Three Cork projects included in Safefood’s €1.5m fund

Safefood has announced an all-island €1.5m investment in its Community Food Initiatives Programme 2025-28, with three projects across Cork receiving funding as part of this initiative.

The four-year programme aims to positively influence the eating habits of people in low-income communities throughout Ireland, fostering lasting change and strengthening community resilience around healthier eating.

The Cork-based organisations receiving funding include Ballyhoura Development CLG, which will deliver family cooking programmes using the Healthy Food Made Easy scheme. 

Serving communities in North East Cork, it will also integrate with a food mapping project, involving the community in mapping their own food environment to understand what makes it easy or hard to find healthy choices.

IRD Duhallow CLG, serving communities in North-West and mid Cork has also received funding. This project will deliver seasonal food workshops, cooking workshops for children, livestream sessions, and healthy recipes via social media, and specifically work with vulnerable and socially excluded individuals in the local community, including those affected by rural isolation, immigration, economic hardship, and inadequate infrastructure. 

Finally, The Glen Resource and Sports Centre will also benefit from funding under the Safefood initiative. 

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Serving communities in the northside of Cork city, this project will improve the availability of household staples such as fruit, vegetables, and bread through mobile units and community food markets. Working with local families, the project will encourage intergenerational skills transfer through community cooking sessions and community meals.

Welcoming the launch of the Community Food Initiatives Programme, health minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill said: 

“Unhealthy food choices are increasingly becoming the norm, impacting the health of our population.

“I am encouraged by the focus of Safefood’s Community Food Initiatives, which are more than just a source of learning about food; they build practical skills and knowledge at the grassroots level.”

Dr Gary A Kearney, chief executive, Safefood added:

“This year marks 15 years since we first started working among communities and more than 65,000 people have taken part since then.

"By supporting people in low-income communities, these projects have the potential to create long-lasting changes in how people shop, plan and cook food.”