Bury has been awarded for its sustainable food efforts.

The Sustainable Food Places award acknowledges the work of the Bury Food Partnership in promoting healthy and sustainable food.

The partnership also tackles food poverty, diet-related health issues, the decline of family farms, and the reduction of independent food retailers.

In 2021, the Bury Food Partnership launched the Bury Food Strategy – Eat, Live, Love Food.

This strategy became part of the council's 2030 Let's Do It Strategy scheme.

The initiative considers food-related issues across various sectors, including anti-poverty, climate action, cultural and economic growth.

The partnership has various activities to promote the good food movement.

One of the initiatives was a promotional campaign that framed Healthy Start usage as a means of supporting local families and the economy.

The Healthy Start scheme is a nutritional safety net, and its presence at Bury Market has benefitted all involved.

Despite a national decrease in eligibility, Bury saw an increase in Healthy Start usage, reaching 69 per cent in June 2024, higher than the national average of 66.1 per cent.

Cllr Tamoor Tariq, cabinet member for health and wellbeing, said: "We are immensely proud of the strong connectivity and achievements of the cross-sector Bury Food Partnership in strengthening our local food system, and that this has been recognised by the national Sustainable Food Places Silver award."

Leon Ballin, the Sustainable Food Places programme manager, added: "Bury Food Partnership has shown just what can be achieved when creative and committed people work together to make healthy and sustainable food a defining characteristic of where they live.

"While there is still much to do and many challenges to overcome, Bury Food Partnership has helped to set a benchmark for the other 100+ members of the UK Sustainable Food Places Network to follow.

"They should be very proud of the work that they have been doing to transform our collective food culture and food system for the better."