I believe dining together could be the most powerful public health intervention of our time.

I want to live in a world where I can share meals with others in ways that are good for my body, good for my community, and supportive of our ecological systems.

That’s why I’ve created a local partnership model where everyone benefits, because the ideas that endure are the ones where we all win.

👉 Public restaurants don’t need to be soup kitchens.

 👉 They don’t need to be pay-what-you-feel or reliant on surplus food.

 👉 They can be commercially viable, professionally run spaces where central production keeps costs low and food delicious, for everyone.

I know local authorities face unprecedented challenges, but this model is not about adding financial burden. Instead, it spreads both risk and reward across partners, creating far-reaching outcomes:

⚠️ The challenges we face today

Social isolation at record levels

A fractured food system squeezing farmers

Rising obesity and poor health, with reactive not preventative responses

Food insecurity affecting millions

Declining high streets and hollowed-out town centres

A takeaway culture that erodes our shared social life

🌱 The opportunity in front of us

Public diners that rebuild social connection

Menus shaped by seasonal, farmer-led supply

Affordable, nutritious meals as a preventative health response

Normalising access to meals out through voucher schemes

Vibrant high streets anchored by civic dining spaces

Meals priced like fast food, but nutritious, communal, and accessible

This is about more than food. It’s about rethinking what’s possible when we design systems that serve all of us. 

What assumptions do we need to challenge if we want to rebuild the way we eat, live, and connect?

Thanks Jonathan Harper FRSA for the wonderful photo of Folkehuset Absalon that you shared from your recent visit there.