Bristol Food Union was born in March 2020, as an informal collective of restaurants, food businesses, and community food organisations that wanted to help our independent food and hospitality sectors, and keep the city of Bristol fed during the Covid-19 crisis.
This unique collaboration brought together our independent shops, bars, and restaurants, with local farmers, food retailers, and community food projects. We supported Bristol City Council’s emergency food provision with high-quality ready-meals, fed the frontline, provided weekly meal boxes to vulnerable families and foster-care leavers, and represented for our independent food sector with our ‘Eat Out To Help Out’ and ‘No More No Shows’ campaigns.
To read the full round-up report of our activities in 2020 click here.
Since then, we have grown to become a non-profit social enterprise, with over 200 restaurants, bars, food producers and community projects becoming members. Daily operations are run by Exec Directors, Aine Morris and Cathy Hargreaves, with guidance and advice from our brilliant Board of Directors, who contribute exceptional skills and expertise.
Our Mission is to deliver a Regenerative Food Economy for Bristol, by:
- Upskilling our food, farming, and hospitality sectors for survival in a post-Covid, post-Brexit environment
- Supporting and inspiring new food entrepreneurs and future food leaders, and…
- Building a community of Bristol citizens willing to take action in support of the changes we so urgently need
In 2021/22 we are focusing our work in three key areas:
- Food and Hospitality Union
- Programmes and Education
- Communications and Campaigns
