Powys Food Vision, Strategy and Action Plan
‘Bwyd Powys Food’ aims to create a food system for Powys fit for future generations. ‘Food system’ means all connections and linkages that are involved in growing, producing, manufacturing, supplying and consuming food.
To determine how to achieve this, public consultation exercises including a questionnaire and a significant number of in-person stakeholder engagement events were carried out during 2023, together with a series of stakeholder workshops undertaken at a regional Food Summit in Newtown in October 2023.
Resources for Change (R4C) was chosen by ‘Bwyd Powys Food’ in Spring 2023 to assist with the design and delivery of the consultation, to plan and facilitate the Food Summit, analyse the findings, and develop a stakeholder-led Food Vision, Strategy and Action Plan for Powys. Overall, 35 organisations and 500 individuals from local communities contributed their thoughts on how Powys’ local food system can be improved.
All consultation findings, from questionnaires and stakeholder events, were analysed by R4C and Bwyd Powys Food to identify common themes in advance of the Food Summit. A wide range of communities and sectors were reached, and foundations were laid to continue these conversations going forward as more partners are brought into the discussions. The key findings from the initial consultation exercises informed the development of specific workshops and activities at the Food Summit.
The Food Summit itself was facilitated by a team of five R4C facilitators, and R4C also trained additional members of CULTIVATE staff to provide a bigger facilitation team without increasing the cost to the organisation. The summit formed the starting point for discussions on the co-creation of the food vision, strategy and action plan. It was attended by 22 strategic organisations with responsibilities for aspects of sustainable food. It brought together producers, retailers, politicians, and NGO’s to collaboratively identify regional priorities, and specific actions to deliver them.
R4C consultant Kirsty Wild brought everything together in the final Food Vision, Strategy and Action Plan for Powys, with the action plan being refined and validated through collaboration between the CULTIVATE team and the delivery partners.
This project was a great example of delivering a piece of work in collaboration with the client which enabled us to stretch the budget and achieve significantly more than was outlined in the original brief. The Food Vision, Strategy and Action Plan was launched at the Royal Welsh Show in July 2024.