Who we are
WHO WE ARE
Bristol Food Network C.I.C. supports, informs and connects individuals, community projects, organisations and businesses who share a vision to transform Bristol into a sustainable food city.
We have taken our wider objectives from A Good Food Plan for Bristol:
- To promote and encourage people to cook from scratch, grow their own and eat more fresh, seasonal, local, organically grown food.
- To champion the use of local, independent food shops and traders to help keep Bristol’s high street vibrant and diverse.
- To promote and encourage the use of good quality land in and around Bristol for food production.
- To promote and encourage the redistribution, recycling and composting of food waste.
- To advance education about the part that food, nutrition and lifestyle can play in meeting the needs of disadvantaged individuals, families and groups in the community and encourage social inclusion and social cohesion.
- To promote community-led food trade such as co-operatives, buying groups, Community Supported Agriculture and pop-up shops.
- To build the Bristol Food Network expertise in food and sustainability that allows access to and creates opportunities for local people within Bristol.
Meet the team
CEO
HELOISE BALME
Heloise has been involved in sustainable food since 2018, and worked for The Community Farm in Somerset before joining Bristol Food Network. As well as being a director, she is also our General Manager, running the organisation day-to-day.
CHAIR
DR LAUREN BLAKE
Lauren is a social scientist and Lecturer at the University of Bristol’s Geography School, where she teaches and conducts interdisciplinary research on agri-food systems. She is the Food Security theme lead for the Cabot Institute for the Environment, co-lead for the Food Justice Network, and sits on the Bristol Advisory Committee on Climate Change (BACCC).
DIRECTOR
MARTHA WILLIS
Martha is a sustainability and circular economy professional with over 12 years’ experience working across global value chains, including within international retailers, NGOs and currently as an independent consultant. She specialises in sustainable value-chains, circularity, traceability and systems change, and has worked with businesses, policymakers, NGOs and industry networks to develop practical approaches to complex sustainability challenges.
DIRECTOR
JOY CAREY
Joy is an independent consultant working with cities on planning better food systems. She currently works with RUAF Foundation on various international projects. She is the author of 'Who Feeds Bristol?: Towards a resilient food plan'.
DIRECTOR
CLARE MACKAY
Clare MacKay is a Senior Lecturer in Events Management at UWE Bristol. She has taught sustainable events management throughout her career and published book chapters on the topic. After being diagnosed with Barrett’s Oesophagus and having to restrict her diet, Clare conducted research on the experiences of UK outdoor events attendees with dietary requirements and is working with Public Health officials and events professionals to address the inequality experienced by this marginalised group.
PROJECTS AND IMPACT COORDINATOR
RUTH HISLOP-GILL
Ruth helps coordinate the Bristol Good Food Partnership 2030 and leads on monitoring and evaluation, drawing on a background in community development and mental health. Alongside BFN, she works with The Woodshop of Recycled Delights, a wood recycling project transforming waste timber into community resources. She’s passionate about reimagining waste — whether food or wood — and creating closed-loop systems that respect the earth’s finite resources.
CONTENT COORDINATOR
RAMONA ANDREWS
Ramona is a freelance writer and digital content producer focussing on food, seasonal recipes and sustainability. For more than ten years, she was part of Bramble Farm, a communally run smallholding in Knowle, in South Bristol. Ramona writes and commissions content for Bristol Good Food 2030 and writes the newsletter.
PARTNERSHIP MANAGER
ALICE PEPERELL
Alice specialises in cross-sector collaboration to drive meaningful change. As Manager of the Bristol Good Food 2030 Partnership, she unites stakeholders to co-create action plans and deliver impactful projects for a more sustainable and equitable food system. She has worked with organisations including the Bristol Climate and Nature Partnership, supporting strategic alignment and collective action.
COMMUNICATIONS & ENGAGEMENT LEAD ANNA WADE
Coordinating BFN's strategic comms and engagement, Anna has been working in strategy, comms and events for almost two decades. Passionate about the power of food systems to combat multiple issues across climate, nature and health, Anna also works as comms lead at the Soil Association on their national and regional food programmes including Sustainable Food Places and Food for Life Served Here.