Welcome to the MFB Autumn Newsletter
I’ve been a councillor since January 2011 and I’ve worked in the voluntary sector for just over 20 years. I wanted to share with you my “food journey” and how I look at things differently these days.
My first “real job” in Manchester in the early 90s was in a cheese shop. Forget the smell and long hours – I loved it! Eating cheese was just the beginning really – I loved learning about the whole process and the science of cheese making. I have a UK Cheese Guild Diploma gathering dust somewhere, and a couple of medals.
I never really gave much thought as to where my food came from, other than the supermarket; I was raised on meat, potatoes, and veg. But when one of my children asked us to do meat-free Mondays at home, I started to challenge myself a bit more. And seeing the pleasure and satisfaction my husband got from our tiny vegetable patch and herb pots, I kind of caught the growing bug! Now we compost, grow more of our own food, and eat meat-free several times a week.
As I’ve worked and lived with some struggling communities, I’ve come to understand more about the financial benefits of growing more veg and eating less meat. Only during my political education and increasing awareness of environmental impact have I made connections between things like meat, food waste, and my carbon footprint. I might always have a thing for cheese though!
I’m really passionate about all Manchester residents being able to make informed food choices, and being Chair of the Manchester Food Board is just another way for me to support that.
Cllr Tracey Rawlins, Chair of Manchester Food Board
Executive Member for Environment
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Please do share this newsletter with your networks, and be sure to follow us on Twitter at @MCRFoodBoard for more updates and insights. We welcome your comments; please email rachel@foodsync.co.uk to get in touch.
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Manchester signs the Glasgow Declaration
We are excited to announce that Manchester City Council have officially signed up to the Glasgow Food and Climate Declaration. Cllr Tracey Rawlins, Executive Member for Environment and Chair of the Manchester Food Board, is joining local and regional government leaders from around the world in signing the Glasgow Food and Climate Declaration at Glasgow City Chambers.
The declaration recognises that food systems currently account for around one third of global emissions and that transforming the way the food we eat is produced, transported and consumed has a huge role to play in tackling climate change. It notes that cities are leading the way, but that the national and international debate needs to catch up.
This is a big moment for us as a city, and an important step forward in creating a sustainable, inclusive food system. The next step is to consider how we can use the Glasgow Declaration to drive real action and impact around sustainable food in Manchester.
Councillor Tracey Rawlins' comments ahead of the summit: “The eyes of the world will be on Glasgow during COP26 and climate change will be rightly top of the global agenda. The next few days will be an urgent reminder of the need for us all - from governments and global corporations to individuals – to step up in order to drastically reduce carbon emissions and limit the damaging impacts of climate change.
“It’s a cause that we have long been committed to in Manchester. We are already seeing – through extreme weather events such as flooding – the impact of climate breakdown right here. The next few days will be a reminder to us all what’s at stake, how far we have come but also how much further there is to go and how there can be no let up in reducing our emissions.”
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Organics in Manchester - Green Shoots of Recovery to a Burgeoning Scene
By Sean Ruffell, Manager & one of the Directors of Organic North Co-operative Wholesalers
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In an industry built on long credit-terms and hard-bargaining, Organic North instead look to pay their growers both fairly and promptly. Refusing to compromise their company principles has served them well over the past few years. They're now not just supplying local retailers and veg box schemes but also bakers, restaurants, delis, pubs, processors, caterers, juicers, and plenty more besides.
Read more here.
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Doing Zero: Food and Climate Change
By Jess Higham, Creative Projects Manager at Standard Practice Studios
Doing Zero is an exploration of the link between climate change and food by two local neighbourhoods – Harpurhey in North Manchester and Kawangware in West Nairobi, connected via a digital fourth wall. Community members in the two cities took part in joint workshops with climate experts and creatives, and translated their findings into creative outputs.
Find out more details here.
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Our Newsletter now includes an Events section. To let us know of any events happening from October-December 2021, please email rachel@foodsync.co.uk or contact us via Twitter at @MCRFoodBoard.
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Mobilising Manchester: The Manchester Climate Change Community Assembly
By Bob Walley, Creative Engagement Director, Envirolution, and Research Fellow, University of Central Lancashire
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Throughout the summer of 2021 the Manchester-based environmental education cooperative Envirolution ran Manchester’s first ever Climate Change Assembly, as part of Manchester Climate Change Agency’s ‘In Our Nature’ project. We aimed to gather views from concerned citizens of Manchester, providing a platform for them to be able to communicate them to policy makers and leaders.
The Assembly project is now to be presented at various events in Glasgow as part of the International UN COP26 Climate Change Conference. Find out how you can support us!
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Our Local Markets: The stories behind the stalls
By Julie Gimeno, Market Manager at Gorton Market
Over the past few decades, the way in which we shop has changed dramatically. In this fast-moving and unpredictable sector, what does the future hold for traditional local markets? The time I have spent managing some of Manchester’s biggest and most diverse markets has taught me that every Market has its own personality, and its own atmosphere.
It’s clear to me that, despite the fast-changing pace of retail, local markets continue to play a vital and irreplicable role in our local communities. Customers regularly tell me that they choose to come to the market because they trust our traders. Find out more about how you can support your local independent businesses in the run-up to Christmas.
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Please do share this newsletter with your networks, and be sure to follow us on Twitter at @MCRFoodBoard for more updates and insights. We welcome your comments; please email rachel@foodsync.co.uk to get in touch.
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Ongoing - see website for dates
Cracking Good Food Cookery School
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Cracking Good Food's Cookery School offers classes in all kinds of cuisines, from modern Chinese to pasta making. All proceeds helps support their range of community projects. See what's on and sign up!
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Ongoing (4-week blocks)
Starting Plates: Free Healthy Eating Cookery Workshops
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Free Healthy Eating Cookery Workshops:
- Wednesdays 12pm at Levenshulme Inspire
- Thursday 1pm at Sacred Heart children's Centre
Learn to cook a range of healthy, simple, yummy dishes from around the world. To join us you need to be a parent/carer to a child under 2 or an expectant parent/carer residing in Levenshulme, Longsight or Levenshulme.
Call Workshop Leader Julie Thornhill on 07895 579914 or email Julie.Thornhill@lev-inspire.org.uk to find out more and reserve your place.
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10th of November 2021, for 6 weeks
FoodWave programme - new cohort!
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We are looking for 30 x committed and enthusiastic young people (18-35 years old) to join the Food Wave programme for Manchester, learning about sustainable ways to consume and produce food with the aim of influencing food and climate change policy.
To join, simply complete the application form and return it to jon@sowthecity.org.
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The second Wednesday of each month
Our Manchester Food Partnership, Lunch & Learn Event
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The Our Manchester Food Partnership is a collaborative partnership between food providers in the voluntary sector and statutory partners, Manchester Council, NHS, and social housing providers. Every month we meet for a half hour Lunch & Learn to share learning and promote best practice.
For more details please contact lesley.lancelot@manchester.gov.uk or foodresponseteam@manchester.gov.uk.
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Ongoing
Community Fridges in Moss Side and Longsight
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The newly launched Community Fridges are welcoming spaces where residents and businesses can share food that would otherwise have gone to waste. Please contact Wendy (wendyredbryan@gmail.com) or Shamime (shamimejan@yahoo.co.uk) for more information, or if you are a local business who would like to donate your surplus food.
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Please do share this newsletter with your networks, and be sure to follow us on Twitter at @MCRFoodBoard for more updates and insights. We welcome your comments; please email rachel@foodsync.co.uk to get in touch.
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