Building the Foundations of Food System Transformation in Shropshire

As the AFN Network+ Roadmap sets out, Phase 1 (2025–2030) is a critical window for “building foundations” — winning hearts and minds, co-designing practical solutions, and creating the conditions for a fair, healthy and sustainable food system.

At Shropshire Good Food Partnership, we’re already laying these foundations locally, bringing together farmers, schools, councils, and communities to turn the roadmap’s national ambition into place-based action.

Winning Hearts and Minds

Our approach starts with community engagement — showing that good food is about much more than what’s on the plate. Through events like the Shropshire Good Food Trail, workshops, and local storytelling, we’re helping people reconnect with food, farming, and nature. This shared understanding is the basis for long-term change.

Co-Designing with Communities

Working alongside partners such as schools, Wrekin Housing, Farm Clusters, and Sustain’s Civil Food Resilience Working Group, we’re co-creating initiatives that work for Shropshire’s diverse communities and landscapes.

From schools exploring food, health, and climate through hands-on learning, to farmers trialing regenerative and low-carbon practices, and residents building local food security through housing and community networks, our focus is on learning by doing — and sharing what works.

Creating the Conditions for Progress

Transformation depends on systems that support it. We’re collaborating with local councils and Shropshire Climate Action to align food, land use, and climate plans — building the “institutional architecture” the AFN roadmap calls for.

Through the Feeding Resilience Pilot, we’re also exploring new models of funding, procurement, and community food access, so that every household can benefit from a resilient local food network.

Forging Political Consensus

We recognise that true transformation requires a whole-system approach — beyond party lines. By working with networks such as Sustain and the National Sustainable Food Places movement, we’re helping to shape policies that link health, environment, and economy.

Local insights from Shropshire feed directly into these wider conversations, ensuring national policy reflects the realities — and the opportunities — on the ground.

Demonstrating What’s Possible

Through pilot projects in schools, farms, and communities, we’re already seeing the power of collaboration. These “demonstration projects” are our proof of concept — showing how local action can contribute to national goals for decarbonisation, soil health, and food justice.

Looking Ahead

Phase 1 is about building trust, capacity, and infrastructure — the essential groundwork for a resilient food future.

At Shropshire Good Food Partnership, we’re proud to play our part: connecting partners, catalysing innovation, and helping ensure that Shropshire’s food system leads the way in creating a thriving, fair, and regenerative food future for all.

Preparing for Phases 2 & 3

As the AFN Network+ Roadmap for Resilience outlines, the years ahead will reshape how our food system works — from the way we grow and distribute food, to what we eat and value as a society.

At Shropshire Good Food Partnership, our work in Phase 1 (2025–2030) — building strong foundations — is already positioning Shropshire to thrive in the next two phases of transformation.

Phase 2: Scaling Solutions (2030–2040)

The next decade will demand bold action: scaling what works, supporting transition, and reshaping local and national systems to make good food the easy choice for everyone.

Here in Shropshire, we’re already:

• Testing and refining models through school-based education, community resilience pilots, and farm-led innovation.

• Building partnerships with schools, Wrekin Housing, Farm Clusters, and Sustain’s Civil Food Resilience Working Group — creating local proof of concept that can inform wider regional and national rollout.

• Strengthening supply chains by linking producers, processors, and communities, laying the groundwork for more resilient local food distribution.

• Embedding learning and leadership, so communities can adapt to change — whether through new food enterprises, retraining, or diversification.

Our focus is on ensuring that, as national policy and funding evolve, Shropshire is ready to scale its successes — not just adapt to external change, but help lead it.

Phase 3: Consolidating Progress (2040–2050)

By 2040, the food system will look fundamentally different — and we’re preparing now to make sure Shropshire remains at the forefront.

Our long-term vision is a county where:

• Sustainable and regenerative practices are standard.

• Healthy, locally grown food is accessible and affordable for everyone.

• Communities are resilient, able to weather economic and environmental shocks.

• Knowledge and innovation developed here are shared nationally and internationally, positioning Shropshire as a model of place-based food transformation.

🫱 What We Need to Succeed

Transformation at this scale cannot be achieved in isolation. To move from pilots to permanence, we need:

• Public participation — local residents supporting good food businesses, growing initiatives, and climate-friendly choices.

• Local councils and policy-makers aligning planning, procurement, and investment strategies with food system transformation goals.

• Partners and funders who recognise that food underpins everything — health, environment, economy, and community resilience.

A Call to Action

We are building the next chapter of Shropshire’s food story — one rooted in collaboration, care, and courage.

Now is the moment to get involved:

🔸 Join the Partnership as a supporter or contributor.

🔸 Connect your organisation to our network.

🔸 Help us shape the policies, pilots, and projects that will define Shropshire’s food future.

Together, we can make Shropshire a living example of what a resilient, fair, and regenerative food system looks like in practice — today, tomorrow, and for generations to come.