This report is an outcome of BGCI’s Food Sustainability Challenge, which is funded by The Rothschild Foundation.

This project aims to work with leading botanic gardens to develop a series of simple, small-scale food sustainability challenges, with associated incentives, that aim to empower and bring about behavioural change amongst garden visitors and the broader community. This food-focused project will be UK focused and will feed in to a wider, global sustainability challenge project.

BGCI will work with leading UK food sustainability practitioners to select proven models that can be scaled up rapidly and easily for maximum impact. We recognise that it is not enough to tell people that there is a problem. Instead, we need to enable and empower our visitors and communities to change their attitudes and practices.

As a first step, a literature review was carried out to gather data on sustainable food practices undertaken by UK botanic gardens. Data was collected through a combination of web-based research, semi-structured interviews and online surveys.

The data collected was used to develop a selection of case studies to showcase the work that is currently taking place within UK botanic gardens on the subject of sustainable food. The case studies in this report are provided under the headings of growing food, food certification, food waste and food choices.