The West Sussex Environment and Climate Change Board’s Sustainable Food Plan consultation.

The West Sussex Environment and Climate Change Board (ECCB) brings together several organisations from across the County to ensure the challenge of Climate Change is recognised and addressed in West Sussex.  One issue that has a significant effect on our carbon footprint, and therefore how we effect climate change, is food.  The ECCB therefore established it’s Food Group.

The Food Group is intended to enable and encourage new thinking around local food and drink; why it is important to us as individuals and to the West Sussex Economy.  We are the newest sub-group of the ECCB and are currently working on a Sustainable Food Plan for West Sussex.  This plan aims to reduce the food-related carbon and ecological footprint of the County by working to the following principles:

1. Raise awareness of what local, seasonal and sustainable food means and ensure it is promoted and celebrated by residents and visitors
2. Enhance education and skills training through high quality information
3. Encourage the development of market places to help people get access to local food and drink
4. Address issues of health and obesity in relation to diet
5. Work with WSCC Waste Services to help residents, businesses and public sector to reduce, redistribute, recycle, reuse food waste

The Sustainable Food Plan will help to reduce the food-related carbon and ecological footprint of the County. Can you help us to make it better?  A consultation on this plan is now open and will run until the 15^th December.  We will then write a report of all responses, ensuring anonymity, which will be available by 12^th January 2015.

The plan can be downloaded from here and the online survey can be accessed here.

Through this survey, we would like to ask you for your thoughts on the document, whether you can help us, what projects are already being carried out and any ideas you may have on how we can raise awareness and get more people involved.

Your views are important to us. Please take a few minutes after reading the draft plan to complete this online survey.