprint for future collaborative work with public sector agencies more generally.’