UK Urban Food Forum re-launch events

We’re excited to re-launch the UK Urban Food Forum (UK-UFF) – a knowledge exchange network for local authority officers working to transform urban food environments.

Following a successful pilot phase in 2024, we’re building momentum and expanding our collaborative efforts in 2025 with new sessions for 2025. You can find more information and sign up links below - please note these sessions are only open to people working in local authorities. 

 
What is the UK Urban Food Forum?

The UK-UFF is a peer learning network convened by The Food Foundation and funded initially by Birmingham City Council. It provides a space for local authority officers to share best practices, explore challenges, and develop solutions across urban food policy – from procurement to advertising, growing to governance.

Inspired by the Milan Urban Food Policy Pact, UK-UFF uniquely supports local authority officers navigating political, financial, and structural challenges in delivering healthy, sustainable, and equitable food systems.

What have we done so far?

In 2024, we piloted the Forum through three Knowledge Exchange (KX) sessions attended by 12 local authorities. Each session featured a mix of policy deep-dives, case studies, and facilitated discussions: 

• Session 1 (July 2024): Healthy and Sustainable Procurement – exploring how councils are reforming procurement to prioritise sustainability, SMEs, and healthy diets, including key legislative changes like the Procurement Act 2023. 
• Session 2 (August 2024): Healthier Food Advertising – focusing on cross-departmental collaboration, real-world implementation of advertising restrictions, and public health outcomes from policies like those adopted in London. 
• Session 3 (September 2024): Urban and Peri-Urban Growing – sharing practical approaches to unlocking council-owned land for community food growing, with insights from Bury and strategies around “Right to Grow” initiatives.

What’s next?

In 2025, we will kick off with a new four-part series of online knowledge exchanges, tackling key issues and sharing practical tools that local authorities can apply immediately. These 90-minute lunchtime sessions will feature presentations, policy walkthroughs, and open Q&A:

Who is it for?

The Forum is open to local authority officers and policy officials across departments – from public health and procurement to planning, regeneration, and environmental sustainability – who are working to deliver local food strategies or are keen to start.

Places will be limited to 30 to ensure a productive and participatory discussion – register early to secure your place.

Accessing Past Resources and Sharing Your Own 

Previous session recordings and slides are stored in our closed-access Google Folder. If you’d like to access them or upload documentation from your local authority to support others, you can: 

• Request access to the Google Folder 
• Upload directly to your designated LA folder, or use this upload form 

Sharing resources helps us collectively accelerate food system change across UK cities and towns.

Stay Connected

• Mailing list: Sign up to the UK-UFF mailing list to receive the latest updates on Forum activities. 
• Community comms: Join the UK-UFF Rise up group to communicate directly with other members. Email uk-uff-subscribe@lists.riseup.net to be added. 
• Spread the word: Promote the Forum across your networks and share these invites with colleagues in your LA who may benefit from attending. 

Session 1: Devolution and Opportunities for Strengthening Local Food Resilience 

Date: Monday 19th May, 2025 
Time: 1:00 – 2:30 PM 
Location: Online (link will be shared upon registration) 
Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/devolution-and-opportunities-for-strengthening-local-food-resilience-tickets-1336379961439?aff=oddtdtcreator

About this session
In this first Knowledge Exchange of 2025, we’ll explore how the changing devolution landscape offers new levers for local food transformation. From trailblazing combined authorities to district-level innovation, we’ll discuss how local authorities are capitalising on devolved powers to strengthen food resilience, build cross-sector partnerships, and influence local health and climate priorities.

Joined by Professor Tim Lang and Dr Chris Yap, we’ll spotlight emerging examples of integrated food strategies embedded in devolution deals, and hear from cities using place-based powers to tackle food insecurity and drive change.

Who should attend:
Officers working in public health, planning, economic development, food policy and strategy, or anyone navigating new devolved responsibilities in food system transformation.

Session 2: Culturally Diverse Eating Guidance

How public health departments can co-develop eating guidance adapted to diverse communities, health conditions, and settings

Date: Thursday 5th June, 2025 
Time: 1:00 – 2:30 PM 
Location: Online 
Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/culturally-diverse-eating-guidance-tickets-1338607473989?aff=oddtdtcreator
 
About this session 
This session will examine how councils are working with communities to develop culturally inclusive eating guidance that resonates with local needs. With cities being most diverse localities in the UK, public health teams are increasingly seeking to move beyond generic dietary advice to shape interventions that are practical, sustainable and tailored to diverse communities they work with.

We’ll hear from local authorities piloting innovative approaches – co-producing materials with community groups, faith leaders, schools, and health professionals – and consider how this guidance can inform procurement, education, and health settings.

Who should attend:
Public health officers, community engagement leads, and those developing or commissioning culturally relevant nutrition materials. Please note this session is only open to people working in local authorities. 

Session 3: Roadmap to More Sustainable and Healthy Public Sector Procurement 

Date: Thursday 19th June, 2025 
Time: 1:00 – 2:30 PM 
Location: Online 
Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/roadmap-to-more-sustainable-and-healthy-public-sector-procurement-tickets-1338653983099?aff=oddtdtcreator
 
About this session
Public food procurement can be a powerful lever for healthier diets, local economic growth, and sustainable agriculture. In this session, we’ll focus on the "how" – how councils are shifting their contracts, engaging SMEs, aligning with new legislation (such as the Procurement Act 2023), and measuring impact.

We’ll look at practical examples of specification wording, supplier engagement, monitoring, and how to integrate health and sustainability into the tendering process – without sacrificing cost-effectiveness.

Who should attend: 
Procurement leads, catering officers, public health teams, and anyone involved in shaping food service contracts across schools, care homes, or other settings. We’re especially keen to hear from local authorities and organisations who have piloted or adopted different procurement models – including Dynamic Purchasing Systems, the Buying Better Food and Drink Framework, Food for Life, Menus of Change, and other approaches. Please note this session is only open to people working in local authorities. 

Session 4: Public Health Policies to Improve Children’s Eating Habits in Schools and Childcare Settings

Date: Wednesday 16th July, 2025 
Time: 1:00 – 2:30 PM 
Location: Online 
Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/improving-childrens-eating-habits-in-schools-and-childcare-settings-tickets-1338745597119?aff=oddtdtcreator

About this session
How can we design evidence-based local policies that meaningfully improve children’s diets in primary school settings? This session shares learning from a collaborative project between the University of Birmingham, Aston University, and Birmingham City Council to co-create public health policy rooted in research, practitioner insight, and children's lived experiences.

We'll explore how local authorities can translate academic evidence into actionable strategies to promote mealtime enjoyment, reduce barriers to healthy food uptake, and build coordinated approaches across early years settings. The session will introduce, practical tools, and dissemination resources for use by public health teams.

Who should attend 
Public health officers, early years teams, children’s services staff, education leads, and anyone involved in school food policy, planning, or programme delivery. Please note this session is only open to people working in local authorities.