Qualitative Research on East Birmingham Food System to Support Healthy Food Economy

About

Birmingham City Council awarded a contract to The Young Foundation for qualitative research on the food system in East Birmingham to aid the creation of a healthy food economy.

The project involved training paid community researchers as apprentices in qualitative research methods, including semi-structured interviews, focus groups, and participant observation.

The provider led the delivery of 10 focus groups with food businesses, targeting seldom-heard voices and diverse participants across age, ethnicity, cultural background, and socioeconomic demographics.

Focus groups included representatives from SMEs, independent businesses, culturally-specific food offers, fast food and hot food takeaway shops (including Indian, Chinese, pizza, fish and chips, fried chicken, and burger takeaways), and food retail (including convenience stores, markets, supermarkets, and cultural food retailers).

The focus groups explored barriers to provision of healthy affordable food, examining topics such as supply chain, consumer demand, and decision-makers.

The contract value was £84,552.18.