**STOP PRESS**

This is now a SOLD OUT event, however we are creating an online waiting list which can be complete here. The waiting list will operate on a first come first served basis so please register your interest today!

The programme for Making Local Food Our Future is now available!

Tim Lang, Professor of Food Policy at City University has added his name to a roll call of top names at a landmark event that will debate the future of the community food sector.

He joins Peter Couchman, Chief Executive of Plunkett Foundation, Ed Mayo, Secretary General of Co-operatives UK and Peter Wanless, Big Lottery Fund’s Chief Executive at what will be a must-attend event for anyone interested in the future of community food.

The day will include a range of debates and seminar sessions.

Break out session 1:

Debate: The growth of the community food sector: Is big bad?

A debate panel with leading voices from the food sector with open discussion.

Seminar: Understanding and responding to your customers

This practical seminar will provide real evidence and practical tools to help you to understand more about why consumers choose local and how to persuade more people to make the switch.

Seminar: Engaging your community through food

This session led by fantastic community food enterprises will unpack why food can be so effective in bringing a community together.  It will explore the different ways that people can engage in food – as members, customers, producers and co-owners – and it will also provide a range of ideas for how to engage your local community from food events to hosting visits and providing training.

Seminar: Putting ethical food on the plate

This session will showcase how community food enterprises put ethical food on the plates of individuals, families and communities across England. This community food enterprise led session will highlight fantastic examples of innovative community food enterprises that provide access to ethical, fresh and sustainable food to their customers and the wider community.

Debate: Influencing the future: What does the community food sector need from Government public policy?

A debate panel with leading voices from the food sector with open discussion.

Break out session 2:

Debate: Shaping up economically: Can we balance consumer demands with teh practical side of local food production and distribution?

A debate panel with leading voices from the food sector with open discussion.

Seminar: Exploring your impact

Community food enterprises have a wide range of impacts on their communities.  They produce, distribute, process and sell healthy food that is sustainably produced.  They provide jobs alongside voluntary and training opportunities.  They also produce a range of environmental benefits.  It is becoming increasingly important that community food enterprises know what their impact is.  It can be important for accessing funding, for attracting new members or customers and also for the people involved to know they are doing great things.  This practical session on exploring your impact will be delivered by The Guild, commissioned by Making Local Food Work to design a tool specifically for community enterprises to identify the impacts they want to make and how to measure how they achieve them.

Seminar: Is collaboration the future for community food?

This seminar will outline the findings of this pioneering 18 month study into what role collaboration will play in the future of community food.  Led by leading academics in the field, Tim Crabtree and Professor Kevin Morgan of Cardiff University, this session will explore the theoretical models and practical examples of collaboration in practice for community food.

Seminar: Growing futures through enterprise

Good enterprise skills are fundamental to creating a sustainable and successful community food enterprise. Join this practical seminar to hear from Making Local Food Work enterprise specialists on business planning and finance as well as examples of best practice. This session will help people to use a range of tools and resources that have been developed throughout Making Local Food Work including the brilliant Community Enterprise Toolkit.

Debate: Connecting with your community: What are the limits to what community-ownership can unlock for the future of food?

A debate panel with leading voices from the food sector with open discussion.

Across the country people are making a future for local food through their community. Making Local Food Our Future is a national conference which will bring together the innovators, drivers and investors in the community food sector, to show how they are making a real impact by joining together and working collaboratively.

We all have something to contribute to the future stability of the food system. Making Local Food Our Future will be your opportunity to be inspired by real examples, to connect with the key stakeholders and to find out how to do it in your own community.

With 500 representatives from a wide range of organisations and sectors including policy makers, practitioners, the food sector, academics, consumers, the commercial food sector, producers, commercial farmers, health sector and the media, this event cannot be missed! It will create a platform to hear from a range of voices and perspectives which will influence the future shape of community food enterprise.

The programme for the day is now available and can be downloaded here. All delegates will be requested to make their break out session selections in advance and will be contacted shortly.

Making Local Food Our Future also marks the culmination of five years of Making Local Food Work, funded by the Big Lottery Fund, which has helped over 1,300 community enterprises – and over 2 million consumers – reconnect with local food through community food enterprises.

Further announcements coming shortly!

www.makinglocalfoodwork.co.uk