Forward from Interfaith Food Justice Nerwork

Wednesday 6th September 2023 Glasgow Food Policy Partnership hosted the second Glasgow Food Summit at Glasgow City Chambers.

Interfaith Food Justice Network member Zahir Haider from Stirling Aid represented the IFJN, attending break out discussions about the revised actions of the Glasgow City Food Plan going forward. Zahir is pictured here with Glasgow Community Food Network board member Mark Fitzpatrick.

Speakers included Pete Ritchie and Simon Kenton-Lake from Nourish Scotland talking about the context of the Good Food Nation Act and Food Partnership Working, Jill Muirie from Glasgow Centre for Population Health talking about the challenges and progress so far in implementing the Glasgow City Food Plan, and Trine Ring Olesen from Meyers Madhus about public food procurement in Copenhagen.

Zahir asked the first question of the Summit to Trine Ring Olesen about the redistribution of surplus food in Copenhagen. While Copenhagen have made impressive progress on serving organic food in public sector catering settings, they have a similar food redistribution process to the one in Scotland. This means charities collect and redistribute surplus food from supermarkets. Zahir has been working on the idea of a centralized food hub, and he said this about attending the Summit:
‘A significant amount of optimism is riding on this endeavor, especially among those in the third sector who believe they have become the ultimate safeguard against hunger. It’s not just a matter of having the right to a nutritious meal; it’s also the right to have the means to purchase it. Our consistent presence on the ground means that we observe this issue directly. We are witnessing working families at food banks, further underscoring the urgency of the situation. Consequently, one of the solutions we suggest is the centralization of surplus food from the private sector in Glasgow and using it to replenish food banks. This approach is undeniably straightforward and sensible.’

Thank you to Zahir for representing the Interfaith Food Justice Network and all of the fantastic groups who are part of the Network at the Food Summit. These groups do essential work to keep people in Glasgow fed and are so important in the process of building a better food system for Glasgow.

While it is a massive task to make Glasgow’s food system one in which everyone has access to nutritious and sustainable food, it is with collaboration that this will be achieved. The emphasis on collaboration in the Glasgow City Food Plan is one which we share and so we are enthusiastic to keep bringing the voices of our Network to the table.

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