7th May 2025
WEN’S RESPONSE TO THE LONDON GOOD FOOD – LOCAL AND BEYOND THE FOOD BANK REPORT
With the recent publication of The London Good Food Local and Beyond Report, for Tower Hamlets it is both a celebration and a call to action.
While the borough continues to lead in key areas, it has dropped from joint second to seventh place in the overall rankings. Here we share our response to the report and how such a cross cutting issue could be reflected in the work of local councils.
London Good Food Local and Beyond the Food Bank report
The annual London Good Food Local and Beyond the Food Bank report, coordinated by Sustain, offers each London Borough a way to track progress and regression along themes of food systems; comparing progress year upon year across the different London Boroughs. The report offers a consistent measure, a list of recommended actions for each theme, and a comparison across Boroughs, as well as providing learnings from years of experience to help set meaningful local goals.
The report evaluates council actions across six key themes:
- Food governance and strategy
- Food growing and community food action
- Healthy food for all
- Sustainable food economy
- Catering and procurement
- Food for the Planet
Spotlight on Tower Hamlets
In this year’s report, published in March 2025, The London Borough of Tower Hamlets has fallen from joint second place to seventh in the annual league table. This table scores councils’ approaches towards meaningful change to local food systems.
Whilst there is so much to be proud of, we are also aware that this is showing a problem in how Tower Hamlets council currently works on food issues within the Borough.
This is due to a lack of joined-up-thinking on food – and we believe that the answer lies in the Tower Hamlets Food Partnership, a food partnership which the council are a member of.
Where has Tower Hamlets fallen in this League Table?
- Food governance and Strategy – fallen from Leadership to Good
- Sustainable Food Economy – fallen from Leadership to Good
Where has Tower Hamlets risen in the ranks?
- Community Food Growing – rising from ‘Good’ to ‘Leadership’
- Healthy Start – Rising from ‘Good’ to ‘Leadership’
Where has the level been maintained?
- Food Poverty Action Plan – stayed at the level ‘Leadership’
- Cash-First Responses – stayed at the level ‘Leadership’
- No recourse to Public Funds – stayed at the level ‘Leadership’
- School Meals (previously combined with below as School Food and holiday food provision) – stayed at Leadership
- Stemming the flood of unhealthy food (previously called Healthier Food Environments) – stayed at Leadership
- Holiday activities and food (previously combined with above) – stayed at Leadership
- Food For the Planet – stayed at Leadership
- Food access for older and Disabled People – stayed at ‘Good’
- Infant Feeding (previously called UNICEF UK Baby Friendly Initiative) – stayed at ‘Good’
- Catering and Procurement – stayed at Good
- London Living Wage – stayed at the level ‘Foundations’
How Tower Hamlets Food Partnership can make a difference
The Tower Hamlets Food Partnership (THFP) is currently led by Wen (Women’s Environmental Network). This transition from council leadership to a community-led model was a collective decision made in 2018, with Wen assuming leadership supported by both the Partnership and the council.
Tower Hamlets Food Partnership continues to participate in the Food Partnership, most actively are Public Health’s Healthy Environments team, Tackling Poverty team, Corporate Strategy & Communities Team, and the Net Zero team. The involvement of these teams is essential to the Partnership’s success, as is the involvement and energy brought by all the other types of groups involved – these groups especially make this Partnership vibrant, varied in approach, balanced in opinion, and deeply caring about food from so many perspectives locally.
Despite THFP’s extensive reach and its origins within Tower Hamlets Public Health team, it remains insufficiently integrated into the council’s broader strategic framework. This highlights a broader issue: food is not yet universally recognised within the council as a cross-cutting concern that should inform every policy area and departmental practice.
Looking at the ranking of Tower Hamlets in the League table this year, it is evident that where council teams have dedicated officer time to working on food issues and actively collaborated with partners across THFP, Tower Hamlets has achieved high rankings and has been uplifted as exemplary. For example, in these following categories Tower Hamlets council staff across three teams have worked so hard to commit time, resources, and collaborative approaches to their work:
- School Meals (previously combined with below as School Food and holiday food provision) – stayed at Leadership
- Stemming the flood of unhealthy food (previously called Healthier Food Environments) – stayed at Leadership
- Holiday activities and food (previously combined with above) – stayed at Leadership
It is, for these reasons, unsurprising that Tower Hamlets has fallen in the ranking of ‘Food governance and strategy’. The time officers across these teams have dedicated towards strategic areas of THFP has been brilliant.
However, Tower Hamlets council’s wider involvement remains piecemeal, and there is not yet any wider commitment to integrate THFP into wider council strategy or partnership engagement. In fact, despite our consistent hard work and widely recognised achievements (including by the council), THFP remains excluded from the Council’s Tower Hamlets Partnership Plan (2023-2028).
Tower Hamlets has fallen in the ranking of Sustainable Food Economy, also. We know there may be teams within the council who are working hard to foster a supportive environment for job creation, good employment and wages, and small and medium sized enterprises. If so, we want to work with you!
We are concerned that Tower Hamlets consistently receives the lowest score (‘Foundations’) for the London Living Wage. By connecting the appropriate council teams with THFP, we believe we can develop strategies to address significant challenges faced by individuals in food-related industries.
Food, a cross cutting issue
Everyone in Tower Hamlets is connected to food. Through eating it, cooking it, buying it, selling it, struggling to access it, working with it, growing it, preserving it, advocating about it, teaching others about it, remembering experiences of it, learning at school about it, going without it, supporting each other to get it… This is truly one of the most cross-cutting issues that exists.
We can see clearly that Tower Hamlets residents care about food. From residents growing food in every available space, to the many incredible food businesses that thrive in theBorough, to all the community action to support each other to access food in emergency and in long term cost of living crisis, to the many community campaigns, petitions, and action groups that have fought for the food system to work better for everyone.
What can Tower Hamlets Council do?
We are proud of Tower Hamlets Food Partnership, and of Tower HamletsCouncil’s work in areas which truly demonstrate leadership amongst all London Boroughs, such as the HAF provision, Universal Free School Meals, and healthy advertising policy.
To strengthen collaborative efforts in Tower Hamlets, we believe that it is essential to integrate the Tower Hamlets Food Partnership (THFP) into the borough’s strategic frameworks, including the Council’s Tower Hamlets Partnership Plan (2023-2028).
By connecting the appropriate council teams with THFP, we believe we can develop strategies to address significant challenges faced by individuals in food-related industries.
We would like to see a renewed interest and an integrated collaborative, cross-department thinking about food that goes further and beyond. We ask that Tower Hamlets Council takes this praise and this critique on board and works hard with us to address the need for cross-departmental thinking, to work on these cross-cutting issues.
Who is the THFP
Tower Hamlets Food Partnership (THFP) is a network of over 200 people, all involved in various groups, organisations, collectives and teams who are working towards a transformed food system in Tower Hamlets. We are made up of council teams, resident collectives, TRAs, schools, NHS bodies, research institutions, community and voluntary organisations, community gardens, neighbourhood cooperatives, city farms, housing associations, activist groups, local businesses and more. We welcome membership with anyone keen to join – and have many ways you can get involved. Find out more about our collectively formed strategy and upcoming events, and sign up for free membership on the webpage.
We want to hear from you
Are you a resident of Tower Hamlets?
What do you think about how the council is tackling these issues?
Get in touch or comment below
Contact us at THFP – email zoe@wen.org.uk
