Miller Research was recently appointed by Torfaen County Council to conduct a comprehensive food mapping study of Torfaen as the first part of of a two phase project to turn Torfaen into a ‘Sustainable Food Place’.
Sustainable Food Places is a multi-agency national programme that develops local, cross-sector partnerships, to make healthy and sustainable food available for all. The aim is for Torfaen County Borough Council to achieve Sustainable Food Place status by July 2023. As part of this, we are conducting a comprehensive research study to identify organisations, businesses and public services that have a vested interest in food within Torfaen.
Our methodology for the project firstly involves a desktop study into the food system in Torfaen, including a series of interviews with key stakeholders in the region, a comprehensive literature review and food mapping workshop, to understand the key challenges and activities in the area. The second stage then focuses on identifying and mapping local food webs and clusters, as well as opportunities for future collaborative working between different groups & sectors, through surveying businesses, projects and organisations across the region.
A core output of the project is to identify stakeholders who will be key to developing the next stage of the project. These stakeholders will then form the Torfaen Food Partnership Steering Group.
The project builds on our extensive experience of the food and drink sector in Wales and delivery of similar systems mapping research, such as our recent Feasibility Study for Sustainable Models of Food Distribution in West Wales and Technology Cluster Mapping Study for the Welsh Government.
We are delighted to be involved in the project and look forward to working wit the council and producing a useful evidence base and map to help Torfaen reach Sustainable Food Place status.