Impact of food hubs and perspectives from Leeds

New research published in Science Direct examined the perspectives of food hubs on their impact on food systems and communities in terms of food security, sustainability, resilience, food justice and healthy diets. It also made policy recommendations on how food hubs can be better supported.

Leeds was selected as an ideal case study for complex, socio-economically and culturally diverse urban food systems of under 1 million population. The research was co-designed and co-produced by University of Leeds in collaboration with FoodWise and Leeds City Council’s Public Health, Sustainability, and Financial Inclusion teams. FoodWise formed in 2017 as the city’s food partnership to create a healthy, sustainable, and fair food system for everyone in Leeds. FoodWise consists of representatives from the third sector, academia, business, and the council. FoodWise and Leeds City Council co-developed the Leeds Food Strategy and will oversee its delivery.

Highlights include:

• Food hubs enhance sustainability, strengthen local food systems and local economies.
• Food hubs contribute to food security, health, sustainability, justice and resilience.
• Food hubs improve the health, wellbeing and agency of their communities.
• Policy support and funding needed to transition away from emergency food provision.

Local authorities have a crucial role to play in supporting the development and operation of food hubs that promote sustainable food systems and improve access to healthy, locally sourced food, in line with public health, sustainability and inclusive growth local agendas (e.g. in line the local Food Strategy in the case of Leeds). Local government can do this by providing funding, technical assistance, and regulatory support for food hubs. Local authorities can also create policies and programs that support local food systems and incentivise the purchase of locally produced food by public institutions, supporting local food and farmers, and high production standards and sustainable produce. They can also foster partnerships and networks between different stakeholders in the community, such as farmers, food businesses, and consumers, to facilitate capacity building, knowledge sharing and coordination.

Food hubs themselves can build the evidence base on the significant positive impacts they have on communities and the food system. Food hubs can gather evidence of their activities and evaluate the impact they have across several key national and regional priorities and related policies on food security, public health, net zero, and inclusive growth. Compelling evidence of this impact could leverage policy support and unlock funding.

National level governance is required to address the fundamental causes of food insecurity, such as structural poverty and inequality, and support key actors along the food system to increase affordability, accessibility, and acceptability of healthy diets. An example of such policy is the National Food Strategy, which was commissioned by the UK government and published in 2021 by Henry Dimbleby.

Following our year-long Connecting Community Food Enterprises project, Sustain published an interactive toolkit aiming to support community food projects like the food hubs in Leeds to develop more sustainable financial and operational models, explore ways to diversify income, and provide useful ideas and resources.

Download the full research paper

Sustain’s Growing Community Food Enterprises toolkit