Food Power for Generation Covid

Edible Edinburgh and UNICEF UK join forces to feed families in Edinburgh  

The Edible Edinburgh Partnership is to receive funding from Unicef UK to support children and families at risk of food insecurity during the coronavirus pandemic.

For the first time in its 70-year history, Unicef UK has moved to develop a UK domestic emergency response. ‘Food Power for Generation Covid’ is a joint initiative with Sustain: the alliance for better food and farming, which will help provide food for vulnerable children and their families by awarding grants to UK community projects like Edinburgh Community Food.

The coronavirus pandemic is the most urgent crisis affecting children since the Second World War, upending children’s lives around the world and in the UK. Even before the pandemic struck, an estimated 2.4 million UK children were already growing up in food insecure households* and since March 2020, families have faced hardship and struggled to make ends meet and access food, as the economy suffers, and jobs have been lost. This has meant that across the UK, there has been an increased demand placed on community support services like those provided by Edinburgh Community Food.

The Edible Edinburgh Partnership is a citywide, cross-sector food partnership and founding member of the national Sustainable Food Places network. The partnership is chaired by Councillor George Gordon, Sustainability and Equalities Champion at the City of Edinburgh Council.

Edible Edinburgh and its partner organisations work to deliver the aims of the Edinburgh Sustainable Food Plan, a detailed local food strategy that adopts a whole food system approach. The Edible Edinburgh Partnership are Food Power network members and support a coordinated approach to tackling food poverty in Edinburgh. The partnership’s Health working group focuses on creating fair and affordable access to sustainable food and ensuring people can use it to provide a fresh, healthy and nutritious diet. The Health working group is chaired by key partnership member, Edinburgh Community Food, a citywide charity and social enterprise that aims ‘to get people into healthy food and healthy food into people’. The organisation tackles health inequalities in low-income communities in Edinburgh through food and health development and promotion work.

The ‘Food Power for Generation Covid’ grant will be used to deliver an Edible Edinburgh Partnership project, facilitated by Edinburgh Community Food. The project will provide 420 households with two themed hampers celebrating December (‘Green Globe’) and January (‘Blue Planet’). Each nutritious hamper will provide a minimum of 14 meals (for a family of four), estimating a total of c.12,000 meals distributed and supported by locality hub partners across Edinburgh including Fresh Start, Go Beyond, Dr Bell’s Family Centre and Community Renewal. Nutritious content will include plant-based meals with fresh fruit and vegetables, plant-based freezer staples, dried pulses, grains & cereals, a DIY Take & Make meal kit and seasonal surprises.

Chair of Edible Edinburgh Partnership, Cllr George Gordon said:

Making sure that everyone has fair and affordable access to sustainable food and ensuring people can use it to provide a fresh, healthy and nutritious diet is key to tackling health inequalities across the city.

Coronavirus has had a huge impact on family finances over the past year, leading to an increasing reliance on foodbanks for many. The huge efforts and commitment from third sector and voluntary groups across all areas of the city during Coronavirus has been incredible to see.

From changing their ways of working to creating new services and new partnerships and making sure food, financial help, medicines or other supports are delivered where they are needed the pandemic has seen organisations come together to support the people who need it most. This funding will help to ensure that this support continues.

Anna Kettley, Director of Programmes at Unicef UK, said:

The Coronavirus pandemic has significantly impacted children and families over the last eight months. Their lives have been upended and sadly, we know that for many families across the UK, coronavirus will have a continued impact on family finances.  “Through ‘Food Power for Generation Covid’ we aim to ensure families are reached at the local level through the services provided by Edible Edinburgh and Edinburgh Community Food, so children can continue to eat well during this crisis.

Simon Shaw, Head of Food Poverty Programme at Sustain, said:

All over the UK local food poverty alliances like Edible Edinburgh have been taking action to ensure local people have access to food during the Covid-19 pandemic.

This partnership with Unicef UK comes at crucial point in the midst of heighted Covid restrictions when many individuals’ resources will be depleted. Local alliances like Edible Edinburgh are well-placed to support their communities over the next few months and to reach those who have been hardest hit.

Unicef UK’s emergency response to the pandemic and the funding for Edible Edinburgh is part of our effort to reach the families and communities most in need as the impact of the pandemic worsens – but we can’t do it alone.

While the new package of measures announced by the UK Government goes a long way to fulfilling the recommendations made in the National Food Strategy, we know that there are still children and families who fall outside the eligibility criteria and it of course only applies to England. It is critical that these new measures, due to start next April, are available to all families and children who need them.

In the meantime, the Winter Grant Scheme must be targeted and focused on reaching those most in need of support. We continue to urge administrations across the UK to ensure every child can access healthy and nutritious food, during this pandemic and beyond.

For more information visit https://www.unicef.org.uk/what-we-do/our-uk-work/

*The estimated 2.4million children living in food insecure households is based on findings from the Food Foundation.