Island’s food system mapped for new Food Nutrition Strategy

04 May 2023

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Public Health is partnering with the University of Cambridge to work with stakeholders across Jersey’s local food industry, the Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS), and other government departments to map out the Island’s food system.

Engagement with stakeholders took place through a workshop being held on the 4 May to help understand what would work to transform the Island’s food system. This work will inform the Government’s new food and nutrition strategy. 

Public health is developing a new food and nutrition strategy to replace the current version, which expired in 2022 and is working with the Centre for Diet and Activity Research (CEDAR) at the University of Cambridge to help map out the Island’s food system. This will help understand how the Government can make it easier for Islanders to eat nutritious, delicious, and sustainable food more often. 

The Island’s food system is the complex network of people, farmers, businesses, government, finance, energy, and cultures that shape Islander’s diets. The local food system includes food grown, produced and served locally as well as food imported into Jersey from the UK and elsewhere. Every item of food that is eaten in Jersey works its way through this complex food system.

During the workshop, CEDAR guided stakeholders through feedback provided by public discussion groups and mapped connections in the food system. This helped understand Jersey’s food system and identify what works well and areas for improvement. These will be developed through further engagement over the coming year to be included as recommendations for the Island’s new food and nutrition strategy.

Director of Public Health, Professor Peter Bradley, said: “Most people don’t eat nutritious diets which is why there is a rise in diet related diseases such as obesity, heart disease, and diabetes. Although we all make food choices every day, those choices are influenced by our food system. Our key aim is to make it easier for all Islanders to eat nutritious food more often.

“This is an important topic that was listed as a priority for Islanders during the Big Health and Wellbeing Conversation last year. I am pleased that Cambridge University is helping us understand our food system, so that we can develop a strategy that will ultimately better our eating habits and improve our health and quality of life in Jersey.”