The tools in this section help you understand your local area better. It is essential to understand what exists, how it is being done, where it is located, and how it might be accessed and used. Understanding where there are gaps is also necessary for creating local Food Ladders.

Activity	Purpose
Tool 1: Mapping food Ladders	This tool will help you understand what activity is happening in local places and where it is contributing to that area’s food ladder. Understanding where gaps are will also aid in the planning stage of implementation.
Tool 2: Guide to digital community mapping	This guide by Maptionnaire for planning professionals is a resource of digital tools for mapping community knowledge. You may want to wait until you have identified your stakeholders before utilising these tools.
Tool 3: Creative mapping techniques	More creative and low-tech, methods may be needed with community members. The Vale of Glenmorgan Council created this guide of community mapping activities for use with community members.

Using other data

It can be useful to consider different approaches to data analysis, beyond just mapping indicators on a map, to understand where there may be pockets of resilience. The following example identified areas where predicted values were significantly different to observed values. This was then followed up with qualitative research in the area to understand why these differences were occuring. In the study, we identified community organisations in one of these areas that was supporting people to be able to eat better.

Tool 4: Mapping residuals to identify areas of unexpected resilience.

There are several other maps and resources available provide data about local areas that can be used in conjunction with the above. These include:

Map/data	Description
Index of multiple deprivations	At LOSA level. Provides a zoomable map of deprivation quintiles for England and Wales. People living in highly deprived areas are more vulnerable to food insecurity, although there is still pockets of food insecurity in less deprived areas. 2019 and 2015 maps. A new index drawing on 2021 census data is due for release in 2025.
Harmonised IMD	Several scales but not full coverage. Includes the whole UK. Based on 2019 estimates and is underpinned with 2010 Census data.
Priority Places for Food Map	Produced by Which and Leeds University. Point data. Last updated 2024. An indicator of commercial food deserts.
Map of Food Insecurity at Local Authority Scale	Produced by academics at Sheffield and Manchester Met using 2021 data from the Food Foundation and other public data sets. Covers the whole of the UK.
Food insecurity Risk Index	University of Southhampton. An index of risk at LSOA scale and searchable by Local Authority. Uses 2021 Census data. Includes all of the UK.
Universal Credit Claimants	Constituency data: Universal Credit claimants by constituency and neighbourhood.