Planning for a Caring London

Food is both everyday and deeply political. Under colonial capitalism it has become a mechanism through which power structures and environmental harm are reproduced, with communities of colour in the UK disproportionately affected by food poverty, insecure work, and limited access to green space. In Tower Hamlets, the food system's lack of accountability, interdependence, and dignity is sharply felt.

Yet food has also become a site of resistance and alternative futures. Care offers a different organising principle – one that foregrounds reciprocity and collective autonomy rather than treating food as a commodity. Working with WEN, the Just FACT coalition, and other food activists in Tower Hamlets, this report explores how decolonial feminist approaches to food might help reimagine London as a caring city.

It asks: what forms of care, autonomy, and resistance are being practised across Tower Hamlets' food initiatives, and how might centring these practices reshape planning policy toward a caring city? The report supports the Strategic Plan for a Caring London.