Healthy Food for All

Demostration Programme of Community Food Initiatives

Food Focus Community Food Initiative, Cork

Food Focus is a collective project with NICHE (Northside Community Health Initiative) Community Health Project (lead), Health Service Executive (HSE) South Health Action Zone, Knocknaheeny Community Café, RAPID (Revitalising Areas by Planning, Investment and Development), HSE South Health Promotion Unit, Cork City Partnership, Le Chéile School Completion Programme, Geography Department University College Cork, and the local community.

Aim of the group / organisation
NICHE was established in 1998 to improve both community and individual health and well-being, with a particular emphasis on the use of a community development approach. This involves recognising and building on the strengths that exist within communities as well as acknowledging the barriers (social, physical, psychological, cultural), which may prevent individuals and communities from availing of health-enhancing options.

Background to the Project
A number of small ad-hoc initiatives were already taking place in the Knocknaheeny / Hollyhill area and a lot of ground work had been carried out to identify gaps, highlight ways of making connections and identify work that should take place to ensure a positive food and healthy eating experience is an achievable and long term goal for people living in the area.

Overview of the Project
The Food Focus Community Food Initiative promotes healthy eating through a variety of co-ordinated, strategic activities that offer people a way to engage in a positive approach to food. It aims to create one community, one message about healthy eating and ensure the ability to achieve a healthy diet through building a variety of sustainable, engaging food activities. Food Focus is a set of community based structures dedicated to addressing the risk and instances of food poverty in the Knocknaheeny area and intends to act as a model for similar work across other RAPID/Health Area Zone areas on the North side of Cork. It will give people the choice to decide whether they would like to grow their own food, sign up to the food charter, learn about budgeting and planning, volunteer at a food event, purchase wholesale or direct, or indeed become part of the mechanisms that directs all this work and brings it together.

The Community Food Charter will be developed by local people and other stakeholders supported by the Community Dietician and will reflect the kind of food experiences they want for themselves, their families, within projects and public outlets.

The Local Food Resource Audit will create a food resource map of Knocknaheeny taking into account the key elements that build a positive food experience and sign post resources for action areas, for example, the proximity and volume of shops, green spaces, kitchens and local skills.

To ensure Growing Your Own Food is accessible to as many people as possible in the community, innovative growing opportunities will be encouraged through the home, community, shared gardens and allotment settings.

Objectives of the Project include

To address the risk and instances of food poverty in the area
To act as a learning model for similar areas
To develop and publish a Local Healthy Eating Charter, which will define and reflect desired food experiences in the area, in consultation with the local community and stakeholders
To produce a Local Food Resource Audit, which will create a map of the local area taking
into account the key elements that build a positive food experience, in consultation with UCC and the local community
To encourage and facilitate the growing of produce in local homes by, for example, planting apple trees and supplying hanging baskets
Provide training and equipment around community food garden allotments
Promoting and celebrating healthy eating by holding annual healthy food events
Local Food Access Group will be developed with local women to strengthen existing food skills to impact on households and families
To establish a lending /subsided system for the borrowing or purchase of cooking equipment
To explore the possibility of a small group of community people to establish a local food supply service

For more information please contact: Elaine O’Mahony at elaine@nicheonline. www.nicheonline.ie