Our latest e-bulletin is now available, with information about community food initiative’s summer programmes, and the latest webinars and reports to help you keep up-to-date with the community food sector. You can read the CFHS e-bulletin here.
CFHS Blog
July CFHS (Covid-19 and recovery) e-bulletin
Also posted in CFHS updates, Covid-19, Covid-19, News
Area of Work: Covid-19 information and resources
How has Lanarkshire Community Food and Health Partnership supported a ‘cash first’ response to food insecurity?
In this blog post, Gordon Thomson, Manager for Lanarkshire Community Food and Health Partnership (LCFHP), tells us how LCFHP got involved in the ‘cash first’ approach in North Lanarkshire several years ago, and how this approach supported people during the pandemic. LCFHP has run community food activities such as community fruit and veg retail, cooking …
Also posted in CFHS updates, Covid-19, Covid-19, News
Area of Work: Covid-19 information and resources
Guest Blog: Cash First approaches to addressing food insecurity: What is the role of health visitors, midwives and family nurses?
In this guest post, Dr Flora Douglas (Reader in Nursing at Robert Gordon University) discusses her recent research: In late 2019 I was commissioned to undertake a short, focused piece of work to develop a better understanding of lived experiences of parenting on a low income in Aberdeen City, by NHS Grampian’s Child Health Commissioner. …
Also posted in CFHS updates, Covid-19, Covid-19
Area of Work: Covid-19 information and resources
How have Healthy Valleys created a sense of community during online cooking courses?
Simone Janse van Rensburg tells us what she has learned from delivering their first few online courses – for parents with young children and two different weight management groups. About the courses Simone and her colleague, a cook tutor too, created some home-made videos of recipes they knew people enjoyed at face-to-face sessions and found …
Also posted in CFHS updates, Covid-19, Covid-19
CFHS blog – online cooking skills courses: tips and ideas from REHIS
Since March last year, The Royal Environmental Health Institute of Scotland (REHIS) has allowed REHIS course presenters to deliver the REHIS Elementary Cooking Skills course virtually, using platforms such as Microsoft Teams or Zoom. Adapting training to a virtual platform is not without its challenges, so REHIS recently developed some additional guidance for its course …
Also posted in Covid-19, Ideas about developing and running cooking skills courses
Areas of Work: Cookery skills, Covid-19 information and resources, Food and nutrition training
On-line cooking sessions -Tips and ideas from Edinburgh Community Food and Greener Kirkcaldy
Edinburgh Community Food (ECF) and Greener Kirkcaldy, both usually run regular face-to-face cooking courses. They now deliver these online and gave us some tips and ideas based on what they have learnt. What approaches are they taking? Greener Kirkcaldy’s initial focus last year was to provide easy-to-follow recipes by providing cooking demos on their YouTube …
Also posted in CFHS updates, Ideas about developing and running cooking skills courses
Area of Work: Covid-19 information and resources
What’s in a name? – Redistributing surplus food via Food hubs, food banks, social supermarkets, larders, community fridges and pantries….. Does the label matter?
In this blog post, our colleague Jacqui McDowell gives her views about the variety of community food provision models using surplus food: Surplus food, emergency food aid and the pandemic Putting to one side any debate and discussion on surplus food (such as definitions or sustainability), redirecting surplus food to emergency food aid has been …
Also posted in CFHS updates
Areas of Work: Covid-19 information and resources, Food poverty and access
Guest Blog: Cooking skills online – learning from Feeding Fifers

Lyndsay Clark from the Feeding Fifers team tell us what they have learnt from putting cooking skills work online: Feeding Fifers now has their very own Face Book page! The Facebook page went live on the 25th November 2020 and now has nearly 300 followers. It has been a steep learning curve for two of …
Also posted in CFHS updates
Areas of Work: Cookery skills, Covid-19 information and resources
Voluntary Health Scotland survey on vaccine hesitancy
VHS is carrying out important research across the third sector to help ensure that the distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine doesn’t widen the health inequalities gap by missing vulnerable groups. VHS are keen to ensure that the opportunity to get vaccinated is made as easy as possible for everyone in Scotland, including those who are …
Guest blog: Katy Gordon discusses the different approaches that two local areas in Scotland took to tackle food access and food insecurity last summer.
In March 2020, like many people, we, as researchers with an interest in food insecurity in the UK, were hugely concerned about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the national lockdown on households’ access to food. It was clear from the outset of the pandemic that need for support with food access was rising …