In this interview Nick Weir, one of the founders of the Open Food Network in the UK, explains what it is, how it works in connecting communities and why it matters for producers, citizens, a fair and resilient food future. Originating in Australia there are now Open Food Networks in 21 countries.
The OFN has a range of resources to draw on, including:
- Case studies on how local food producers and communities have come together to set up and run food hubs
- Webinars, including many marketing workshops tailored to food hubs and producers
- Guidance on how to work on food equity/food poverty/food dignity
- A step-by-step guide on setting up as a producer and/or food hub, in written and video format
- Background on their global community and their values
- And an overview of the OFN in the UK and the people who make up their team.
You can find more detail in their 2022 annual report
Apart from their software platform they are also involved with several other projects including:
- Resilient Green Spaces – a project aiming to improve food resilience in communities across Wales via the development of five food hubs.
- Sustainable Food Procurement Hubs – a pilot project tasked with demonstrating that public procurement can be fulfilled by small-scale, local, agroecological producers.
- The Food Data Collaboration – bringing them together with other technical platforms to build a new commons that enables actors across the agroecological supply chain to share data more easily – improving coordination of sales and, in future, delivery logistics for their produce.
Geoff Tansey blog 