Bridging the Gap

Demonstrating ways to make organic food more accessible via farmer-focused supply chains.


What is Bridging the Gap?

Bridging the Gap is a national programme made up of nine pilots co-designed and run in Scotland, England and Wales, developing local solutions to boosting the production and consumption of organic fruit and veg.

These innovative approaches bridged the gap - between fruit, veg and pulses, grown using organic methods by Small and Medium (SME) farmers - and people on low incomes, in both retail and school settings. Through action-based research the programme found that it is possible to overcome barriers and identified how these approaches could be scaled to fix the UK food system.

Bridging the Gap logo

Report: How to fix the food system for everyone

The Bridging the Gap report shows how investment in organic fruit and veg could deliver huge national returns for communities across the UK, and sets out three main policy recommendations: fix the supply, fix the missing middle, fix the access.

Download the report

The pilots

Meet the nine pilots co-produced with people working in food and farming, reflecting our six approaches to bridge the gap.

Evidence from the pilots help advocate for urgent national and local level policy change.

The pilots

Ways to get involved

Want to find out more and stay up to date with the pilots and events?

Join our mailing list

Are you a researcher, or policy or advocacy expert in this space? Do you have examples of how projects could bridge the gap? Please email us.

Film

Watch the Bridging the Gap pilots working to change the UK food system.

Six approaches to Bridge the Gap

We believe that it will take a combination of policies to bridge the gap.

We have grouped these in our six approaches. Click through to find out more about these approaches.

Six approaches

Our partners

Sustain, Alexandra Rose Charity and Growing Communities working with Food Sense Wales, Nourish NI and Nourish Scotland are bringing together organisations united in the belief that everyone has the right to healthy and affordable food that works for the planet.

Bridging the Gap is supported by the National Lottery Community Fund.

Nourish

Growing Communities

Food Sense Wales

Nourish NI.

Alexandra Rose Charity

National Lottery Community Fund

Sustain
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Sustain advocates food and agriculture policies and practices that enhance the health and welfare of people and animals, improve the working and living environment, promote equity and enrich society and culture.

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