A report, out today, reveals insights from the What Works Here Inquiries in York & North Yorkshire. It draws on the expertise and knowledge of citizens involved in shaping the government’s new Food Strategy as well as a deep understanding of the region’s food system contributed by the local leaders, business owners, community organisers, farmers and more. Together they identified conditions necessary for the region’s food to thrive:

Support for local procurement: make it easier for food to be sourced locally through connections between farms and anchor institutions. This model of collaboration will help create stable markets and reduce reliance on heavily processed, unhealthy food products.
Legislation on ultra-processed food: shift power from large businesses by introducing taxation on unhealthy food and using that income to fund good food projects.
Protection for regional identities and local producers: make all labelling and marketing honest. Big supermarkets use misleading packaging; companies should stop fabricating farm names as a marketing tool. Packaging should clearly show what has come from a real British farm.
Auto-enrolment of free school meals: support local authorities and schools to implement auto-enrolment. York's work helping 22,000 children access food demonstrated its impact.
Devolution of power and investment in local food strategies: York and North Yorkshire demonstrates how mayoral leadership and cross-sector partnership can coordinate efforts and drive food system transformation. The White Rose Pact shows the possibilities of setting mutual cross-border priorities. The region's coordinated food strategy could be a replicable model for others.

This report by citizens is the result of listening to the people who know what works and what doesn’t in Yorkshire. It showcases the huge potential to build a thriving food culture and strong businesses. The citizens who took part in this Inquiry, saw how much is happening across Yorkshire, but also the ways in which progress is being held back and how national government could help unblock this.

At Deliciously Yorkshire, we see people across York and North Yorkshire coming together to champion better food and drink, even though challenges still stand in the way. The What Works Here Inquiry brings forward fresh, locally rooted voices and practical insight into how our food landscape really works which will hopefully help everyone involved make stronger, more confident decisions for the future together across Yorkshire. We hope the inquiry outputs will add value in helping shape the UK food strategy.

The What Work Here Inquiries are being run in different parts of England – from Cornwall to Yorkshire, Merseyside and the North East. Citizens will soon be presenting their findings to government and working to find ways that the Food Strategy can improve the way food works across the country.