TRAFFORD GREEN PARTY POLICY STATEMENT

Food and Sustainable Communities

INTRODUCTION

This is a local policy statement, produced by Trafford Green Party. It reflects national Green Party policy on food issues and focuses on specific areas for local action in Trafford.

Food is an important tool in working to achieve sustainability at both local and global levels. The livestock industry is responsible for more greenhouse gas emissions than the world’s entire transport system. ‘Food miles’ make a significant contribution to our carbon footprint and around a third of the food we buy ends up being thrown away.

Trafford Green Party’s food policy focuses on increasing the consumption of healthy, locally produced, seasonal food while reducing unnecessary food waste. Healthy eating benefits the community as a whole with increased wellbeing and reduced health care costs. Reducing our reliance on meat and dairy products cuts our contribution to climate change, land and water use, while eating food produced closer to home boosts our local economy.

ACTIONS

Trafford Green Party would:

Appoint a ‘Local’ Food Officer with a remit to identify sources of funding and work with partners and community groups to kick-start local food projects. Good examples of these are Growing Communities in London and Incredible Edible Todmorden. They would also investigate ways of sharing expertise and information.

Make more land available for growing food through establishing more community allotments as well as identifying Council owned land that could be used in the above projects and promoting the Landshare scheme where owners of unused land can link with people who need land to grow food.

Develop Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) by working with Trafford Housing Trust and others to set up CSA projects, organic where possible, with local farmers. The scheme at the Sale West Community Centre organised by Trafford Primary Care Trust in partnership with Irwell Valley Housing Association is a good start.

Increase the frequency and locations of Farmers’ Markets by offering support in terms of venues and marketing.

Set up a ‘local fruit’ project aiming to plant lots of fruit trees and bushes across Trafford from community orchards on council owned land to trees for schools, residents and companies.

Increase local food provision where the Local Authority has some influence by building local food into the contractual terms for caterers supplying council owned or run facilities, for example, Trafford Town Hall’s canteen, local schools and colleges, as well as increasing the vegetarian and vegan choices.

Set up a ‘Local Food Award’, similar to Fair Trade status, to encourage local food in the shops, cafes and restaurants of our town centres.

Support ‘Fareshare’ in Trafford and redistribute surplus food from businesses to support services in the community.