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Decision Maker: Council
Decision status: Recommendations Approved
Is Key decision?: No
Is subject to call in?: No
Councillor
Gillespie proposed and Councillor O’Connell seconded the following motion:
Cambridge City
Council notes:
·
That the government has tried to take away free school meals for 1.1 million
children while subsidising parliamentary bars and restaurants by £4 million in
the last year.
·
That public demand for reducing plastic waste has soared, forcing the
government to bring in a bottle deposit scheme.
·
That soil degradation now means we have only 30 to 40 years of soil
fertility left, which was acknowledged at the parliamentary launch of the
Sustainable Soils Alliance.
·
That Scotland is considering enshrining the right to food in law, after
the recommendation was made by an Independent Working Group on Food Poverty.
·
That Cambridge Sustainable Food have done superb
work engaging with businesses and residents, and the new Food Poverty Alliance
comes at a time when it is much needed.
·
That the University of Cambridge in 2016 launched its sustainable food
policy.
·
That food security is put at critical risk by the economic consequences
of Brexit, because of the volume of food which we currently import, and the
food footprint of Cambridge.
·
That the councils excellent work promoting recycling champions risks
being undermined by the development of a new incinerator near Waterbeach.
·
That there is a UK health epidemic due to unhealthy eating.
·
The introduction of the Soft Drinks Industry Levy.
·
That Iceland have banned palm oil from all
own-brand products, realising that there is no such thing as sustainable palm
oil.
·
That Waitrose will ban all disposable coffee cups this year.
·
That 3.5 million UK
residents (7%) currently identify as vegan according to new research by comparethemarket.com and Gresham
college.
·
The activities of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Vegetarianism and
Veganism.
·
That the German government has banned meat and fish from being served at government
functions, and insisted on food which is seasonal, regional, produced on
organic farms, and sourced from Fair Trade providers if available.
·
The many benefits that the Cambridge Sustainable Food Hub project would
bring to the region, including increased scope for food waste innovation and
sustainable food startups.
·
That climate change, mass extinctions, and ocean dead zones are being
caused by human activity.
Cambridge City
Council resolves:
·
To draft and begin consultation on a Sustainable Food Policy, which can
incorporate the Food Poverty Action Plan being worked up by the Food Poverty
Alliance. To include the following points as items within the draft (amendments
are very welcome):
·
To reduce catering and hospitality spend on food where possible by
offering simple plant-based food from a local social enterprise rather than
lavish fare, and donate any savings found this way to the Food Poverty
Alliance.
·
To pledge to seeking gold standard accreditation from Sustainable Food
Cities.
·
To reaffirm its commitment to being a fair trade city, and examine
whether the resolutions made regarding fair trade in 2002 have been fully held
up.
·
To support the Refill scheme to encourage reusing bottles for drinking
water, to provide drinking water fountains in city parks to support this, and
to ask Visit Cambridge, Cambridge Live and Cambridge BID to assist with this.
·
To adopt a framework for food and cafe procurement, like Preston Council,
which asks questions about food sustainability and
fairness. (current ITT framework is not
detailed or strong enough: "The successful operator will be encouraged to
provide “healthy eating”, locally produced, Gluten Free and Fairtrade
options.")
·
To adopt a strategy for community centres, which ensures all new kitchens
have adequate cooking facilities for local community groups to prepare food and
teach cooking skills.
·
To consider planting more fruit-bearing trees in sites where they would
help to relieve hunger.
·
To appraise the sustainability of food in the city market stalls, and close
the loophole which allows disposable cardboard cups with polyethylene linings
to be used.
·
To ask Cambridge Live and the events team to introduce a sustainable food
framework, which aims to guide event organisers toward
sustainable food procurement, offering healthy options, and minimising plastic
use. Biodegradable food packaging should only be encouraged when there
is a waste pathway in place for it to actually biodegrade. (current
guidance: "All events should minimise waste, maximise recycling, use where
possible sustainable resources and manage and mitigate ecological/biodiversity
impacts with clear guidance on how these will be achieved set out in the Event
Management Control Document" - however, many MCDs are highly vague and
superficial).
·
To empower environmental health officers to award a sustainable food
rating to food outlets which they can choose to display alongside their food
hygiene rating, and to warn outlets about the environmental consequences of
food waste and over-packaging.
·
To offer support to local businesses in reducing their waste overhead and
environmental damage from food and packaging, and seek to build more
partnerships around sustainable food.
Cllr Bick
proposed under Council Procedure Rule 13.8(f)(i), that the motion be referred for decision to the
Executive Councillor for Environmental Services and City Centre.
Resolved by (by 39 votes to 1) that the
motion be referred for decision to the Executive Councillor for Environmental
Services and City Centre and reported to either the next, or the next but one,
subsequent ordinary meeting of the Council.
Publication date: 02/05/2018
Date of decision: 19/04/2018
Decided at meeting: 19/04/2018 - Council