Three towns – Cambridge, Daventry and Padiham, near Burnley – have been chosen to pilot a new initiative with a mission to end food poverty, particularly amongst children.

The initiative, developed by the College of Medicine, is known as the ‘Eatwell Community’ model. Its launch is set against the background of a failing UK food system in which 11% of the population live in ‘food insecure’ households. The number of people living in food poverty soared to 7.2 million in 2022/23, an increase of 2.5 million people over the previous year, according to data from Department for Work and Pensions.

The College of Medicine says the mission of Eatwell Communities is to transform the local food ecosystems to support communities with living happier, healthier lives. It is hoped that the pilot scheme will help create and formalise a template which can be replicated across the nation and beyond.

“I am 100% committed to ending food insecurity in Burnley, but also to using that model to learn, lobby and disseminate across the UK,” explains Dr James Fleming, a GP in Padiham, near Burnley. “I am tired of seeing children who do not have enough to eat or who are eating the wrong food. I feel like this is our legacy and feel compelled to do something about it because of the privilege of my position as a GP with convening power within my community.”

An Eatwell Community is a local initiative designed to improve diet-related health by encouraging a positive relationship with food and enhancing the local food ecosystem. It aims to create an environment where access to nutritious food is easy, and where involvement with the local food system is encouraged – fostering habits that lead to improved overall health and wellbeing.

The Eatwell Community initiative is built open 4 pillars:

Grow – involving the local community in the growing food, as evidence is emerging that demonstrates the positive impacts that green social prescribing can have upon health.

Cook – as a powerful mechanism to bring together a diverse group of people, and improve confidence with cooking healthy food.

Eat – creative about increasing the affordability and availability of healthy, nutritious food. 

Talk – identify individuals who require intensive support to achieve their diet and health goals.

 Cheryl Thallon, who is coordinating the initiative in Daventry, Northamptonshire says: “Some 20% of Daventry children aged 0-19 live within relative low-income families, highlighting Professor Marmot’s assertion that it’s our postcode that determines our health far more than our genetic code, if you are in living in a deprived area you will have 18 to 19 years less good health than if you live in an affluent area, and you will die 10 years earlier. Surely this is unacceptable in 21st century England. I believe that creating an Eatwell Community is an opportunity to make a real difference.”

She adds: “Health stores are my lifelong passion and connecting independent health food stores with the Eatwell Community initiative will set a template for towns all over the UK.”

In Cambridge, Dr Liam Loftus, a GP Registrar working to end food poverty in this seemingly ‘advantaged’ area, says: “Establishing a national network of Eatwell Communities provides a wonderful opportunity to transform our local food ecosystems, and support our communities with living happier, healthier lives. In my day-to-day work, I’ve seen first-hand the impact that lack of access to affordable, nutritious food can have upon the individuals and families I meet. I firmly believe that the creation of a Cambridge Eatwell Community will provide a powerful vehicle for tackling this, creating positive, ground-up change.”

Commenting on the launch of the Campaign, Dr Michael Dixon, Chair of the College of Medicine, said: “Food poverty, especially affecting children, is a national disgrace. Particularly as a poor diet is the major factor in modern disease, The Eatwell Communities of the abandoned National Food Strategy were designed to further the College’s mission of enabling everyone to eat healthy food. That is why the College of Medicine will now be heading the Eatwell Communities programme itself in Burnley, Cambridge and Daventry with these three inspirational leaders at the helm. We will demonstrate what is possible when there is a determined local will to overcome the conspiracy of vested interests that stand in the way of us all eating a healthy diet.”