Food Hubs in the UK: Where are we and what next?

Food hubs are proliferating. But what exactly are they? What are they for? And why do we need them? The Discussion Paper, based on collaborative work involving local food practitioners and academic researchers, aims to answer some of these questions.

The paper has been written for people who want to understand the role of multifunctional food hubs in the UK, or to determine whether a food hub (or what type of food hub) is appropriate for their locality and purposes.

The paper includes:

• A discussion on what food hubs are and what makes them different to entities that perform similar functions in the mainstream, industrial food system.
• Results of a survey that was carried out to map the forms of food hub currently in existence or being planned in the UK
• Reflections on the US experience of food hubs and the implications for the UK
• A summary of benefits and challenges of food hubs as identified through a workshop for practitioners and academics

Download the full discussion paper.