Posted 21st Jan 2026

January 2026

Supporting action towards food for healthy and sustainable lives

Food Durham, the Food Partnership for County Durham, is a cross-sector, multi-stakeholder collective of individuals and organisations co-creating a better food system.  We're working together for healthier, greener, fairer food for all.

I hope this update finds you warm, well and nourished as we reach the half way point of January.

Whilst it can be tempting to hibernate, food provides a reason to get together, cook something a bit different and get outdoors.  Many of you have been celebrating the seasonal changes with Plough Sunday and also wassailing in community orchards - both ancient agricultural traditions which have seen a resurgence in recent years. Reviving these heritage traditions certainly serves as an antidote to the digital churn that pulls us away from connection — with people, place and how our food is produced.

In our household we are looking forward to Burns Night (25th Jan), Shrove Tuesday (17th February) and Chinese New Year (also 17th February) and this year I am particularly excited for the return of Potato Day, (Bowburn, 7th February - more on that below).  

If you’re looking to grow food this year, the Community Food and Growing Network would love to see you at their Winter Gathering (with seed sowing practical) at Ushaw Moor Community Garden on Thursday 22nd January - just next week (registration link below).

Whatever you get up to in the coming weeks, I hope it brings you joy.

Amy

Food Durham Coordinator

County Durham awarded Sustainable Food Places’ Silver Award
 

In November, we shared the good news that County Durham had won a prestigious Sustainable Food Places Silver award.

The award is a national, evidence-based recognition of places taking a joined-up, holistic approach to sustainable and healthy food. For silver, awardees have to demonstrate activity and impact across their food system, by the food partnership and their stakeholders, to create a local ‘Good Food Movement’.

We celebrated this achievement at our recent Good Food Local County Durham event in Bishop Auckland Town Hall (photo above). We’ll be sharing a summary from the event with you shortly and will let you know when this is available.  

Hosted by charity, OASES, Food Durham connects local people and organisations with the ambition to tackle some of the County’s biggest food challenges head on; from the unaffordability and unavailability of healthy food, and diet-related ill-health to the loss of independent food retailers and the issue of food waste.  Beyond the strategic coordination side, funding from the National Lottery Community Fund, has also enabled the development of 16 edible gardens in schools and communities across the county.

  

Leon Ballin, the Sustainable Food Places Programme Manager, commended County Durham’ efforts:

“Food Durham has shown just what can be achieved when creative and committed people work together to make healthy and sustainable food a defining characteristic of where they live. While there is still much to do and many challenges to overcome, Food Durham has helped to set a benchmark for the other 120+ members of the UK Sustainable Food Places Network to follow. They should be very proud of the work that they have been doing to transform our collective food culture and food system for the better.”

Durham Organic Gardeners’ Association - Potato Day

Durham Organic Gardeners' Association will be holding a Potato Day at Bowburn Community Centre on Saturday 7th February, 2026, 10am -1pm, free admission.

They will have a range of varieties of seed potato for sale, many of them organic, for sale in quantities from a single tuber upwards. Light refreshments will be available. Food Durham and Durham Community Action are supporting this event. Hope to see you there.
 
Community Growing and Food Network meeting

Join us for the first Community Growing and Food Network meeting of 2026. The theme is: Year round growing - with a seed starting practical, led by Howard Leslie.

Spaces are limited so register now to avoid missing out, bookings close on Sunday 18th January 2026.

Further details and booking link can be found here:
 
 

Allotment Consultation

Do you have an allotment plot on a site owned by the Council? This Durham County Council consultation seeks to understand opinion on what allotment tenants are allowed to grow (fruits, veg, show flowers), the use of vehicles and caravans, limits on fruit crops, and the keeping of animals and livestock. The consultation is open until 1st February.
 

Beyond Food Banks Summit

The Sjøvoll Centre, Front Street, Framwellgate Moor, Durham

Saturday 14th March 2026
 

 
A summit for organisations who offer food support is being delivered by Communities Together Durham in partnership with Food Durham, together with the Beyond Food Banks Network steering group.

16 workshops to choose from, organisation marketplace, lunch made from surplus kindly supplied by Fareshare, 20+ microgrants for food support organisations available on the day, plenary.  

Limited spaces remaining.  Please share with anyone who wants to be part of the movement to transition community food support Beyond Food Banks in the Diocese of Durham (that's from the River Tyne in the North to the River Tees in the South; the Durham Dales in the West, to the sea in the East).

The Beyond Food Banks Network, set up in May 2025, has members from over 50 organisations supplying free/very low-cost food. Together, they want to work together to improve the support they offer. Workshops at the summit will showcase models of food support which allow for more choice, greater inclusivity, less stigma, reduced waste and which cater for individual needs and preferences. Following the summit, the group will be coming up with a roadmap to take what we've learnt to go Beyond Food Banks.

 

What Happens to County Durham’s Food Waste?

Food Durham organised a visit to Bio Capital’s Emerald Biogas plant in Newton Aycliffe to offer the opportunity to learn more about the energy made from commercial food waste.

Council officers, school catering managers, Durham University researchers and climate activists got to explore the state-of-the-art biodigester and took part in a food waste awareness workshop facilitated by REfUSE.  There was lots of lively discussion on waste management, food recycling and the circular economy.

With new Simpler Recycling legislation coming in from March 2026, requiring all households to have separate bins for food waste collection, a lot more food waste will be saved from landfill and incineration and turned into renewable energy. Food Durham partners are keen to work together to reduce the amount of food waste produced by all sectors.

Digital Inclusion for Buying Local Food Online
 
 

Open Food Network UK have received funding from the Digital Inclusion Innovation Fund to help digitally excluded people build confidence and skills for buying local food online. They will be running a series of online sessions in January and February.

Please could you help promote these sessions by passing on this flyer on to any organisations working with people who might be digitally excluded.  They might also like to contact their local Digital Inclusion hub here (There are over 30 hubs in County Durham)

 

 

Doorstep Deliveries from Local Independent Food Shops

Love your local greengrocers, bakers, fishmongers and butchers but struggle to shop there as often as you'd like? Marktday is a new app that will allow you to order from your local independent food shops. Below is a quick survey to support roll out of the app as they get ready to launch later this year.

Sign up for further updates at www.marktday.com

This local start-up is wanting to hear from those who are interested in the potential for doorstep deliveries from independent retailers. Please consider taking part in the Marktday Local Food Shopping survey. N.B it takes a few seconds to load.

 

FareShare Food Surplus Warehouse

In the autumn, Food Durham organised a trip to the FareShare warehouse in Westerhope, from where surplus food is redistributed to low and no-cost food support initiatives throughout the region. Around 30 food support organisations in County Durham receive surplus food via FareShare. Please get in touch with them to find out more. They have lots of fresh foods, including a tonne of courgettes at the time, ideal for cooking up and serving at community meals.

 

Potential Funding to support TastEd in your school or early-years setting

As a charity, TastEd currently has the opportunity to apply for funding to support  work in  County Durham. This funding is not guaranteed, and is being applied for through competitive processes.

However, if you are a school or early-years setting  and would be interested in a funded package of TastEd support and training to bring TastEd to your setting, please do get in touch with the TastEd Fundraising Manger, Victoria.

 

Launch of Landmatch England

Landmatch England are excited to invite you to their official launch — a new, non-profit landmatching service working to make more land available for agroecological food production across England.

Whether you are a landseeker, a landowner, or simply curious about how better land access can unlock a fairer, more resilient food and farming system, this session will explain how the Landmatch England service works.

This is an online event at 6.30pm on 21st January.

We want to hear from you!  

Let’s build the community of people making food more accessible, sustainable and nutritious in County Durham – please connect with us on Facebook or forward this email to friends.

If you have news or events you’d like to share about local action around sustainable and healthy food, please email Amy: fooddurham@oases.org.uk