Pride and resilience at heart of food in the North East

Community organisations are finding innovative ways to tackle social issues through food – like helping get ex-offenders into employment, improving health through recipe boxes, and addressing root causes of food insecurity.

But infrastructure gaps, economic disparity and social inequality, rooted in the region’s industrial past, are hampering growth.

They need government help to level the playing field, invest in regional food infrastructure, and give regions the authority to address the challenges they understand best, according to the key findings from the latest What Works Here Inquiry report.

Members of the Food Strategy Citizen Advisory Council met leaders from food and farming businesses, local government and civil society in the North East to learn about the challenges and opportunities around food.

Their report is the fourth and final in the series following investigations in Cornwall, York and North Yorkshire and Liverpool and Merseyside.