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We have co-produced the Birmingham Food System Strategy with a city-wide partnership. Our vision is to create a fair, sustainable and prosperous food system and economy, where food options are nutritious, affordable and desirable so everyone can thrive. One of the work streams within this strategy is food sourcing and the objective is to increase both supply and demand for local, environmentally sustainable, ethical and nutritious foods in the food system.

There are various aspirations in this work stream including increasing the amount of local food in our city’s food system. This includes increasing demand and expectation of seasonal, local, sustainable food sourcing with ethical, transparent supply chains. Also, supporting businesses, especially those in the public sector, to adopt local sourcing in their food procurement. We also want to support more rural-urban connections, especially through solutions that help connect local farming cooperatives, independent and small producers with local businesses and communities. To achieve this, we want to proactively engage with counties that surround our city.

Drawing inspiration from other local authorities and institutions in Birmingham, nationally and internationally we are exploring projects and opportunities for new sourcing models. Food hubs are emerging as vital components in the local food systems, acting as intermediaries between food producers and consumers and we would like to examine feasibility of a Birmingham based food hub that could strengthen our local food network and promote and support small-scale businesses who are producing food in a sustainable manner.

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* 1. Your name

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* 2. Email

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* 3. Business name

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* 4. Business postcode 

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* 5. Type of business/institution (please tick all that apply)

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* 6. How many people are currently employed in your business?

  1 2 3 4 5 6-10 11+
Full time
Part time 
Seasonal 
Unpaid 

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* 7. Who do you currently buy your produce from?

  All year round Occasionally Never
Local producers directly
Local wholesalers
National wholesalers (Brakes, Brookes etc.)
Ethical cooperatives

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* 8. What are the values or requirements for the produce that you buy in? (essential, desirable, low priority, not required)

  Essential Desirable Low priority Not required
Certified organic (Soil Association, Demeter, OFG etc.)
Adheres to recognized food standards (i.e Red Tractor, RSPCA assured, Fair Trade)
Locally and/or seasonally produced
Grown using agroecological/regenerative practices
Sourced from an ethical company or cooperative

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* 9. How are you currently transporting the produce that you buy in? (please tick all that apply)

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* 10. If you are buying from local producers (those  within a 30 mile radius of your business), please detail which ones and what you are buying from
them.

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* 11. Approximately how much are you spending (£/week) on local produce? If this varies between seasons, please give estimates.

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* 12. Is there any produce that you would like to buy more locally, that you have currently been unable to source?

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* 13. What are some of the difficulties you face in buying or sourcing local produce?

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* 14. What, if anything, would help you overcome these barriers?

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* 15. Would you be interested in expanding your sales channels and collaborating with others on any of the following? (tick all that apply)

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* 16. Please share any other comments you have below:

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* 17. Are you happy to be contacted in the future to help shape and develop further work on the food hub?

0 of 17 answered
 

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