Tasty plansin pipeline to look at food poverty

A comprehensive food strategy which sets out the food related challenges, needs and demands South Lanarkshire council and its communities will face is to be developed.

it will run from 2019 until 2024 and will includea visionfora sustainable food system for the council, its partners and communities.

in particular it will representa commitment to address food poverty and food-related health issues.

chair ofsouth Lanarkshire council’s community and enterprise resources committee, councillor John Anderson, said: “this strategy will address a number of issuesand will include participationfrom across council resources to ensure a co-ordinated and comprehensiveapproach.we will also consult with our key external stakeholders.

“As a council we are determined to movetowards more sustainable food systems to tackle health, social, economic and environmental challenges related to food.

“We also recognise that as a local authority it is important that we take the lead in terms of demonstrating howfood issues should be tackled.”

the council are already activein a number ofways when it comes to food issues, including improving food hygieneand standards, implementing a food waste collection,developing school breakfast clubs, introducing healthy eating and nutrition programmes, tackling poverty, providing allotme foodn tsa n d food growing opportunities and supporting food businesses.

Developing the strategy was agreed at a meeting of the community and enterprise resources committee onjanuary 22.

it has also been agreed at the meeting that the council will renew its Fairtrade Zone status.

in South Lanarkshire, the following townshave either achieved Fairtrade status or have been supporting Fairtrade: Blantyre, Biggar, cambuslang, carluke, east kilbride, Hamilton, Lanark, Stonehouse, Strathaven (first Fairtrade town inscotland), rutherglen and Uddingston.

Five goals which are required to renew the Fairtrade Zone status for the whole council area will now be progressed with the aim of completing those tasks by summer 2019.

changes to the rules, regulations and charges for allotments were also agreed at the meeting.

expanding allotmentand food growing opportunities at three key sites also received the backing of the committee, at the former Blairbeth golf course in cambuslang andat murray recreation and Allers ineast kilbride.

councillor Anderson added: “Both the Fairtrade Zone status renewalanddevelopments with our allotments will form part of the Food Strategymoving forward.”