The Welsh Government is committed to supporting businesses in parts of our local, everyday economy, also known as the Foundational Economy. Its aims are to build a resilient society and improve goods and services, together with the economic and social relationships that underpin them, which are essential to living a good life.
Please join us at this event to celebrate the Foundational Economy and launch a new Foundational Economy Mission Statement.
We will be showcasing results from Welsh Government funded projects that have applied innovative approaches across a range of Foundational Economy sectors such as food, transport, housing and construction.
Foundational Economy projects showcased by organisations such as:
Castell Howell – Authentic Cuisine and Celtica Foods
Food Sense Wales – Welsh Veg in Schools
Development Trust Association Wales (DTA) – The Assured Growing Toolbox#
Menter Môn – Larder Cymru and Tech Tyfu
Social Farms and Gardens – Future Farms
Cookalong Clwb
Menter a Busnes
BIC Innovation – Increasing Welsh Food
Cardiff Council – Cardiff Food Hour
Carmarthenshire Council – Wellbeing of Future Generations menu development and School Meals Pilot
Monmouthshire Council – Meals on Wheels service
Can Cook – Well Fed Social Enterprise
Cardiff Met – Foundational Economy Innovation Network, CEIC Programme
PLANED
Simply Do – WISH project
Wood Knowledge Wales
Cyfle – Building Skills
NetRet Group
The Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Energy, and Planning will also attending to meet project leads and give a keynote speech, launching the new Foundational Economy Mission Statement.
There is no charge to attend this event, please note there will be video recording and photography on the day and lunch will be provided.
This event will be hosted by the Welsh Government in partnership with Cynnal Cymru.
Agenda to follow shortly.
Date: Monday 28th April 2025 Time: 10:30 am – 14:30 pm Location: Norwegian Church Arts Centre, Harbour Drive, Cardiff Bay, CF10 4PA.
Today is International School Meals Day, celebrated this year on the 13th March. This day emphasises the importance of ensuring that every child has access to healthy, sustainable, and delicious school meals. As a sustainability charity and the facilitator of the Foundational Economy Capabilities Network, funded by Welsh Government, we care deeply about access to sustainable and healthy food for everyone across Wales. Food and education are foundational sectors of our economy, and we work with many organisations working to improve the availability of sustainable, healthy and nutritious food in schools.
International School Meals Day promotes healthy eating habits, highlights the connection between nutrition and education, and encourages an understanding of the significance of providing quality, nutritious meals in schools.
Nutritious school meals are essential in promoting child health, wellbeing and learning. Healthy food nourishes students to support social and academic development and promote healthy eating habits. The link between healthy eating, education and better learning cannot be understated.
On International School Meals Day, schools, educators, parents, and policymakers come together to emphasise the importance of providing healthy and balanced meals for students. The focus is on sharing best practices in nutrition education and ensuring every child has access to nutritious meals that support their potential.
Take a look at some programmes in Wales supporting nutritious food in schools.
Universal Primary Free School Meal Programme
Over the past two years, Wales has been implementing the free primary school meals programme. In Wales, all primary school children can access the Universal Primary Free School Meal Programme, ensuring that no child goes hungry at school. This initiative tackles child poverty and promotes healthy eating within schools. It also increases the variety of food options available, improves social skills during mealtimes, and enhances both behaviour and academic achievement.
Evidence indicates that school meals have numerous benefits: children are more likely to attend and remain in school, learning outcomes improve, socioeconomic disparities diminish, food insecurity is reduced, and low-income families experience less financial pressure.
In Wales, leading projects such as Welsh Veg in Schools are aiming to get more organically produced Welsh veg into primary school meals across Wales. Coordinated by Food Sense Wales, the pilot project works with partners including Castell Howell and Farming Connect Horticulture to help get more locally produced organic vegetables into school lunches.
Can cook aims to eliminate Ultra Processed Foods, tackling child poverty and obesity rates. Their “Well Fed” programme includes initiatives like Cook-at-Home meal boxes, mobile shops, and Meals on Wheels. Check out our full story on Can Cook.
How do school meals relate to the wider world?
School meals in Wales and across the world are crucial interventions resulting in lasting positive impacts across multiple sectors the sustainable development goals. Read more on the School meals Coalition.
Our global food production and consumption systems are unsustainable and are currently the largest contributors to the climate crisis, the nature emergency, deforestation, the global water crisis, and biodiversity loss.
The broader benefits of school meal programmes have the potential to positively impact multiple sectors, including health, education, climate, and economic outcomes. These programs can serve as a catalyst for improving children’s health by engaging them in food systems and nutrition education. Additionally, school meal initiatives provide opportunities for UK-based industries to grow, invest, and develop more sustainable food systems.
Investing in school meals could align with the green growth agenda by emphasising the delivery of healthy and sustainable meals. This focus can inspire innovation and encourage investment by businesses throughout the entire value chain, from agriculture and food production to distribution. Such initiatives can create jobs and enhance productivity, leading to direct growth that is both inclusive and sustainable.
By prioritising sustainable suppliers along the whole value chain, there is opportunity for public procurement to make progress towards climate and environmental sustainability goals such as, eliminating plastic waste, reducing food waste and supporting sustainable land use practices. An extended school meal programme has the potential to improve health education, life outcomes and to catalyse innovation, and investment across multiple sectors, transforming food systems benefiting not only job growth but also aligning with our climate and biodiversity goals.
Cynnal Cymru facilitates the Foundational Economy Capabilities Network, funded by Welsh Government. The foundational economy covers the sectors that are crucial to our daily lives, including food and education. Read more about the foundational economy and the work of the capabilities network here.
Every month in Cynnal Cymru’s excellent newsletter (subscribe here), we explore a different question or topic through the lens of our core organisational aims of a fair and just society, an inclusive low-carbon economy, and healthy, restored ecosystems.
Last month, we thought about how to handle complexity within times of change in our job roles or the wider sustainability conversation. This month, we’re thinking about what it means to craft and build a new future together. We’re a few weeks out from an election that saw the Conservatives leave office for the first time in 14 years, with Labour winning a majority of 172 seats. Labour’s campaign slogan was simple: Change.
The public policy landscape has started to shift already, with 40 pieces of legislation introduced by the new government (and an additional two carried over from the previous parliamentary session).
Unsurprisingly for an organisation called Cynnal Cymru – Sustain Wales, we have a core focus on sustainability. We also want to ensure that action on climate change leads to a better society, and doesn’t leave workers behind – that’s where our Fair Economy team comes in. For an organisation that has this focus on sustainability and a fair economy (such as fair working practices), there is plenty for us to sink our teeth into.
Sustainability
One of the new government’s flagship policies has been the creation of a new organisation called GB Energy – a new, publicly-owned green power company. The UK Government intends to invest over £8bn in this organisation over the next five years – a major spending commitment.
It’s still early days for GB Energy, and there’s more to learn about how it will operate as it comes into life. However, it seems that a core remit will be co-investing in emerging renewable energy technology and scaling up investment in more established technologies. Essentially, it will aim to unlock private sector investment in renewables by de-risking and clearing the way for this investment.
Chris Stark – former Chief Executive of the Climate Change Committee – has also been appointed to lead a new ‘Mission Control’ that will aim to break down barriers and accelerate progress on clean energy projects.
UK Labour appears to lean on some of the work of economist Professor Mariana Mazzucato. Labour’s ‘five missions to rebuild Britain’, chime with Mazzucato’s 2021 book ‘Mission Economy: A Moonshot Guide to Changing Capitalism’. This book was inspired by the space race, which, in the US, took a ‘missions-based’ systems-engineering approach to coordination of the public and private sectors to put human beings on the moon.
Sound familiar? This appears to very much be the approach of the new UK Labour government with regards to its ‘National Missions’, ‘Mission Control’, and the public-private approach of GB Energy.
This plan is not without controversy. Many will question the need for private sector involvement, with the inevitable siphoning off of proceeds into private profit, particularly where the public purse is de-risking projects – although the government would counter that private expertise and buy-in is necessary.
There is a particular sensitivity in Wales, too. GB Energy has already announced a partnership with the Crown Estate in England and Wales. The Crown Estate owns a substantial amount of Britain’s land, including the majority of the seabed, and public money will be used to lease this land to develop windfarms.
There have been calls for the Crown Estate to be devolved to Wales, a position long supported by the Welsh Government. However, the UK Government does not have this as a proposal in its legislative agenda.
Fair Work: Policy Highlight
There is news on the fair work front, too. The King’s Speech included a new Employment Rights Bill. The UK Government has said this Bill will enhance a long list of working rights:
Banning ‘exploitative’ zero-hours contracts
Ending ‘Fire and Rehire’ and ‘Fire and Replace’
Making parental leave, sick pay, and protection from unfair dismissal available from the first day of employment (whilst retaining the option of probationary periods)
Removing the lower earnings limit for Statutory Sick Pay
Flexible working the default from day-one for all workers
Making it unlawful to dismiss a woman who has had a baby for six months after her return to work (except in specific circumstances)
A new Fair Work Agency to strengthen enforcement of workplace rights
A new Fair Pay Agreement in the adult social care sector, with potential expansion to other sectors
Removal of some restrictions on trade union activity
Simplifying the process of statutory recognition for trade unions
Introducing a regulated route to ensure workers and union members have a reasonable right to access a union within workplaces
This appears to be a strong set of proposals to strengthen workers’ rights in the UK. However, the detail will be crucial – for example, the ‘teeth’ that the new Fair Work Agency is given, the exemptions for employers around new rights such as protecting new mothers, and how broad the definition of ‘exploitative’ zero hours contracts is.
The Fair Pay Agreement in the adult social care sector will be particularly interesting, and is under-remarked on. ‘Fair Pay Agreements’ are essentially an industry-wide employment agreement, where government brings together trade unions and employers to agree minimum pay rates and conditions across the sector.
The UK model of collective bargaining currently focuses largely on the firm level. Research has found that this model poses a significant challenge to trade unions, which have to secure agreements workplace-by-workplace. It also found that no country which operates on this model has collective bargaining coverage of over 35%, with collective bargaining coverage only remaining high and stable in countries where multi-employer or sectoral agreements – such as these Fair Pay Agreements – are negotiated.
That the UK Government is now proposing to bring sectoral agreements into the social care sector, potentially as a ‘proof of concept’ for other low-paid sectors, is significant. If rolled out successfully and more extensively, this could be the start of a quiet revolution in the UK’s industrial relations settlement.
Given Cynnal Cymru’s longstanding work on the real Living Wage (we’re the Living Wage Foundation’s Accreditation Partner for Wales and host Living Wage Wales in-house), there’s a particularly interesting commitment to deliver a ‘genuine living wage’. The Low Pay Commission, which suggests the minimum wage rate (or National Living Wage as it’s now called) will now have to consider the cost of living when making its recommendation.
For our part, the real Living Wage is set directly according to the cost of living, based on a basket of household goods and services. That’s a different remit to the one of the new Low Pay Commission, so we’ll be keeping an eye on any differences in the two rates.
What does this mean for our future?
There is so much we could say around policy that relates to fair work and sustainability, and the impacts these changes could mean for our foundational economy too.
There is clearly a huge amount of change being undertaken that speaks to the things we care about at Cynnal Cymru, encompassed by our vision of a fair and just society, an inclusive low-carbon economy, and healthy, restored ecosystems. .
We know that legislation can’t deliver everything and it doesn’t work on its own. We also believe in the power of partners, citizens and action-focused advocacy to bring about the transformative change that we need.
Harry Thompson is Senior Programme and Policy Lead: Fair Work and Economy and manages the Fair Work and Living Wage team, which work towards Cynnal Cymru’s strategic goal of a fair and just society.
As an indigenous Welsh food company, Castell Howell is very much at the centre of this foundational economy.
Serving both private and public sector hospitality and food service providers in Wales and beyond, the company recognises its responsibility to be agents for change, working towards the goals of the Economic Action Plan.
‘Optimising the Welsh food system necessitates a focus on onshoring production for enhanced social value and nutritional content. This entails aligning menus with seasonal harvests, improving yield and supply chain data, and extending produce shelf life. Collaborative efforts will foster a more resilient system that empowers our farmers, delivers nutritious meals to the public sector, and minimises risk. While cost and efficiency challenges exist, a pragmatic approach focused on long-term objectives can yield significant benefits. Transparent procurement practices that prioritise not just price point, but also social value, environmental impact, and community engagement are essential.’
Edward Morgan – Group Corporate Social Responsibility & Training Manager, Castell Howell Foods.
This case study highlights four independent yet interlinked projects that demonstrate how the supply chain can collaborate to instigate change that leaves a social, environmental and economic legacy within the foundational economy and beyond.
1. Locally Grown Veg to Cardiff Food and Fun – ‘The Courgette Pilot’
In the summer of 2022 Castell Howell (CHF) collaborated with growers Blas Gwent, Food Sense Wales and Cardiff Council to deliver locally-grown vegetables to the Welsh Government funded and WLGA managed Summer Food & Fun programme.
Courgettes grown near Cardiff were delivered to 22 local schools, and CHF’s development chef worked with the Council’s nutritional team to create dishes that were nutritionally balanced, palatable, and attractive to the children. The summer programme included activities such as cooking demonstrations and vegetable art.
Food Sense Wales published a report highlighting the efficacy of the pilot and how the inclusion of locally-grown vegetables in school meals can reduce environmental impacts and benefit both the grower and the children.
Phase 2 extended beyond Cardiff Council to Monmouthshire and Carmarthenshire, and included three small-scale vegetable growers: Blas Gwent (Wentloog), Langtons Farm (Crickhowell), and Bonvilston Edge (Bonvilston). Their vegetables were used for the Summer Food & Fun project by all three local authorities, with a longer-term project in Monmouthshire extending to their autumn and winter menus. To ensure that food safety was maintained, Tyfu Cymru/Farming Connect delivered safety and process training.
Managing the Supply Chain
Yield forecasts, menus and harvesting all had to be aligned, and allow for flexibility for seasonal variations. Authentic Foods (Hirwaun) were contracted to grow vegetables to be harvested, prepared, and, after a programme of new product development work, included in kitchen-prepared, multi-portion meals to the public sector. Dialogues with local authority catering teams on nutritional compliance, acceptability, palatability, pricing and the practicality of using school kitchens were essential to the project’s success, and in May 2023 the partners met at Langtons Farm, where a commitment was made to plant 1,000 cauliflowers to harvest in early 2024, for use in school-compliant multi-portion meals from March 2024 onwards.
Lab results for the micronutrients for the meals developed at Authentic were of particular interest. Except for the standard Welsh Tom Pizza sauce, the results seem in line with expectations. Particularly good to see the addition of the Welsh grown spinach and chard boosting the iron and zinc values of the Cauli Cheese meal. It’s not clear what portion size a primary school child would eat, however it is hoped that the 20% added would exceed the 3g of these micronutrients that is a general baseline.
The Welsh Beef Bolognaise (with the added spinach/chard base) seems to perform well too.
Provided that the children are ok with 20% added Cauliflower Cheese meal (not too green looking etc), this could be great news for our cohort of growers, helping us to narrow down what can be grown well and profitably in Wales for a target customer i.e. schools.
Welsh Tom Pizza Topping
With 10% Spinach
With 20% Spinach
With 10% Chard
Knorr Tom Basil Sauce
Maggi (Nestle) Rich & Rustic
Tin Chopp/Plum Toms
Welsh Beef and Welsh Bolognese
Welsh Cauli Cheese
With 10% mixed leaves
With 20% mixed leaves
With 10% spinach
Energy
KJ/100g
168
155
161
150
213
257
80
354
359
337
329
337
Protein
g/100g
1.8
1.8
2.1
1.8
1.2
1.4
1.1
5.5
3.4
3.5
3.5
3.4
Fat
g/100g
0.3
0.2
0.3
0.3
1.1
2.8
0.1
4.6
5.3
4.9
4.5
4.8
Sugars
g/100g
5.2
4.5
4.4
4
6.9
5.7
3.8
2.7
2.7
2.4
2.3
2.3
Fibre
g/100g
2.6
2.5
2.4
2.7
0.7
1.1
0.8
2.8
1.6
2
2.33
1.7
Sodium
mg/100g
204
202
183
169
n/a
n/a
n/a
292
220
213
231
198
Zinc
mg/100g
<2.00
2.23
3.37
3.78
n/a
n/a
n/a
11.6
5.56
8.65
11.3
5.62
Iron
mg/100g
7.17
5.41
6.22
6.13
n/a
n/a
n/a
7.84
1.81
3.54
5.53
2.74
2. Gower Grown Veg, Field to Fork
In collaboration with Swansea Local Authority, Bishopston Secondary school and 4theregion, Castell Howell developed a pilot local supply chain for vegetables grown in Gower to feature on the menu at Bishopston school. The school held a fortnight of food-based activities in lessons, a school visit to the growers, and helped with the development of meals that featured on a Gower Grown school menu.
This project helped raise awareness of nutrition, environmental impact, financial fairness across the supply chain and local food resilience.
3. Sustainable supply chains, and ‘Scope 3’ on menus
Food miles and Scope 3 supply chain emissions are inextricably linked. Working with hospitality providers to decide on menu options, and then with suppliers, can reduce the total environmental impact of the products.
An example of the circular economy in action was demonstrated by the collaboration between Celtic Pride, CHF’s premium Welsh beef supplier run by the Rees family from Bryn Farm, in Pendoylan, Vale of Glamorgan, and NFU Energy. Bryn Farm received biosolids from Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water, a by-product that is a rich source of nutrients and allowed the farm to reduce the need for synthetic fertilisers, which is one of the biggest challenges faced by the agricultural sector.
Communicating the Positive Benefits to Stakeholders
CHF promotes the environmental and social benefits of a sustainable supply chain to stakeholders through positive messaging on menus, supported by further information accessed via QR codes.
A Sustainably Sourced Menu for a Farming Conference
In collaboration with Cardiff Catering, CHF developed a sustainably sourced menu for the 2022 Nuffield Conference banquet. The key suppliers adopted a range of environmental objectives, including a Farm Carbon Audit with the beef farmer, net-zero potatoes, Gower-grown vegetables and cheese from regenerative farms. This film shows how the menu was created with sustainability at its heart and showcases the sustainability journey of the food producers, as well as highlighting how this was communicated to the diners.
4. Digestibility and Nutrient Density Project
There is a growing acceptance of the health risks posed by ultra-processed foods. CHF partnered with Aberystwyth University on a Welsh Government funded project to develop prepared meals for NHS Wales that demonstrate that nutritional, environmental, social and commercial goals need not be mutually exclusive.
The outcomes were achieved with a range of multi-portion meals following a new and innovative product development pipeline, which included measuring the true nutritional quality of the new meals, via amino acid compositional analysis and in-vitro gastrointestinal protein digestibility scores. Protein derived from UK grown pulses was successfully substituted for red meat, ensuring that the meals still met the required nutritional standards.
The project found that a range of flexitarian or “hybrid” meals, based on well-established and recognised meals but substituting plant-based protein sources for meat wherever possible, were the most viable in meeting the requirements. Where meat was used this was predominantly pasture-grazed Welsh beef aligned with Hybu Cig Cymru’s ‘Welsh Way’ vision of lower carbon protein derived from Welsh livestock. However the increasing price of meat since the start of the project underlined the important commercial aspects of “hybrid” foods that contain an element of Welsh meat alongside UK grown pulses.
————————————————————————————————————–
‘I cannot overstate the importance of these projects, in terms of developing the supply chain, generating product development and providing more Welsh products to Welsh schools.’
Edward Morgan – Group Corporate Social Responsibility & Training Manager, Castell Howell Foods
We at Cynnal Cymru are excited to keep you informed about the progress of this work.
Welsh Government are delighted to announce the launch of a new eLearning module on Community Wealth Building and the Foundational Economy. This engaging online resource aims to build understanding of what the Foundational Economy is; the benefits it can bring; and how it can be strengthened.
Ken Skates MS, Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Transport and North Wales says:
“This online eLearning module is an excellent tool to better understand Community Wealth Building and place-based approaches, which can support and nourish the Foundational Economy, central to our Economic Mission. We all interact with the Foundational Economy every day, from the food we eat, the buildings we live and work in, and the services that we use. It is inseparable from our communities and our country, representing roughly 40% of the economy.
Building the necessary capability and skills to embed Foundational Economy objectives across the Welsh public sector is crucial. By doing this we can maximise opportunities for our indigenous suppliers and build resilient, highly skilled supply chains – keeping the Welsh pound in our communities.
To do this, we recognise the need to provide the necessary toolsets and support for our public sector partners and practitioners.
I am pleased to announce the launch of this eLearning module and hope it is widely used to strengthen understanding, commitment and know-how to help our foundational sectors thrive.”
FAQs
How long does this eLearning module take?
There are eight sections to this course. We recommend completing the module in one sitting, which will take between 30 – 45 minutes.
Who is it for?
This module has been designed for anyone to take, whether interested citizens or those working in public, private and third sectors. We particularly recommend it to those who are involved in developing economic policies and projects, as well as those working in public sector procurement. The short course is designed to leave learners feeling more informed, confident and energised!
No specialist knowledge is required to take this module and it has been designed for anyone who is interested.
Foundational Economy in Action: Excellence in Public Sector Food
The Foundational Economy is the backbone of everyday life in Wales, providing essential goods and services to everyone. These include health and social care, food, housing, energy and utilities, construction, retailers on the high street, and tourism. The Foundational Economy is supported by a range of businesses, from small and medium-sized enterprises to large companies such as privatised utilities, mobile companies, and major supermarkets. It is estimated that the Foundational Economy provides employment for four out of every ten people in Wales and contributes to £1 out of every £3 spent in the country.
A strong foundational economy ensures that essential human needs are available to everyone, regardless of their location, income or status. Supporting the foundational economy is a top priority in the Welsh government’s mission of economic resilience and reconstruction, which aims to create thriving communities and businesses throughout Wales. The Welsh Government’s Economic Action Plan encourages collaboration to address inequalities, promote inclusivity, and drive economic development, supporting business decisions. Building on the success of the 2021 Welsh Government’s Foundation Economy Challenge Fund, the Backing Local Firms Fund aims to support local businesses in delivering the products and services required by the public sector, creating better job opportunities closer to home.
The Welsh Government’s “Backing Local Firms Fund” has financed various projects in the food sector to increase the amount of Welsh food served on public plates. The grant aims to support local food producers and suppliers in providing local, sustainable, and healthy food to schools, hospitals, and other public sector institutions. By promoting the production and consumption of local food, we can reduce our environmental impact and encourage sustainable practices in Wales.
Cynnal Cymru is showcasing three of the public sector food-focused projects, all aiming to strengthen Wales’s Foundational Economy. To learn more, please see the case studies below:
The link between healthy food and patient recovery may seem an obvious one, but in 2023 staff at Velindre University NHS Trust (Velindre) set out to explore this relationship in more detail – and to find ways to maximise the benefits that a healthy food system can bring to patients, hospital staff and beyond. Chris Moreton, Deputy Director for Finance at Velindre, explains more.
The Challenge:
The current food system in Wales is facing multiple challenges that affect everyone. These include climate change, nature loss, a declining rural economy and food security.
Agriculture in Wales is currently responsible for about 14% of Wales’s greenhouse gas emissions, whilst the move towards more intensive farming processes, to accommodate changing diets and consumer demand, reduces land fertility, contributes to negative impacts on surrounding air and waterways and is a key driver of biodiversity loss.
Years of intensification in agriculture have left rural communities poorer and less stable, negatively impacting the well-being of farming communities. In addition, an over-reliance on an increasingly fragile global food system has contributed to rising food prices, food poverty and inequality.
This in itself has knock-on effects for the NHS, but Wales is also seeing an increase in diet-related disease, exacerbated by a lack of affordable, accessible, fresh produce being eaten in the home and workplace. These diseases include Type II diabetes, cancers, cardiac and vascular diseases, strokes, and joint problems.
The Opportunity:
The Welsh public sector spends £97m on food for schools, hospitals, and social care, with Velindre’s annual food budget alone standing at c.£22 million.
Chris believes that the NHS in Wales has the opportunity to lead the promotion of environmentally and socially responsible public sector food sourcing. By supplying local, good quality and sustainably-produced food, it can improve the health and well-being of patients, staff, and their families, as well as reducing ecological harm and supporting a fairer and more resilient Welsh food sector.
This mission aligns with the goals of the Well-being of Future Generations Act, the Welsh Government’s ‘Buying Food Fit for the Future’ initiative, Velindre’s duty of actioning Socially Responsible Public Procurement, and contributes towards the ambition of reaching Net Zero by 2030.
These mutually-reinforcing ambitions are contained in the project’s objectives:
Increased access to healthy and affordable food will lead to better health outcomes.
The food supply chain will be shorter, more resilient, and will have minimal environmental impact while providing value for money.
The Trust will have more spaces where people can learn about and enjoy food.
There will be a reduction in food waste and the ecological footprint.
Partnerships will lead to the development of vibrant local food economies and communities.
Velindre aims to make food a well-being priority for its patients and staff through increasing access to healthy food options at a reasonable price both inside and outside of work. This includes the introduction of “Well-being Wednesdays” and a veg box scheme – which proved successful during the pandemic – to promote healthy eating habits.
Menu redesign will be evaluated, starting with the restaurant at Velindre Cancer Centre, to explore opportunities to integrate seasonal and organic ingredients, using tools such as meat reduction and use of non-branded projects to help maximise budgets.
By working directly with suppliers, the project aims to ensure that ethical sourcing and fair-trade options will also be explored where Welsh produce is not available. Skills, training and education will be a key pillar in the project both in terms of roles linked to food – from cooks to procurement – to broader staff engagement to help staff make informed decisions about food in work and wider life.
Beyond that, by providing visible leadership through its food mission, Chris hopes that Velindre can lead by example across the public sector in Wales to help drive regional collaboration and alignment around food sourcing, promoting agroecological food production and unlocking opportunities for innovation.
Next steps:
The project has been developed with the support of Welsh Government’s Backing Local Firms Fund that supports the development of key foundational sectors such as food.
Staff buy-in for this project is already high, with staff workshops indicating near-unanimous support for the food mission. This provides a key resource for consistent messaging around the benefits of the proposed changes.
Chris explains that “Clear, consistent messaging and collaboration with suppliers, producers and partners such as Cwm Taf Morgannwg’s Central Processing Unit will be critical to creating the conditions that allow people to commit to change.”
An Action Plan is currently being developed to help operationalise the project’s goals and embed them into Velindre’s operations. Whilst some performance indicators exist and can easily be measured, such as percentages of food coming from local suppliers, food waste reduction, staff accessing veg boxes and average days for patient recovery, others will need development, including a Patient Reported Outcome Measure for food and the Social Return on Investment for the local food economy.
Chris believes that this whole-system approach is necessary both to tackle the challenges within the current food system and to demonstrate the full range of benefits that can be delivered by values-based healthcare. We look forward to reporting more as the project progresses.
Well Fed – MealLockers / Plastic-free and Net Zero Programme
“We all want a food system that wants to feed children and people good food. Ultra-processed-free has everything to do with people’s health, we match the price and impove the quality.” – Robbie Davison, Director of Can Cook.
Can Cook, a social enterprise, is tackling food poverty and unhealthy eating habits in Wales by providing fresh, nutritious cooked from scratch meals at affordable prices. Their “Well Fed” programme includes initiatives like Cook-at-Home meal boxes, mobile shops, and Meals on Wheels.
With support from Welsh Government’s Backing Local Firms Fund, a recent focus has been to develop and improve 3 new aspects of delivery: plastic-free vending machines (eatTAINABLE) ‘MealLockers’ and a Net Zero emissions-reduction programme with solar energy integration.
The Challenge
One of Wales’s key public health challenges concerns food poverty and rising childhood obesity rates. 1 in 4 children born in 2022 will be obese by age 5 in Wales and over 50% of the UK population cannot afford a shop based on fresh produce. Ultra-processed foods (UPFs) are prevalent in the average weekly shop and also dominate school meals.
Robbie explains that the project came about after identifying that, despite meeting nutritional standards, the majority of food eaten by children at school is ultra-processed. “If ultra-processed foods help schools meet nutritional standards, then we are in the wrong place.” he concludes. “Our primary concern is feeding children well. We are looking at everything in the supply chain to eliminate UPFs and preliminary the big issue in cooking at scale is the stocks, gravies and sauces”
Having identified the main ingredient to change in their meals – stock – the Can Cook team went about developing a UPF-free alternative. The solution is a stock made from mushrooms, sourced from a local farm, that can be cooked at scale, stays within budget, and with the same taste and properties as commercial alternatives.
This demonstrated to the team that the elimination of UPF ingredients is possible. All the meals provided by Can Cook are now UPF-free and the project helps others avoid these in their wider diet also by teaching people how to cook from scratch.
Another challenge concerning the Can Cook team is that isolated communities often lack access to fresh, nutritious food options. Traditional catering methods can be impractical for these areas.
Can Cook’s solution includes an initiative to dispense fresh, healthy pre-prepared meals to isolated communities through MealLockers located in public spaces. They are also developing a plastic-free vending approach dispensing meals in returnable, microwavable stainless-steel containers – an innovation targeting workspaces and is convenient and accessible to customers, whilst also reducing waste and energy in reheating.
To help reduce thier own carbon footprint, Can Cook is moving their production kitchen towards Net Zero through the installation of solar panels by June 2024 to reduce reliance on non-renewable electricity by 60%.
Looking forward:
For the future, Robbie notes that continued efforts are needed to identify reliable suppliers of UPF-free ingredients for large-scale production.He also believes the MealLockers model has huge potential to expand to efficiently deliver healthy meals to more locations, including schools, hospitals and rural areas, which public sector commissioning could support. He explains:
“To truly benefit public health, it is vital that public sector commissioning moves towards encouraging and protecting quality and social value. We believe that a social food model for public sector contracts is needed now, to make sure everyone can eat well, regardless of income.”
The Can Cook team believe there is huge potential for initiatives like these to make a significant contribution to public health in Wales and further afield. We at Cynnal Cymru are excited to keep you informed about the progress of this work.
Welsh Government’s commitments and delivery plan to the end of the current Senedd term.
Latest policy interventions to strengthen the Welsh foundational economy. Including a Challenge Fund to support novel approaches to tackle issues within the foundational economy, opportunities from procurement reform and actions regarding parts of the Welsh foundational economy; construction, food, social care and afforestation.
