Areas of Exceptional Achievement - How the Granite City turned gold

This week, we have been announcing that Aberdeen has become the first city in Scotland to achieve the prestigious Gold Sustainable Food Places Award. The award is a reflection of the work of a wide variety of partners across Aberdeen and, as part of the award, two 'areas of exceptional achievement' were recognised.

The Granite City has achieved gold!

An amazing piece of recognition, the Gold Sustainable Food Places Award recognises the work of so many different partners across the city. The award reflects achievement across six key areas which together look like a holistic, systemic approach to sustainable food. These are:

The Sustainable Food Places Six Key Areas

As part of the bid, two Areas of Exceptional Achievement showcased how Aberdeen is using food to create positive change and build a more sustainable future. These were:

1. Good Food for All – taking a joined-up approach to tackle the root causes of food poverty and ensure everyone can access food with dignity.

2. Food Citizenship & Food for Good – empowering communities, building skills, and growing a stronger local good food movement.

GOOD FOOD FOR ALL - TACKLING FOOD POVERTY WITH DIGNITY

This category expanded on how organisations and groups are tackling food poverty by creating access to affordable, healthy food. The area recognised how organisations are embedding a systemic, community-based approach to tackling the underlying causes of food poverty, including through strategic partnerships such as Food Poverty Action Aberdeen, Fairer Aberdeen funded projects, and lived experience initiatives which are shaping ongoing activity.

Fersands and Fountain is home to the Woodside Pantry, the first Community Food Pantry in Scotland.

Tillydrone Community Flat were visited as part of a visit by Sustainable Food Places Representative

CFINE host the Granite City Good Food partnership, and also coordinate Food Poverty Action Aberdeen

Middlefield Community Project showcased their implementation of food ladders in the bid.

Particular examples from the bid include CFINE, Fersands and Fountain Centre, Tillydrone Community Flat, and Middlefield Community Project- who were all visited by Sustainable Food Places representatives- and through their services, create a warm and welcoming atmosphere where food is used as the start of a conversation on wider support available.

The local implementation of Dr Megan Blake's ‘Food Ladders’ approach was also drawn into hilghight, and is promoting food’s role in bringing people together and supporting communities in aspects wider than food, towards a circular vision of self-organised community change. An example of this, the staff and volunteers of Middlefield Community Project showcased their projects from the perspective of the framework, and highlighted food's important role within Middlefield as part of the bid.

FOOD CITIZENSHIP AND FOOD FOR GOOD - HOW SKILLS AND PARTICIPATION CAN DRIVE POSITIVE CHANGE

Beyond nutrition and food access, food has a role as a springboard for building skills – growing, employability, and life – and community engagement.

This category highlighted how the food system is being used for benefit wider than nutrition through, for example, skills courses and opportunities. Examples include:

• CFINE's Warehouse Skills Development Programme, using the food system to support employability skills

• Growing Skills Courses, including CFINE's Growing and Learning in Nature/Community Growing Employability Skills, Grow Food Indoors, and Growing for Wellbeing courses.

• Aberdeen Community Food Network and the Aberdeen Food Champions Programme, through which Aberdeen City Health and Social Care Partnership resources, NHS Grampian Confidence to Cook training, and the involvement of a wide variety of partners enable and build capacity in community cooking skills.

Northfield Academy S1's have participated in a 'Healthy Eating on a Budget' Project-based learning project.

This area also showcases engagement with children and young people, an example of which is Northfield Academy’s S1 ‘Healthy Families on a Budget’ project and crew community collection. Having recently completed its second year, S1 pupils at Northfield Academy have embraced a project-based learning approach, working with CFINE and the Granite City Good Food team to develop their understanding of healthy eating on a budget through multiple means. This year, the school also accompanied this with as food drive within the school community, helping broaden the focus on the topic.

There are so many partners involved in this work, and over the coming days and weeks, Granite City Good Food will be showcasing and highlighting as many as possible.

Thank you, again, to all partners and stakeholders who were involved in 'turning the granite city gold'.