About

What is Bwyd Sir Gâr Food?

Bwyd Sir Gâr Food is Carmarthenshire’s local food partnership and aims to develop a thriving, sustainable, inclusive, and resilient local food system. 

It brings together partners from a range of different sectors to help tackle a range of social, economic and environmental issues, striving to ensure good food for all.  

Jump to: 

Mission, Vision & Values

| Who We Are

| Sustainable Food Places

|  Food Partnerships

|  What is Healthy & Sustainable Food

Our mission

Bwyd Sir Gâr Food aims to create a healthier, sustainable, and fairer local food system through a place-based, partnership-driven approach.

Our vision

Co-creating a local food system fit for future generations that produces, promotes and provides affordable, healthy and sustainable food for all.

Our key partners in Carmarthenshire include:

  • Carmarthenshire County Council
  • Hywel Dda University Health Board
  • Natural Resources Wales
  • Carmarthenshire Association of Voluntary Services (CAVS)
  • Carmarthenshire Food Network
  • Social Farms & Gardens
  • Food Sense Wales
  • Castell Howell
  • Cywain
  • National Botanical Gardens of Wales

Participants in Bwyd Sir Gâr Food’s Food Heritage project celebration event sharing a song  about our rich food heritage and future.

Our Values

EMPOWERING

Encouraging stakeholders, including individuals and communities, to get involved, become active food citizens and feel a sense of pride and ownership in their

COLLABORATIVE

Developing and maintaining positive working and strategic relationship with stakeholders – public, private and third sector organisations – as well as individuals and communities to help shape and create a more sustainable and prosperous food system for Carmarthenshire.

INCLUSIVE

Reaching out to communities across Carmarthenshire and engaging with them in relevant, appropriate and culturally sensitive ways.

ACCESSIBLE

Ensuring we reach people of all ages and backgrounds across Carmarthenshire and actively encourage widespread participation in our activities.

INNOVATIVE

We are forward thinking and approach projects and project delivery in an innovative and fresh way.

Participants at Betws Family Centre in a Bwyd Sir Gâr Food supported programme led by Hywel Dda University Health Board. 


Read more about Bwyd Sir Gâr Food’s journey since its inception here

Who are we?

There’s a large group of people who help set the direction of Bwyd Sir Gâr Food’s work.  These are the people who make up the food partnership’s steering group. In addition we have project staff.  

Read more about the work and the individuals involved.

Elected leaders, Llanarthne district residents, and farming union representatives visiting Bremenda Isaf County Farm.

What is a a Sustainable Food Place

Bwyd Sir Gâr Food is proud to be a member of the Sustainable Food Places network and in 2022, Carmarthenshire was awarded a Bronze Sustainable Food Places award, and in 2025 a prestigious silver award, in recognition of its commitment to building a thriving, sustainable, inclusive, and resilient county-wide food system.  

Sustainable Food Places is one of the UK’s fastest-growing social movements. Its network brings together pioneering food partnerships from towns, cities, boroughs, districts and counties across the UK that are driving innovation and best practice on all aspects of healthy and sustainable food.  The SFP network shows that a local food partnership can help drive a fundamental shift in its local food system and become a hub for a rapidly growing good food movement of active and engaged citizens.

Changing the food system demands a systems approach. This means having a vision and plan to achieve change across a breadth of different but connected food issues. It also requires local people and organisations working at all levels, and across all parts of the food system. 

The SFP framework for action identifies 6 key issues that should be addressed together to achieve fundamental food system change.

For further information on Sustainable Food Places, please visit the website.

Sustainable Food Places is a partnership programme led by the Soil Association, Food Matters and Sustain: the alliance for better food and farming. It is funded by the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation and The National Lottery Community Fund.

In Wales, Food Sense Wales is Sustainable Food Place’s national partner and supports Wales’ 10 current members – Bwyd Sir Gâr Food, Bwyd Powys Food, Food Cardiff, Food Vale, the Monmouthshire Food Partnership, RCT Food, Blaenau Gwent Food Partnership, Bwyd Abertawe in Swansea and the Torfaen Food Partnership.`

Learn more about food systems by watching this short explainer video: 

Food Partnerships

Food partnerships bring together partners from a range of different sectors to help tackle a range of social, economic and environmental issues as they strive to ensure good food for all.  Partners usually include public bodies such as Health Boards and Local Authorities as well as other dedicated stakeholders such as voluntary organisations, charities, food business, retailers, wholesalers, growers and farmers.

Food Partnerships build resilience in local food networks through the co-ordination of on the ground, food-related activity, helping to tackle the root-causes of food poverty.  They are also key to building and retaining wealth in Wales – economically, environmentally and socially – and helps to promote collaboration and inclusivity.  

Bwyd Sir Gar Food is one of 22 food partnerships across Wales and one of 10 Sustainable Food Places members in Wales.  Bwyd Sir Gâr Food is now busy growing a place-based infrastructure in Carmarthenshire, helping to develop a ‘good food movement’ as well as supporting wider community food initiatives that benefit the health, economy, sustainability and social prosperity of local communities.

For more information on Food Partnerships, please visit Food Sense Wales’s website here.

What is Bwyd Sir Gâr Food’s definition of ‘healthy and sustainable food?’

A healthy and sustainable diet aligns with our commitment in Wales to reduce diet-related disease through the Healthy Weight, Healthy Wales strategy, and through the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act .

It emphasises a diversity of local, seasonal ingredients produced in nature-friendly farming systems which:

  • meets the needs of the present without compromising those of future generations.
  • supports biodiversity locally
  • reduces emissions, pollution and packaging waste
  • celebrates food culture
  • ensures a thriving and diverse local food economy and fair livelihoods
  • enhances food security and resilience
  • builds equitable access to locally produced food
  • works towards a globally responsible Wales 

  

Polytunnel at Bremenda Isaf County Farm, Llanarthne.

Help make healthy & sustainable food a reality

To support this commitment, we’ve established some simple pledges that people and organisations across Carmarthenshire can make to make our food more local, sustainable and healthy.

We’re asking people to pledge to:

  1. Buy more local and sustainable food
  2. Eat a healthier and more sustainable diet
  3. Cook more from scratch
  4. Grow my own veg or herbs
  5. Help put food at the heart of the community
  6. Waste less
  7. Celebrate Our Food Story
Make a pledge