20 years of food, community and change
In 2026, Brighton & Hove Food Partnership celebrates 20 years as a formally established organisation and more than two decades of bringing people together through food.
Together with residents, volunteers, community organisations, the council, education, the NHS and local businesses, we have helped people cook, grow food, eat well and waste less while working to make the wider food system healthier, fairer and more sustainable.
Our work has directly touched the lives of over 20,000 local people and helped embed community food approaches in the fabric of the city.
From a bold idea to citywide change and national recognition
Brighton & Hove was a pioneer in recognising that food needed a joined-up, citywide approach championed by a Food Partnership.
An informal partnership began in 2003, our first city Food Strategy launched in 2006, and Brighton & Hove Food Partnership was formally established that year.
The city led the way demonstrating that coordinated practical action can influence policy, unlock change and reshape the food system. Our work helped inspire the development of Sustainable Food Places. There are now Food Partnerships in more than 125 places across the UK. We were the first place to achieve Silver and then in 2020, Gold Sustainable Food Places status. We have been instrumental in proving that Food Partnerships are a powerful vehicle for change.
We are proud of the part we have played in reaching the point where Food Partnerships are now explicitly recognised in national food policy as an important way of achieving food-system transformation.
“I like it because it’s calm, it helps me forget some things that are going on … I do lots of things here that make me feel good. I enjoy pond dipping and looking at the newts. I like doing the work in the garden, and I also help sometimes with the cooking.”
Five ways we have made a difference
1. We put and kept food on the agenda
The food strategy and action plan involves connecting practical community action with research and policy in a long-term strategy. Over the years the strategy has been refreshed and the work adapted through changing political, economic and social circumstances, but its central goal remained the same: healthy, sustainable and fair food for all.
We demonstrated the value of not just responding to food issues but in coming together to challenge the status quo, develop ambitious solutions, demonstrate alternatives, and lead the long-term changes needed.
For example – we gather evidence from emergency and affordable food projects across the city. This annual survey gives community organisations a stronger collective voice and helps decision-makers understand the scale and changing nature of food insecurity. The research has shown a 5-fold rise in the number of people relying on food support since 2014. But our aim is not simply to distribute emergency food effectively, we want to address the causes of food insecurity and help build a future in which crisis food support is no longer necessary. So, we worked with food groups, policy makers and people with experience of food insecurity to co-designed a change programme – Beyond the Food Bank.
2. Created a Community Kitchen for everyone
After teaching cookery in community venues for more than a decade, we opened our purpose-built Community Kitchen in 2018. It is a place where people of all ages and backgrounds can learn, build confidence and share food around one table.
Our paid cookery classes, venue hires and events help us provide affordable or free sessions for people experiencing poverty, isolation, disability or poor health.
We have taught over 5,000 people basic cookery skills & affordable recipes, reached over 10,000 customers and shared over 25,000 meals at the sociable dining table in the Kitchen.
3. Helped community growing flourish
We have led growing projects and helped local people and organisations develop over 50 community and school gardens and orchards across Brighton & Hove. From neighbourhood plots to our 4 acres at Stanmer Wellbeing Gardens, these spaces support food growing, learning, biodiversity, social connection and better health.
And it is not only the growing spaces that have flourished. Children who engaged in school growing projects 20 years ago are now running their own food initiatives, and people who joined as participants report the transformational impact on their health and wellbeing. Read Lula’s story here.
4. Turning food waste into community action
We have helped residents reduce waste and establish neighbourhood composting reaching over 5,000 local households. Today, our Food Use Places partnership (funded by the Lottery’s Climate Action Fund) is reaching thousands of people each year across Sussex. Partners work together to redistribute surplus food, develop on-site composting and cook and eat together. It engages people of all ages and backgrounds, helping people take practical climate action. Collectively the numbers achieved are staggering – in 2025, 1,051 tonnes of food was ‘used not wasted’. Find out more in our Food Use Places Report.
This example also illustrates how our partnership approach helps attract investment for smaller groups and shows how by working together we can achieve so much more than any of us could alone.
5. Inviting involvement
Right from the start, the work involved community events, citizen engagement, volunteering and communications. We give people the opportunity to find out more – inviting them to take part and sharing food together.
Our website, emails & social media now reach over 50,000 people each year. We have worked with over 1,000 volunteers, across our board, our compost sites, community gardens, our cookery school and more. These volunteers have given over 50,000 hours of time.
Our social enterprise approach offers ways for people to support our work by buying cookery class places, hiring our venues and supporting our local meat box scheme. Over 10,000 customers have supported our work in this way.
We have created opportunities for people to shape our food strategy, design services and influence the future of our work. We support less-heard voices to be involved in designing and implementing solutions
“I like it because it’s calm, it helps me forget some things that are going on … I do lots of things here that make me feel good. I enjoy pond dipping and looking at the newts. I like doing the work in the garden, and I also help sometimes with the cooking.”
Change happens Through Partnership
None of this has been achieved by BHFP alone
None of this has been achieved by BHFP alone.
Our role is to connect people, create the conditions for collaboration, secure resources, share learning and help good ideas grow. We are proud to work alongside community organisations, volunteers, residents, schools, food businesses, farmers, public services, researchers and funders.
Our 20th anniversary belongs to everyone who has cooked, grown, volunteered, campaigned, donated, shared expertise or sat down at a table with us.
“Although we are situated very close to Stanmer, many of our pupils do not visit the outdoors regularly and these opportunities bring rich, diverse experiences for them that they may not otherwise have – spending a whole day outside taking part in outdoor learning was really enriching for them.”
Our Work in Numbers
Help shape the next 20 years
The challenges facing our food system remain urgent. Too many people struggle to afford a healthy diet, community organisations face increasing demand and limited resources, farmers need help if they are to supply more for local markets and the ways we produce, consume and waste food continues to affect the climate and natural world.
But we have proved that change is possible.
With your support, we can keep bringing people together, backing community action and making the case for a food system that works better for everyone.
Support the next chapter:
• Donate to our work
• Volunteer with us
• Book a Community Kitchen class
• Hire one of our spaces
• Sign up for news & events, and share with others
We also welcome new connections with local businesses & organisations. Get in touch.
