Food Ladders & Food Provision Working Group
Sheffield is home to a unique mosaic of food provision that ranges from food banks to community pantries and social eating spaces.
Food of the City
All of the city’s food organisations, projects and spaces play an important role in ‘building local level resilience in the face of food insecurity’. While members’ approaches, geographies, and communities are diverse, the Food Ladders Network creates a space where these organisations can come together to exchange knowledge and learning, tackle shared problems, celebrate achievements, and collaborate on building a food provision system for Sheffield in which:
- Everyone in the city, particularly those in crisis, can access culturally appropriate and nutritious food in their local community;
- Organisations are empowered to combine food provision with social connection and other crucial support, such as debt and housing advice, ultimately eradicating poverty in the city.
Working Group Contacts
- Lydia Leather – L.Leather@vas.org.uk
Related News & Events
Resources & Getting Involved
If you are an established food provision organisation or just starting out on establishing a new food provision project to meet the needs of your community, we’d love to have you in our network!
Food Ladders
- Sheffield Food Provision Map –– VAS
- Sheffield Living Crisis Map of Support – VAS
- Food Ladders Explained – Sustainable Food Places
Access Food
Success in Sheffield So Far…
While our goal is about moving forward, it’s also important to celebrate the fantastic work that has been achieved so far for food provision in our city.
- Sheffield City Council passed the Food Access Plan in July 2022, which included investment for a food community development role at Voluntary Action Sheffield to provide advice and support in community food spaces.
- Food Works is collaborating with over 25 partner hubs to distribute frozen-ready meals across the city.
- The Food Ladders Report (2022) mapped food provision in Sheffield and outlined recommendations to build and develop current projects. In addition, a comprehensive, interactive map of food providers in the city is now available through Voluntary Action Sheffield.
- The Food Ladders Network, comprising community food organisations, meets regularly for support and to share resources.
- The Food Ladders Network responded quickly to Covid-19 and the cost-of-living crisis. Successful collective food stores, organised through Sheffield City Council via S6 Foodbank, ensured supplies for community food organisations during winter 2023/24.