Initiatives led by Croydon Council that help residents to access good, healthy food and to benefit from plans to boost the local economy have again scooped top marks in the annual London food league table.
The Good Food for London report ranks performance on 11 measures to assess how each council is taking action to make improvements in areas such as food growing, school food, healthy catering, Fairtrade and fair pay.
Croydon is ranked 8th in this year’s league table. The council received top marks for achieving Fairtrade status and participating in the Healthier Catering Commitment scheme for businesses and running a SUGAR SMART campaign.
The borough also scored well for having community food-growing initiatives and for having a significant number of schools achieve bronze level in the Healthy Schools London programme.
In addition, Croydon was commended for being one of six boroughs to not only be an accredited London Living Wage employer but also for promoting the scheme locally to businesses. The borough is a Friendly Funder, which helps ensure more local charities pay the London Living Wage as well.
The Good Food for London report was published this week alongside its sibling publication, Beyond the Food Bank , which shows that many London councils have increased the number of activities undertaken to address food poverty.
“The work we do to support residents to be healthier by cooking, growing and eating good food is progressing leaps and bounds. The SUGAR SMART Croydon campaign, the Live Well Croydon programme and JustBe Croydon health website are just a few examples of how we are trying to reduce obesity rates and help people to better look after their health. We are pleased that our efforts have been recognised in this year’s Good Food for London report.”
Councillor Jane Avis, cabinet member for families, health and social care
Councillor Manju Shahul-Hameed, cabinet member for economy and jobs said, “It has never been more important to ensure that our residents can enjoy the social mobility and wealth that will be created in Croydon’s £5.25 billion regeneration programme. The council actively works with its business community to highlight the many benefits of paying staff the London Living Wage through our Good Employer Croydon network, which now represents over 10,000 employees.”
Notes to editors:
London Food Link publishes the Good Food for London reports. This is the umbrella organisation which leads the London initiatives for the charity Sustain. Their work includes helping to influence local government policy, food-growing training, running sessions for public sector caterers, creating guidance for independent eateries and food producers and public awareness campaigns.
