FoodWise Leeds is managed by Leeds Food Partnership:
“People of Leeds should have reliable access to sufficient, appropriate, and healthy food, which is safe, affordable and sustainably sourced.” (More here)
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This website was created and is managed by Leeds Food Partnership.
As the seasons change, so do the vegetables – it’s the festive season!
Download the Being FoodWise in Winter toolkit for some tasty seasonal warming recipes, tips on how to avoid food waste and also how you can help feed birds in the cold!
Enjoy all the delicious seasonal vegetables that are now available and colour in your Winter #VegRocksRainbow
Check out the Zero Waste Leeds Tips – some great tips on how to use your vegetable peels to make crisps, and leftover Christmas dinners for more yummy meals! #beingfoodwise #zerowasteleeds
Download the Being FoodWise Winter Toolkit here!
During November’s lockdown, Ministry of Food Leeds launched a series of ‘talks’, titled ‘MOF-Talks’ which looked at various food waste topics each week with a view to engage local people. These talks were hosted on Zoom, and we advertised an open invite on our Facebook page. These sessions were hosted by Yvonne Morawiec, a cookery trainer with Ministry of Food Leeds with has an enormous wealth of knowledge in deploying food waste effectively. Yvonne was also interviewed by her fellow cookery trainer, Anthony, who encouraged discussion and delivered questions from the audience.
Each week we had a great turnout of people to watch Yvonne’s talk and they brought their own ideas and questions. Yvonne presented topics such as ‘Storecupboard Essentials’, ‘Freezer Savvy’ and a special episode of ‘Grow Your Own’ which saw our biggest turnout yet! We had many people attend, from keen home cooks to amateur gardeners and growers who had plenty of tips, advice and questions to share with hosts and the audience. The atmosphere was lighthearted and jovial and all of our participants had a highly informative and social experience – a real pleasure to deliver!
Yvonne Cooking Tips from TomBliss on Vimeo.
Baby Week Leeds was inspired by Brazil’s ‘Semana do Bebe’ supported by UNICEF following a visit to the country by Churchill Fellow Lucy Potter. Leeds hosted the first English speaking Baby Week in 2016 with the support of Leeds NHS Clinical Commissioning Groups & Child Friendly Leeds. The initiative aims to bring sectors and services together to promote the best start in life. Visit babyweek.co.uk for more information about Baby Week events.
In our Healthy Start video we outline what the Healthy Start Scheme is, how you can apply and what you can buy with the vouchers, including the foods recently added to the scheme in October 2020. We also discuss how to find out which retailers accept the vouchers.
Please feel free to share the link to the video with anyone you may feel would benefit from information on Healthy Start.
The report, a collaboration between FoodWise Leeds, the University of Leeds, Lancaster University and FoodFutures (North Lancashire’s Sustainable Food Network), explores the role that anchor institutions can play in creating a better food system – one that underpins local food economies and the health of the earth’s ecosystems.
https://leedsfoodpartnership.files.wordpress.com/2020/11/ff-procurement-report-final.pdf
The reports’s key recommendations are:
For policy makers:
• Instead of guidelines, we need procurement regulation that embeds sustainability to deliver a better food system.
• Increased transparency and accessibility of data around food supply chains and food businesses is needed to support more sustainable procurement practice.
• Provide long-term investment to support public sector food procurement.
For institutions:
• Embed sustainability at the core of operations to empower and support procurement staff.
• Build links with other organisations to share expertise and knowledge around sustainable food procurement.
• Use holistic frameworks to guide food procurement principles and embed social, environmental and economic values into your policies.
• Share stories about what is being done to build wider institutional support and resources for responsible procurement.
For communities:
• Convene a food procurement working group to facilitate collaboration and knowledge-sharing between food procurement staff and local businesses.
• Look for opportunities to engage local sustainable food producers with local and national initiatives.
• Grow the local food economy so that a wide range of local, sustainably produced food is available for procurement.
• Take your values to work. Ask to see local and responsibly sourced food throughout your workplace.
Continue readingAs the seasons change, so do the vegetables – it’s pumpkin season!
Download the Being FoodWise in Autumn toolkit for some tasty seasonal pumpkin recipes, tips on how to avoid food waste and also how you can help the hedgehogs!
Enjoy all the delicious seasonal vegetables that are now available and colour in your Autumn #VegRocksRainbow
We love the Pumpkin and Raisin loaf – it’s a great way to use the scrapings from the inside of your pumpkin after carving it for Halloween! #eatyourpumpkin and avoid foodwaste!
Download the Being FoodWise Autumn Toolkit here!
There have been a number of changes this year to the Healthy Start Scheme , with some more to come in 2021. In April, legislation changed therefore the need for a health professional signature, in Part B of the form, is no longer required. The form can simply be signed by the person applying and posted off.
From the 1st October vouchers can also be spent on pulses, this means any kind of fresh, dried and tinned pulses, including but not limited to lentils, beans, peas and chickpeas but not those to which fat, salt and sugar or flavouring have been added. Tinned fruit, in its own juice or water and tinned vegetables, in water, have also been added to the list.
This is in addition to the foods originally part of the scheme: fruit and vegetables (fresh& frozen), cow’s milk and infant formula milk that can be used from birth.
We will keep you updated with further developments in the scheme as they happen.
Please find details here.
The Healthy Start Campaign page is here.
On 22nd of September, Tom Bliss and Sonja Woodcock from FoodWise Leeds (also Feed Leeds), together with Dr Paola Sakai (University of Leeds) and Andy Goldring (Permaculture Assn), submitted a Policy Brief to the Climate Emergency Advisory Committee of Leeds City Council. The brief was informed by two workshops initiated by Tom and Paola as members of The Leeds Climate Commission Resilience Working Group. The first, “Enabling a climate resilient food system in Leeds that promotes health, sustainability and food security”, took place in December 2019. It was hosted by LCC Leader Cllr Judith Blake and Professor Tim Benton of UoL and Chatham House and facilitated by Andy Goldring. The second ”A pathway for a climate-resilient, healthy and sustainable Leeds Food System”, also facilitated by Andy, took place in September 2020. Both workshops built on previous research by Feed Leeds, FoodWise Leeds and the Permaculture Association. The brief was well-received, and follow-up meetings are on-going, with further workshops planned.
The Policy Brief can be downloaded here – with further information on our Research page.
A video of the presentation can be viewed here (the item begins after one hour):
Today the Leeds Cookery School ran a test session prior to reopening for classes next week. As a member of staff I was invited to attend the session as they ran through all the social distancing measures that have been put in place. Individual work stations have been clearly laid out and the cookery staff were separated via counters and workstations. Despite the social distancing measures, the chefs were able to clearly demonstrate the cooking techniques and created an enjoyable and interactive experience. They’ve clearly put a lot of thought into this and it worked really well.
Today we made two delicious vegan curry dishes: aubergine dhansak and spinach, chickpea and potato curry. All the ingredients were beautifully set out on trays at each station, and we each worked with our own equipment. The chefs shared lots of tips and information about the ingredients and It was a really enjoyable class and I’m looking forward to dinner tonight!
The Leeds Cookery School reopens next week. Be sure to book on to one of their many classes.
All profits go to support Zest Leeds, a local charity supporting people living in disadvantaged areas of Leeds.
Being Food Wise campaign launched…..
Since the lockdown was announced to control the spread of Covid-19, almost everyone in the UK has experienced some effect on what and how they eat. Restaurants have closed and free time at home has increased. Meanwhile, many people have less money to spend after losing income, and some foods have become harder to find in shops due to stockpiling and stretched supply. In response to some of the local challenges people in Leeds are experiencing when eating, cooking and shopping the “Being Food Wise” campaign has been launched to get people talking, sharing and to provide support to help us all eat, cook and shop well! For more information on the campaign visit the Being Food Wise tab.
Working together we can help Leeds – Be Food Wise!
Food Wise Leeds campaigns brief FINAL
Food Wise campaign messages FINAL
Join us in offering your support!
Today Growing Better CIC are delivering 50 vegboxes to the winners of the #Vegrocks Poster Competition.
The #Vegrocks Poster Competition is part of our Veg Cities campaign to increase the growing, sale and consumption of vegetables. FoodWise and Zest delivered the competition as a fun and creative activity for families during lockdown that celebrates the benefits of vegetables.
Thanks to the generosity of local Councillors in Gipton & Harehills, Bramley & Stanningley, Farnley & Wortley, Alwoodley and Chapel Allerton for sponsoring additional vegbox prizes for their wards, FoodWise was able to award 50 prizes.
We would like to thank everyone who entered their veg-tastic creations – they were amazing!
We hope the winners enjoy their amazing vegboxes and have a go at growing some microgreens from Growing Better. Each box also contains a copy of the locally produced ‘Cooking on a Shoestring’ recipe book and a painted #vegrock.
