You might know where to buy your beans, but do you know where to share them?
Sheffield has just taken a big step forward in tackling food access across the city. ShefFood, the city’s food partnership, has launched a brand-new Community Food Provision Map, packed with over 130 places where people can access affordable, community-led, or free food. But this map isn’t just about finding food. It’s about reimagining how we feed our city; with dignity, sustainability, and solidarity on the menu.
This isn’t your average pin-on-a-map job, either. It’s a digital one-stop shop designed for members of the public, health professionals, social prescribers, community workers and anyone else who wants to connect people with local food support quickly, easily and without fuss.
For years, an excellent version of this map sat on the Voluntary Action Sheffield (VAS) website, helping people get by. Now it’s been updated, expanded and brought into the spotlight as a city-wide resource on the ShefFood website. We’ve spent the last year talking to hundreds of volunteers, organisers and community chefs to ensure the map reflects the real picture of food in Sheffield. The result is accurate, up-to-date and more accessible than ever before. Special thanks go to our Community Food Provision coordinator, Nell Attwood, who has been instrumental in this work.
And there’s much more here than food banks. While they remain a vital service for many, the new map showcases a much broader mix of community food options. There are food banks, of course but also social eating spaces where you can pay what you can afford and share a meal with others, lunch clubs for older residents, community fridges where anyone can take or leave food, pantries offering groceries at a discount, reduced-cost food shops, co-ops that buy direct from producers, community garden that share their produce and even food delivery services for people who can’t travel.
Each listing includes the address, contact details, opening hours, any attendance cost, whether a referral is needed, and extra details about what’s on offer. The map is easy to search by postcode, address, organisation name or type, and there’s a complete list underneath for those who prefer to browse. It’s all about making it simple to get support, fast.
But this map isn’t just about helping during hard times. It represents a much broader shift in how we think about food. In the words of ShefFood, community and alternative food provision are the way forward, not just for people living in poverty but for everyone in Sheffield.
Supermarkets currently dominate our food system. They buy from farmers and producers at low prices, sell to customers at high prices, and take a huge profit in between. But many of Sheffield’s community food organisations are doing things differently. They rescue food that would otherwise go to landfill, buy directly from local growers, share skills, and offer affordable meals and groceries for anyone who wants it. They create spaces where food is about connection, not just consumption.
This new map shines a light on dozens of these organisations, many of whom are longstanding ShefFood partners. Food Works Sheffield turns surplus food into meals, groceries, and even catering. Ammi’s Kitchen offers social eating with a focus on culture and community. Co-operation Town is establishing a new kind of neighbourhood food co-op. FoodCycle cooks weekly communal meals from donated food. Open Kitchen Street offers free food outdoors to anyone who needs it. Parson Cross Food Pantry and S12 Community Pantry provide alternatives to the weekly shop. Sheffield Food Chain coordinates support across the city to improve food access for all with their pedal-powered delivery service.
These are just some of the food heroes of our city. They’re about building a better food system that puts people and the planet first.
The new Community Food Provision Map is live now at sheffood.org.uk/food-ladders-food-provision. Alongside it, you’ll find a growing number of helpful resources: the Community Food Provision in Sheffield leaflet, which provides an overview of support available for people in crisis or anyone looking for reduced-cost food; the Community Meals in Sheffield leaflet, which shows where to eat a free or low-cost meal with others; and guides to food-sharing apps and other practical tools.
With this map, Sheffield shows that it’s possible to build a food system that is kind, connected, and sustainable. One that supports health, the environment and your household budget all at the same time. Whether you’re struggling to make ends meet, want to reduce food waste or just fancy a hot meal and a chat, there’s something on the map for you. And if you’re already part of this movement, thank you! None of this would have been possible without the incredible work of volunteers, community organisers, and local champions like Nell.
Because in Sheffield, food isn’t just fuel. It’s community.