Limerick Food Partnership

The Limerick Food Partnership is a collaboration of businesses, statutory agencies, communities and local government, who have come together to improve people’s health by increasing access to affordable, healthy, quality food.

It does this by:

• Raising awareness in the local community around healthy food
• Engaging with suppliers to promote availability of affordable fresh, safe and health promoting food
• Supporting initiatives such as School Meal Schemes, the Food Bank, Community Cafés and meals to older people
• Supporting local communities to develop local food systems and initiatives such as Food Co-ops
• Influencing policy in relation to food supply and trade
• Promoting the availability of healthy food options at reasonable prices.

• Providing school meals to 16 schools in Limerick
• Supporting Growing Schemes involving up to four separate projects which facilitate  individuals and groups to grow their own fruit and vegetables
• Provision of support to Southill Food Co-op which sources and provides access to quality, healthy food for people in the Southill area. The Co-op provides fruit and vegetables at competitive prices, makes deliveries to people’s homes, and offers advice on healthy eating to the community
• Provision of food supplies to vulnerable groups through the Mid West Food-bank. Approximately €10,000 worth of food supplies were donated to the Food-bank in 2007 by organisations such BWG Foods, Kraft, Cuisine de France, Pallas Foods, Johnson & Johnson, Unilever, & Curves Health & Fitness Clubs.  The Food-bank distributed the food to 13 community groups who in turn provide meals and support to approximately 4800 individuals.  The Food-bank also produced high quality fresh-fruit snacks for 655 children participating in the School Meals Scheme.