Edible Edinburgh's new Sustainable Food Directory is vital with cost-of-living crisis set to get worse – Steve Cardownie

Edible Edinburgh is working alongside organisations like Empty Kitchens, Full Hearts, pictured (Picture: Duncan McGlynn)

I recently spoke to George Gordon, the SNP councillor for Forth Ward, who was at pains to inform me of a food initiative that he is heavily involved with.

Edible Edinburgh has launched the Sustainable Food Directory which aims to showcase the best places to find local, sustainable food in the city.

Local food growing projects, community food organisations, shops, markets, cafes and restaurants are all being asked to apply to become part of the directory, with the aim of gaining recognition as the Capital’s most sustainable food places.

Councillor Gordon informed me that it is designed to highlight places that individuals can go to, first of all to join a food growing programme (be that allotments or community gardens) where they can find places to purchase fresh local produce at affordable prices and can also find out how to tackle food waste.

It contains details of the locations of retailers and wholesalers that supply local ingredients which will help to reduce pollution and travel miles. It also highlights restaurants and food outlets that use locally grown produce – not just fruit and vegetables, but also fresh meat and dairy produce.

Councillor Gordon wrote and introduced a food-growing strategy to the city council which received cross party support and, after he rejuvenated Edible Edinburgh back in 2017, it was later presented with a bronze award from Sustainable Food Places, an organisation which works across all aspects of the food system to solve some of today’s most pressing social, environmental and economic issues.

To win the award, the Edible Edinburgh Partnership had to ensure that all care homes, schools and council facilities were serving fresh, quality, nutritious food with the lowest impact on the environment.

The directory went live to the public last Friday and, as it is a “live document”, Councillor Gordon is calling on “sustainable food businesses, growers, suppliers and producers in the city to apply to be listed on our new directory, demonstrating their business action and ambition, to make it easier for people to support local food producers, shops and communities”.

He informed me that one of the key issues identified at the start of the pandemic in 2019 was food insecurity for citizens in poverty. “Whist we can all refer to food banks, the element of fresh food and veg needed to be improved so we engaged with retailers such as Morrisons, Asda and Scotmid to ensure that food banks were able to access end-of-day produce that could be given out next day and this has had a significant effect on the offerings of food banks.”

Edible Edinburgh has also been working with organisations like Edinburgh Community Foods, Empty Kitchens, Full Hearts, Fresh Start and the Chef Alliance which have all made an invaluable contribution to helping vulnerable members of the public during the pandemic.

The launch of the new directory should help in making the provision of affordable, nutritious food in the Capital more accessible and, given all the economic predictions that we are about to see a significant hike in the cost of living, it has not come a moment too soon.

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