Oxford City Council is leading a wide-ranging consultation to find out how Oxford residents and businesses want to see their city in 2050. The consultation closes on 31st December 2017 and you can comment here. Comments on the theme "Oxford's built and natural environment" will be open from 20th November. Good Food Oxford has been asked to comment with our vision which is based on the Oxford Good Food Charter - here's what we said: Good Food Oxford is a network of 130 organisations working together for better food for Oxford – food that is healthier, fairer and more sustainable. All our network members have signed the Good Food Charter which sets out what this looks like – for healthy people and environment, lively communities, and a prospering local economy. You can read Oxford’s Good Food Charter here: goodfoodoxford.org/good-food-charter/ By 2050 in Oxford, everyone will be able to eat well every day, because we will be growing a substantial amount of our food within our urban environment, making for a greener city with better air quality. We will have edible hedgerows, plenty of fruit and nut trees, and vertical farming going up the sides of our buildings. We will be surrounded by productive farmland, with food transported fresh from the farm gate to our homes in the most convenient possible way, using drone technology. More of us will work on the land, but it won’t be back-breaking work because we will be assisted by the best technology. We will work with the health of the soil and biodiversity at the forefront of our minds, and have made commitments to high animal welfare. Some treats will be imported, Fairtrade, from further afield – but they will be rather more expensive and anyway our local produce will be tastier. Municipal kitchens, where people can cook and eat together, will make a comeback so anyone can get a cheap, nutritious meal three times a day, fostering community spirit and a vibrant food culture. Meat will be a treat but no one will notice if they don’t eat it often, because vegetarian options will be the norm, and they will be more affordable and even tastier than meat. Most food won’t need to be packaged, but any that does will come in its own biodegradable packaging. Food waste won’t exist – lots of people in the city will be employed in processing and redistributing surplus food, and any leftovers from that will be composted to grow more of our own food. Oxford will be a place full of cafés, restaurants, canteens, shops and markets which serve people delicious fresh food from right on their doorstep, at a fair price, making for a thriving regional food economy. Essentially, if we can all work to make one small bit of Oxford’s food system better than it is now, I believe that by 2050 we could live in a vibrant and thriving food city. All of Good Food Oxford’s network members have made a pledge for what their organisation is doing to move Oxford towards the vision of the Oxford Good Food Charter. And so could you – by signing the Good Food Charter. What do you think? Do you agree or disagree with any of the above? Email us and most importantly comment on the consultation.