Making a Difference - Community Food and Health

Introduction
The Community Food and Health (Scotland) networking conference has become a
welcome annual event for anyone working in community food and health in Scotland (and
further afield). Events like the networking conference are important to develop our
understanding, and insight to how groups and organisations are tackling health inequalities
through food, and the difference each other’s work is making.
The majority of our conference participants are working on the frontline and making a
difference locally. Community and voluntary organisations are increasingly recognised as
key partners in achieving health improvement nationally. There are also many systems
being developed to track and record progress towards achieving national priorities and
making a difference nationally. As this is not an easy task for anyone, CFHS encouraged
participants to use every opportunity to take as much learning from the event’s speakers
and workshops as possible, to focus on how their local actions are contributing towards
national priorities.
A wide variety of topics and subjects were suggested when developing the conference and
were incorporated where possible into the event. A broad variety of community and
voluntary organisations were represented, from Dumfries to Orkney, and the Western
Isles. Attendance also included representation from the government’s health directorates,
local government and the NHS. This presented a great opportunity for those working at all
levels to hear about work happening on the ground and to capture a picture of participants'
contribution to delivering health improvement outcomes.