Demonstration Programme of Community Food Initiatives

The Demonstration Programme is a three-year programme funded by safefood and managed by Healthy Food for All. The programme will provide a testing ground for seven CFI projects across the island of Ireland, with the aim of identifying supports needed to ensure their development and long-term sustainability. There is a strong emphasis on shared learning and networking between the selected projects and other CFIs.

The programme aims to highlight how community participation and interagency cooperation can best be supported and implemented. We also want to show the strengths and weaknesses of the different approaches taken and to assess what has enabled projects to succeed and/or the challenges they have encountered. This is particularly important to give an evidence base for the development of models and practices for CFIs. The lessons learned from the programme will also be used to inform and support policy initiatives in relation to food poverty on the island of Ireland.

The Demonstration Programme Community Food Initiatives are listed below:

• KASI Community Garden, Killarney
• The Food Garden Project, Dundalk
• Limerick Seed to Plate Project
• Food Focus Community Food Initiative, Cork
• Footprints Women's Centre Building a Transition Community, Belfast
• East Belfast Mission Healthy Eating Education Programme
• Food for Life, Derry

The programme was officially launched in Belfast in January 2010. For more information please click here.