Sutton Local Food Strategy MSc study

About the report

To facilitate the introduction of Sutton Council’s ‘One Planet Food’ local food strategy, the aims of this study were to provide baseline data of current food consumer purchasing habits, consumption and environmental values of residents within three focus areas in Sutton; Carshalton, Hackbridge and Wallington. Additionally, to identify the current level of access to and availability of locally produced fruit and vegetables and determine the potential for developing growing spaces to increase availability within the focus areas.

This was conducted by using quantitative questionnaire research within the community, conducting a fruit and vegetable retailer survey and spatially analysing open space within the focus areas. With regard to the community; the majority of the sample collected carry out both main food shopping and frequent top-up food shopping trips to purchase their food. Supermarkets had high dominance in Sutton, as did dedicated consumer car journeys. Thus, global food sourcing and high carbon emissions associated with food consumer travel are common. Consumers did not consider the environmental impacts of food important, and instead consider quality and financial cost as important purchasing drivers. In terms of diet; the majority of the sample did not consume the recommended intake of fruit and vegetables and organic food consumption was unpopular. Additionally, the majority of the sample did not partake in urban food growing activities. As a consequence, if food growing is to be increased, the demand for fruit and vegetables also needs to be increased, thus identifying a link between improvements to human health and sustainable food practices. Currently, access to locally produced, organic fruit and vegetables is low and spatially uneven. Yet, the area of open space that is potentially suitable for food growing is favourable.

The key challenge for the strategy in the future will be the encouragement of community participation and the increase in environmentally sustainable behaviour if the strategy is to prove a success.

Published September 2010
Pages 102

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