A force for good: A vision, models, and pathways for a local food sector which transforms lives, livelihoods and landscapes

This report communicates the ambition of the local food system to be a driver of transformation of lives, livelihoods, and landscapes in the UK.

The Covid-19 pandemic was a test of the UK food system’s capacity to deal with emergencies and crises, events which are likely to become more frequent and more intense as climate change further disrupts ecological and social resources and structures. This report grows out of the ESRC-funded project “COVID-19: the local as a site of food security resilience in the times of pandemic”, which specifically addressed the role that local food systems did play and can play in such moments of crisis. It aims to strengthen the public and policy understanding of the local food sector by describing its ambition. It was developed through a collaborative visioning process with key stakeholders in the UK’s local food sector.

This report is future-oriented. It is not a description of what the UK’s local food systems are today, but of where they want to get to,
and how they can get there. The Vision, Models, Definitions, and Narrative section illustrate how local food systems can become an engine of societal, economic, and ecological transformation. The Strategies section indicates three main arenas for action to make this transformation a reality.