Members | Sustainable Food Places

Southwark Food Action Alliance (SFAA)

The Southwark Food Action Alliance (SFAA) is an independent collective of local food providers and distributors, charities and community partners, residents, businesses, and public sector representatives, coming together to deliver a joined up holistic food systems approach in Southwark that increases food security and food equality, delivered in an environmentally sustainable manner.

The alliance was formed in 2018 as a direct response to an increase in demand for services tackling food insecurity, a need for a strategic approach and oversight, and an understanding that improved food security is linked to building more resilient communities with improved health outcomes.

What we do

SFAA and Southwark Council co-authored Southwark’s first Food Security Action Plan which focuses on the root causes of food poverty in the borough and sets out sustainable solutions for organisations and the general public to implement over a 2-year timeframe. This was created in reference to the findings in Southwark’s Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) on Household Food Insecurity.

SFAA’s Purpose and Role:

To promote collaborative working to create effective food security partnerships that connect local food grower, procurement, preparation and distribution members.
To offer members opportunities to develop, enhance and assess their services through knowledge exchange and mutual assistance.
To support early engagement between member providers of services and public sector commissioners in order to:

Assess local service providers’ key strengths and opportunities for enhancement, including when demographic changes occur
Assess gaps in provision
Involve relevant service providers in co-design, delivery and evaluation of projects
Keep providers up to date with national and local commissioning strategies, policies and opportunities.

SFAA is currently supporting the introduction of Worrying about Money - a new 'cash first' leaflet for Southwark: https://ifanuk.org/southwark-cash-first-print