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About Us

Hull Food Partnership is a member of the Sustainable Food Places network of over 100 Food Partnerships across the UK, sharing and building on national expertise with a local, placed-based focus on food systems change. The emphasis is on using research and evidence to shape local and national policies so that the city and the nation benefits from good quality, nutritious food that is produced sustainably, and is available to everyone regardless of background, location or income with a focus on food insecurity and mitigating the impacts of poverty.

Hull Food Partnership was established in 2016 and focuses on development work and engagement with stakeholders and communities to deliver the Hull Food Strategy, Charter and Action Plan. This will help develop a city-wide multi-stakeholder approach to supporting residents’ health and wellbeing by mapping the variety of food actors across Hull and their intersecting roles in supporting public health outcomes through the provision of affordable, nutritious, sustainable food.

The Hull Food Partnership staff team consists of a Development Officer, Campaigns & Projects Officer and Community Food Support Officer. Their roles are funded from a variety of sources with a remit to tackle the issue of food insecurity and implement the Hull Food Strategy. Activity is directed by a cross-sector Steering Group that is drawn from established members and co-chairs of the Hull Food Action Plan Task and Finish Groups.

The Hull Food Strategy was consulted on and developed with the involvement of 1000+ residents, VCSE organisations, local businesses and anchor institutions between 2021-2024, it was endorsed by the Hull Integrated Health and Care Partnership Joint Committee: on 2nd December 2024.

The Hull Food Action Plan will drive the practical implementation of system change needed to support residents, businesses, organisations and anchor institutions in creating a healthier, more sustainable, food future for Hull that everyone can benefit from.

Membership of Hull Food Partnership is open to all and completely free, with a tiered system of engagement ranging from interested individuals to key active stakeholders.

Our Core Values

‘To make Hull a place where everyone is able to enjoy nutritious food that is fairly produced, supports the local economy and is readily available to everyone, regardless of culture, background, ability or income.’

Our Aims

  • Promote healthy and sustainable food to the public.
  • Tackle food poverty, diet-related ill health and access to affordable healthy food.
  • Build community food knowledge, skills, resources and projects.
  • Promote a vibrant and diverse sustainable food economy.
  • Transform catering and food procurement.
  • Reduce waste and the ecological footprint of the food system.

Our History

Hull Food Partnership developed as a result of the work undertaken by Food4Hull between 2013 and 2018.

Food4Hull was a network of people embedded within the voluntary and community sector in the city of Hull. The Food4Hull network aimed to encourage public, private and non-profit organisations to collaborate together with local communities to improve the local food system and make food more sustainable and available to everyone.

Food4Hull worked to raise awareness of the huge amount of work already happening in the city in the provision of local food to all communities. They did this by building links between local producers, schools, colleges and universities and organisations such as the Growers’ Network.

Food 4Hull became a member of what was then called the Sustainable Food Cities national network. This laid the foundation for the formation of Hull Food Partnership in 2016, and Hull became a Sustainable Food City in 2017.

The Hull Food Charter was launched in June 2018 and refreshed in January 2025

The Hull Food Inequality Alliance was initially established in September 2018 and then re-established in January 2021 after a pause during covid.

In 2019, after years of hard work and dedication, Hull launched the first Hull Food Action Plan and was awarded the Sustainable Food Places Bronze Award.

The Hull Food Strategy was endorsed by the Hull Integrated Health and Care Partnership Joint Committee in December 2024

Using Task and Finish Groups drawn from local VCSE, business and anchor institutions to deliver the new Hull Food Action Plan we are now working towards gaining the Sustainable Food Places Silver Award. This is a lengthy process that seeks to build on our success to date and bring together key players to further develop the mechanisms needed to deliver a secure and ethical food network that benefits the people of Hull and surrounding areas.

Our Set Up

Hull CVS is the host organisation of Hull Food Partnership, a non-constituted group with a remit to lead on food systems work with a broad range of stakeholders in Hull.

Hull Food Partnership is overseen by a cross-sector steering group and currently employs three members of staff to work on specific projects that are funded by external parties.

The Hull Food Strategy Action Plan Task and Finish Groups are convened by Hull Food Partnership and are action oriented with specific goals aimed at achieving the development and delivery of the Hull Food Action Plan, that will transform the Hull Food Strategy into delivery.

The overarching objective of each Task and Finish Group is to develop the Hull Food Action Plan around the six key pillars of the Hull Food Strategy which are as follows:

  • 1: Strategic and collaborative approach to good food governance and action: Helping local organisations and people to work together to support sustainable and affordable food in Hull.
  • 2: Building public awareness, active food citizenship and local good food movement: Local people working together, learning, growing, and cooking and eating in an informed way, using their power to change things for the better.
  • 3: Tackling food poverty and diet related ill-health and increasing access to affordable healthy food: Affordable and nourishing food – ensuring that everyone can easily get and can afford nutritious, tasty food
  • 4: Creating a vibrant, prosperous and diverse sustainable food economy. Local organisations and people buy from local food businesses first, where possible.
  • 5: Transforming catering and procurement and revitalising local and sustainable food supply chains. A thriving and robust local food sector from field to plate, with fairly-paid staff.
  • 6: Tackling the climate and nature emergency through sustainable food and farming and an end to food waste. All local organisations and people help to tackle climate change and benefit nature by making ethical, informed food choices.

Our Partners and Members

Hull Food Partnership brings together anchor institutions, organisations, businesses and individuals from across Hull and the surrounding area with the collective aim of making sustainable, healthy, affordable food a reality for everyone.

We work together on projects that are creative, ambitious and fun, but have the provision of good quality food at the centre of everything we do.

At Hull Food Partnership we want to share the good work that everybody is doing in order to inspire others to do the same. Becoming a partner organisation or member will enable us to amplify the work you are doing.

Currently over 80 organisations have signed the Hull Food Charter to become our partners, and we’re always looking for more who are ready to make positive changes to the way they relate to food, either for their benefit or the wider community.

Anyone can become a member, the first step is to sign the Hull Food Charter. This will automatically record your interest and you will receive our monthly newsletter which is packed full of information relating to food, local and national news, special offers, events and resources.

Membership is entirely free and is split into a tiered system depending on the level of involvement you want to participate in.

We hope you will join us!