The Mayor of London, Saqiq Khan, has announced his team to help cut food waste and tackle food poverty across the capital. Chaired by Rosie Boycott, the new London Food Board will advise the Mayor on food policy, the GLA’s own Food Programme, and developing and delivering the new London Food Strategy, to be published later in the year.
It will also work closely with partner organisations – such as retailers, producers and suppliers – to make significant improvements to London’s food system. Members include leading figures from food production, retail, hospitality, healthcare, education, academia and food charities.
The Mayor said: “London is one of the greatest cities in the world for food. We have vibrant restaurant and street food scenes which rival anywhere in the world. This sector is also an important part of our city’s economy and a source of thousands of jobs, not to mention a major draw for the millions of visitors who come here from around the world. But the reality is too often the food system does not work well for all Londoners. Food is a key part of my social fairness agenda – it has a direct impact on people’s life chances in terms of health, academic attainment and economic productivity in adulthood. It can’t be right that in a city as prosperous as London that, on the one hand, so many people have to use food banks while, on the other, so much perfectly edible food is simply thrown away. My new London Food Board includes some of the best and brightest from across this sector. I’m looking forward to seeing how the members’ wealth of knowledge and experience will help us make London a world-leader in effective food policy.”
Rosie Boycott, chair of the London Food Board, said: “The new London Food Board puts the Mayor and the capital in a great position to tackle some of the complex problems which exist in this area, not least tackling food poverty and food waste. We will be developing a new Mayoral London Food Strategy integrating food across all the areas it impacts, and I’m confident the Board’s members will bring their expertise to bear on this and many other issues.”