Welcome to the Food Ladders Toolkit!
The toolkit is comprised of eleven sections grouped into three areas:
1. Tools and resources to situate Food Ladders conceptually.
2. Stages for implementing Food Ladders.
3. General tools to aid implementation, not directly linked to a particular stage.
This section details the theoretical underpinning of the Food Ladders, a description of what the framework is and is not, and a glossary of terms. There are also links to additional topics to give a deeper understanding.
2.1 Framing
Framing is how we understand a problem. How we frame an issue can open up or close down solution sets. Agreeing how everyone frames the issues at stake is a key step in the food ladder process. These tools help you develop a common approach and vocabulary.
2.2 Understanding
This section provides tools for you to understand your local area better. Having a good understanding of what exists, how it is being done, where it is located, and how it might be accessed and used is important. Understanding where there are gaps is also necessary for creating local Food Ladders. There is also further detail about each rung of the ladder available in the Anatomy of a Food Ladder tool.
A ladder is not a ladder if the rungs and the side supports are not connected to each other. These tools focus on building partnerships.
2.4 Visioning
Visioning is about knowing where you want to go. Food Ladders lead to somewhere, and these tools help you reach a collective vision of what that should look like.
2.5 Planning
Once you have a collective vision, plotting out a plan for achieving that vision is essential. This step involves organising governance structures, considering legal status, and prioritising activity. Planning is also needed to decommission activities and ways of being as they become redundant or impede the ability to reach the vision.
2.6 Constructing
This final stage is where the building happens. But, as with constructing a building, it must be checked occasionally. Is the plan being implemented as intended? Is what is being built fit for purpose and achieving what we hoped? Are people aware of what is happening and have they been brought along with the process? These tools support that process.
3.1 Resourcing
Resourcing the work that goes into coordinating and implementing the Food Ladders takes time and funding. These tools will help you think about how you will do this.
3.2 Organising
This area offers case studies of how different local authorities have coordinated across departments to deliver the Food Ladders locally.
3.3 Integrating
Food Ladders links well with other networks, frameworks and resources. In this area, you will find links to some that we think are complementary.
3.4 Communicating
These tools include videos and graphics to help communicate about the Food Ladders.
How to implement the food Ladders
We suggest that you see this implementation guide as an iterative process. It is there to give order but not be adhered to rigidly. For example, you should return to the framing tools once you’ve built your partnerships to ensure that everyone approaches the issue similarly. or you may find that a visioning refresh is needed to keep the momentum going and address changes that might have occurred among your group or as a result of what you have achieved. The tools in this toolkit will help you implement the Food Ladders each step of the way.
How did we decide what to include in this toolkit?
We consulted with more than twenty local authorities. Based on these conversations about their experiences working with the Food Ladders, we did some thinking. We developed an initial set of themes we felt were barriers to and ways of implementing the framework in local areas. We then invited our local authority partners, people from the food industry, charities, and researchers to an in-person or online workshop where we discussed and refined the themes and our tool ideas. Then we did some more thinking. What you see here is the product of that effort.
Who developed this toolkit?
Isaac Tendler was the researcher working on this project. He conducted interviews, created resources, produced visuals, and contributed to the conceptual development of the toolkit. Isaac is a community food worker and has developed and led several community projects in Sheffield and Glasgow. He has a BA in English Literature from the University of Sheffield and an MEd in Adult Education, Community Development and Youth Work from the University of Glasgow.
Dr. Megan Blake led the project. She is a geographer at The University of Sheffield and has researched and worked with communities and community food provision for nearly two decades. The impact of her work on the food ladders framework is documented in a REF 2021 Impact case study. The case study was recognised as world-leading in its reach and significance and underpinned by research that is considered internationally excellent.
The project leading to this toolkit was funded through impact funding awarded to the University of Sheffield through HEIF.
This project could not have been completed without several participants’ engagement, feedback, and support. They are listed here when we have permission to share their names. We thank them for their time, commitment, and thoughtful insights.
GeoFoodie 
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