Food is never just about food. In Lambeth, one of London’s most diverse boroughs, home to more than 330,000 residents and over 150 languages, it is also about public health, social cohesion and cultural identity. With high rates of diet-related health challenges and significant disparities between neighbourhoods, local leaders have long understood that improving the food system requires both a shared vision and the structures needed to act on it.
That is the thinking behind the Lambeth Food Partnership, the first of its kind in London when it launched in 2012. Built from the outset as a collaborative platform rather than a single project, it now brings together residents, schools, food growers, businesses, hospitals, charities and multiple borough departments to address food system challenges collectively. As Vida Cunningham, Public Health Specialist at the Lambeth City Council explains, “the food system is broad and it’s complex. On its own, no organisation can meaningfully make any kind of changes to the breadth of the system.”
Today, Lambeth’s approach stands out across the capital. The borough consistently ranks in the top three London areas in the Greater London Authority’s Good Food Local scorecard, and in 2024 it was the only borough to score top marks across all measures. Rather than following a fixed model, Lambeth’s success comes from an ongoing way of working. It is built on listening, shared responsibility and learning directly from communities.
Building a partnership that reflects a whole food system
When Lambeth began exploring a food partnership in 2012, the idea was simple: no single actor (not the council, not the National Health Service, not community groups) could tackle the borough’s food challenges alone. Public health at that time was still part of the NHS, but already working closely with community organisations and the council. The early conversations revealed a shared recognition that shaping a healthier and more equitable food environment required collective action.
One of the founding principles was deliberately inclusive: “If you eat, you’re in.” Membership was open to anyone with an interest in food, from residents and growers to local restaurants and large retailers. In its early years, the partnership gathered more than 500 members, ranging from grassroots community groups to statutory stakeholders such as education services, planning teams and Lambeth’s two major hospital trusts. Each brought a different perspective on the food system, from procurement to nutrition to the social needs of vulnerable residents.
Food is never just about food
Over time, this openness evolved into a clearer structure. Public health now convenes the partnership, preparing agendas, coordinating between departments, linking with NHS colleagues and maintaining ties with the community. The partnership is politically recognised too: meetings are chaired by Lambeth’s lead Cabinet Member for Healthier Communities , who also chairs the borough’s Health and Wellbeing Board. This gives the partnership a formal governance home and ensures its work feeds into wider strategic priorities.
But even with governance structures in place, the partnership is intentionally dynamic. “You can’t get to an endpoint and say, ‘We have a partnership in place, brilliant’,” Cunningham reflects. “It doesn’t work that way in real life. It’s a continuous process of engagement.”
A system built on listening
One of the strongest themes running through Cunningham’s work is the importance of listening. In a borough as diverse as Lambeth, with communities facing different economic, cultural and health challenges, the ability to hear and respond to local priorities “makes or breaks a lot of things.”
This focus on listening shapes how the partnership works in practice. A full partnership meeting takes place every eight weeks, bringing together a wide range of organisations and residents. Alongside this, smaller subgroups focus on specific topics such as surplus food, food growing or access to affordable food. These smaller groups allow for deeper discussion and closer collaboration, while their ideas and decisions are shared back with the wider partnership.
On its own, no organisation can meaningfully make any kind of changes to the breadth of the [food] system.
This responsiveness is also reflected in Lambeth’s neighbourhood approach. Because food needs vary widely across the borough, solutions are increasingly designed at a local level. One example is Food Five Ways, a neighbourhood-focused initiative launched in an area of Lambeth experiencing particularly high levels of food insecurity. The programme brings together local organisations to coordinate practical support around food and wellbeing, including access to food, health services and community activities. It reflects a move away from one-size-fits-all borough-wide programmes towards locally rooted solutions shaped by the needs of a specific area.
Measuring what matters
Unlike many local partnerships that remain informal, Lambeth’s food system work is extensively measured. Each year, the borough takes part in the Good Food Local survey, formerly the Good Food and Food Poverty survey, run by the Greater London Authority and Sustain, a coalition representing more than 120 food system organisations.
The survey is rigorous: with questions covering the full food system, from procurement standards and food poverty programmes to support for food businesses and public communication. Lambeth submits evidence, which is independently verified, and boroughs are placed on a publicly available leaderboard.
Lambeth’s strong performance brings visibility, but Vida is quick to emphasise the real value lies elsewhere. “It gives you a real insight into what else you need to do,” she says. “Where do you need to place more effort? What can you learn from other boroughs with similar challenges?” The leaderboard becomes a feedback loop rather than a trophy shelf.
Alongside these, Lambeth uses other frameworks such as the Sustainable Food Places network (where it is working towards Silver accreditation) and commitments like the Plant-Based Treaty endorsement and the Healthier Catering Commitment. These provide benchmarks, shared language and opportunities for exchange with other councils, but they also keep Lambeth grounded in systemic thinking rather than piecemeal projects
What the work looks like on the ground
The partnership’s strength becomes most visible at community level, where Lambeth’s food system initiatives take many different forms.
For instance, during the Covid-19 pandemic, the surplus food subgroup became central to Lambeth’s emergency response. Because relationships were already in place, the borough and voluntary organisations could rapidly coordinate food purchasing, packaging and delivery for shielding and vulnerable residents. This crisis response later became a sustained working group.
You can’t get to an endpoint and say, ‘We have a partnership in place, brilliant.’ It’s a continuous process of engagement
Another example is Food Five Ways, Lambeth’s move towards localised food ecosystems. Active in the borough’s most food-insecure neighbourhood, it unites partners working on pantries, community growing spaces, mobile food support, cultural wellbeing programmes, early years support and community kitchens. The aim is simple: to make good, culturally relevant food accessible, and to use food to build stronger neighbourhoods.
Lambeth Public Health works with local community groups and charities such as A.T. Beacon and the Alexandra Rose Charity to provide wraparound services for families on low incomes and residents with health risks such as high blood pressure. The Alexandra Rose vouchers, which can be redeemed at local retailers and markets, also support Lambeth’s local economy.
Lambeth also supports healthy schools and outdoor learning. At Heathbrook Primary School, children benefit from free school meals and fruit across all London schools for ages 3–11, with catering done on-site. Forty Lambeth schools pool their buying power through a joint procurement consortium to secure healthier meals at scale. The school also has extensive gardens, used for outdoor learning, cooking classes and climate education. Children grow fruit and vegetables, sell produce and even sell compost, developing practical business skills while learning about sustainability.
Spaces like Myatt’s Fields Park and Loughborough Farm show how food can regenerate derelict land. Myatt’s Fields, once unsafe and neglected, was revived through a partnership between local mothers and the council. Today it hosts a community greenhouse, volunteer programmes and a community kitchen. Loughborough Farm began as an informal effort on contaminated land and grew into a volunteer-led hub with growing beds, a café, an adventure playground and early-years activities. Its evolution shows how community energy can reshape urban environments over a decade or more
European peers look to Lambeth for inspiration
Lambeth hosted a group of European cities as part of the Cleverfood peer-learning programme, facilitated by Eurocities. For Lambeth, this was a significant step: although it participates in numerous UK networks, this was its first European collaboration of this kind. The borough joined mainly to expand learning and share experience with councils facing different contexts.
For the visiting cities, Lambeth offered a wealth of insights.
Representatives from Reggio Emilia were struck by the trust and open communication between civil society and the borough, and by Lambeth’s ability to turn derelict or contaminated land into opportunities. They reflected that starting with a small pilot rather than convening all organisations at once might be more effective in their own city.
Vienna participants were inspired by the culture of volunteering, which they observed as mutually rewarding rather than an obligation. This was a contrast to their local context, where volunteering can be seen as “too much” on top of daily responsibilities.
From Lisbon, participants highlighted Lambeth’s strong civil society, the borough’s accountability mechanisms linked to the GLA, and its respect for different cultures when designing food initiatives. They were impressed by the entrepreneurial spirit in Lambeth’s schools and community organisations.
From Charleroi, the delegation reflected on the need to involve communities from diverse cultural backgrounds and to move beyond a predominantly “white, middle-class” food movement. They found Lambeth’s neighbourhood-based approach particularly relevant to their context.
Across the board, participants left with admiration for Lambeth’s ability to link food, health, community cohesion and environmental action through a structured yet flexible governance model.
What other cities can take from Lambeth
Lambeth’s story shows that transforming a food system is not about creating a perfect structure or a single flagship programme. It is about committing to a long-term process that centres community voices, builds relationships across sectors and uses frameworks not as badges but as tools to learn and improve.
The food system is broad and it’s complex.
The delegation drew three main lessons from the visit. First, sustaining a strong network matters: ongoing collaboration with community partners and the council keeps the Food Partnership dynamic and trusted. Second, awards and recognition are powerful motivators, with local or national accreditations helping to raise food higher on the policy agenda. Third, smart procurement is pivotal; when the whole food chain is engaged, school catering can drive healthier, more sustainable diets.
As European cities increasingly turn to food policy as a lever for social, environmental and economic change, Lambeth’s experience serves as a reminder that meaningful transformation begins locally – and with everyone at the table.
