On 14 April had a great introduction to social value from Cindy Nadesan from the Social Value Portal. We also heard how the NFU are working to create more opportunities for British food and farming, from Bethan Williams, Foodservice and Procurement Adviser at the NFU. We also had presentations from David Fursdon, Food, Farming & Countryside Commissioner and Member of the South West Food Hub Advisory Board, and Lee Davey, Managing Partner of our Sponsors Partners&.

On 10 March we were joined by representatives from the Defra policy team for a collaborative discussion to consider what assurance schemes may look like for the Future Food Framework. We were also joined by Anthony Mangnall, Conservative MP for Totnes and Steve Ashworth, Tax Director at PKF Francis Clark who gave an update following the 2021 Budget.

On 2 March we considered how food procurement can positively influence healthy eating. We were joined by public health experts Grace Davies, Public Health Principal of Bristol City Council, Philip Shelley, Chair of the Independent Review of NHS Hospital Food and Myles Bremner of Bremner Consulting (former National Director of England’s School Food Plan).

On 18 February, our Project Manager for the West of England region, Chrissie Storry, hosted an event to consider the links between food procurement and climate change. Rich Osborne from Equilibrium Markets gave some fascinating statistics and figures around food production and climate change, and insightful guidance as to how we can reduce the impact of climate change by changing the way we produce, choose and procure food. We also had a fantastic presentation from Stuart Rostance, a school catering manager, who was involved in the early pilot for dynamic food procurement in Bath in 2016.

On 3 February we were joined by our partner organisations to discuss what Brexit changes mean for small to medium sized businesses and how to prepare for the changes. We were also delighted to be joined by Neil Parish MP and hear his support for the South West Food Hub and Future Food Framework.

On Thursday 10 December our Project Manager for the West of England region, Chrissie Storry, kicked off a series of targeted conversations and information for the West of England. We heard from Richard Howroyd, who led a smaller pilot for the Future Food Framework in Bath and North East Somerset schools, and also from the West of England Growth Hub on the support they can offer food and rural businesses in the South West.

On Thursday 26 November we held an online event to talk about the importance of the Future Food Framework. We were joined by MP Simon Jupp, Peter Fletcher, Category Manager and Sustainable Procurement Manager at the University of Exeter and Tom Moore, Head of Food and Drink at Stephens Scown LLP.

On 21 October we held our first SWFH online event, facilitated by Exeter City Futures, to provide an introduction to the opportunity to supply logistics services for the Future Food Framework pilot. We were joined by Ben Peel, of Equilibrium Markets, who gave an overview of how logistics worked for a similar pilot in Bath and North East Somerset schools, and also Paul Wilkes of the Fleet Operator Recognition Scheme, who gave a brief introduction to accreditations for logistics suppliers. You can find their presentations in our resources section.

Our Co-Founder Greg Parsons presented at an online event held by the NFU for Gloucestershire and the Countryside and Community Research Institute, to talk about dynamic public procurement contracts and how this opens up opportunities for farmers to supply directly to the public sector.