In Mandala we’re conducting a range of research projects across Birmingham to investigate how the food system is changing right now, and how it could change in the future. We’re checking in on these projects through a series of short films – Stories from a Changing Food System – produced by Good Stories in Food.

The Active Wellbeing Society (TAWS), a cooperative working with communities to reduce inequalities, has set up a Surplus Food Hub at the Birmingham Wholesale Market. Here, surplus food that would otherwise go to waste is collected and redistributed to community organisations supporting people experiencing food insecurity.

Mani Blondel, Food Hub Coordinator, explains:

There’s 50 odd vendors at the market and they often will have food that they can’t shift in time. And so my job is to save as much food from becoming waste at the market and we distribute it to the food justice network which is a network of 300 organizations, a lot of community cafes, churches and gurdwaras.”

The Mandala Consortium has chosen this project as a case study in their wider research into food system change across the city.

Alexia Sawyer, Research Associate at the University of Cambridge, describes how the collaboration came about:

We first started working with the Active Well-being Society when they took part in our systems mapping workshop. During that workshop we identified that a key challenge was around increasing availability of fresh fruits and vegetables in community organizations but also a key challenge for those community organizations in sourcing those fresh produce. So we identified something that we thought would be the scope for a good project or intervention that would address some of Mandala’s objectives around environment, nutrition, and also equity.”

The research team are evaluating the hub’s environmental and social impacts using a mix of qualitative and quantitative data.

Recently, TAWS has also added a kitchen to extend the life of surplus food. Looking ahead, the ambition is for the hub to act as a model for others across the city and beyond.

Through this collaboration, Mandala researchers aim to create a detailed case study identifying the potential impacts of Birmingham’s surplus food hub. This will add valuable evidence to support similar initiatives across the UK that are creating positive change for individuals, communities, and the environment.