“People are up for change. Government doesn't need to be afraid of looking at regulation where it is needed and directing support to where it is needed."

- David, participant in #TheFoodConversation, speaking at the Scottish launch of the Citizen Manifesto to Fix Food

The Scottish Parliament marks its 26th anniversary this month, and right now is not short of ambition. The landmark National Good Food Nation Plan is approaching its final publication, a world-leading piece of food policy that sets a vision for a fair, sustainable, healthy and resilient food system in Scotland. Our work talking to citizens in #TheFoodConversation, both in Scotland and across the rest of the UK, shows this is exactly the kind of future people want for themselves and their families when it comes to food.

Politicians in Scotland can take inspiration and encouragement from the Citizen Manifesto to Fix Food which launched at the Scottish Poetry Society earlier this month. It shows that the public wholeheartedly back the leadership, joined-up thinking and the kind of decisive action that the Good Food Nation Act has set in motion.

Citizens from #TheFoodConversation speaking at the manifesto launch

Citizens from #TheFoodConversation talked about the changes they want to see. They spoke to an audience of MSPs, civil servants and some of Scotland’s leading voices in food and farming - all expertly chaired by Living Good Food Nation Lab lead Prof Mary Brennan. It was an evening of collective focus, on the complexity and challenges faced and the possible solutions – many of which could be addressed through local Good Food Nation Plans.

A significant part of the Good Food Nation Act legislation will see local authorities and health boards fulfilling a new statutory duty to engage on and draft local five year plans. The success of these plans will rest on ensuring citizen asks are reflected and working collaboratively with different sectors to create opportunities for greater citizen participation and dialogue within the process. 

Engagement with citizens sits at the heart of a lot of government thinking in Scotland, including, for example, the national dialogue and programme of legislation and policy on land. Efforts to widen the debate, to bring in different voices and to embed a culture of collective responsibility, as well as individual and community rights, are bearing fruit.

Dennis Overton speaking at the manifesto launch

Dennis Overton described the Good Food Nation Plan as a “whole Scotland project” and an opportunity to “involve all of Scottish society coming together.” Community-led engagement and dialogue could be a great way to involve many more people around the country – perhaps using something similar to The Food Conversation Toolkit. There have been over 70 of these community-led conversations in 45 places to date, involving almost 1300 people, in an incredible variety of formats across the UK and Scotland. This open-source tool has enabled people to host their own conversations, explore the food system and debate what needs to change.

As one conversation host in the Scottish Highlands said, “We discovered several useful links where needs could be met by offers brought to the table – A local producer wanted to share knowledge and now is going into the local prison to help teach them growing skills as they were searching for expertise. The prison also wanted a way to share their produce with the community as a way to give back, and a food bank organisation is now going to take the produce and distribute it to people in the area.” 

With local authorities and health boards beginning to plan their public engagement for local Good Food Nation Plans, the use of The Food Conversation toolkit – or a similar resource – could support greater citizen participation and more meaningful dialogue.

FFCC Scotland is keen to explore and work with partners to develop further opportunities – please get in touch to discuss Kirsty.tait@ffcc.co.uk