Food Cardiff’s Community Food Retail Network is changing to reflect the breadth and diversity of projects which it supports. 

The group will now be known as the Cardiff Community Food Collective (CCFC). While the group represents many different types of projects with diverse focuses and ways of working, it shares these common goals:  

• We believe everyone should have access to, have choice over and can afford nourishing, healthy and culturally appropriate food.
• We all aim to increase access to good food, to bring people together and reduce social isolation.
• We take a place-based and community-led approach to our work 

As well as members of the project teams, CCFC is also open to support organisations who work with community food projects, for example Cardiff & Vale Public Health Dietetics, Cardiff Business School and C3SC.

The Collective hosts regular meet-ups to share knowledge and resources, and to learn from and support each other. Members also work together to coordinate and deliver projects.

In practice this means the Group maintains an online forum to work together between meetings; shares joint training opportunities; presents a collective voice for change to tackle the root causes of food poverty; and works collectively to deliver projects, for example on securing resilient sources of food supplies.

Food Cardiff and CCFC has also co-created a toolkit to support groups to set up alternative retail projects and supported the development of a map of community food projects. 

The Collective is free to join and any community food project in Cardiff, or any organisation who works with or supports community food projects, is welcome. The next Collective meeting will be on 24^th May 2024 at Trowbridge Pantry. Please contact foodsensewales@wales.nhs.uk to join.

Community Food Collective project types

Here are some examples of the type of projects which are members of the CCFC, along with brief details of how they work. These and others are all welcome in the Cardiff Community Food Collective.

Project Type	Brief Description
Food Pantries	Pantries are usually membership-based food shops hosted in community centres. Members usually pay £2-7 for a shop of 10-15 items worth 2-3 times more that amount. Members can usually choose which items they pick. Some pantries are part of the Your Local Pantry programme and others run independently.
Food On Our Doorstep (FOOD) Clubs	Fun by Family Action, FOOD Clubs are similar to pantries. It costs just £1 a year for a family to become a member. Members pay £3.50-£4 per week to receive a bag of food items worth £10-£15.
Big Bocs Bwyd	Big Bocs Bwyd is a schools-based programme where children and families are provided with food at ‘pay as you feel’ prices. Alongside the food shop, children are supported with authentic learning experiences through growing and cooking food.
Food Co-ops	Food Co-ops can run in a variety of ways. One example (based on Splo-Down Co-op), is a collective of neighbours who purchase food in bulk, at wholesale prices, and sell veg boxes and dried goods at a variable pricing rate – cheaper for those struggling to afford food and a bit more for those who have the ability to pay it (at their own discretion).
Community Fridges	Community Fridges are open to all and anyone can share or take food, including surplus from supermarkets, local food businesses, producers, households and gardens. Fridges are run by community groups in shared spaces such as schools, community centres and shops. There is usually no cost to take food from a community fridge.
Community Hot Meals	These can include community cafes, breakfast and lunch clubs. They tend to offer a low-cost, pay what you feel or free hot meals and a space to eat them. Some projects also give attendees a free bag of food to take home. Some are open to all and others are referral based.
Community Gardens	Community gardens are collaborative projects on pieces of land gardened by a group of people for the benefit of the group and the wider community. The Edible Cardiff Network has dedicated networking sessions and support for growing groups.
Others	There are also many other projects which can involve community food. For example, community cooking classes, schemes to help people grow their own food at home, foodbanks, gleaning groups.