Drafting
Bring together the right people, gather evidence, and develop a draft Good Food Nation Plan that reflects the needs and priorities of your local area.
2026 – 2027
Step 1
Understand
This section provides a brief introduction to the groundbreaking Good Food Nation (Scotland) Act 2022, outlining the intentions behind it, the history of its development and the legal duties it places on Relevant Authorities (Scotland’s 32 Local Authorities and 14 territorial Health Boards) to produce Local Good Food Nation Plans. At this time (September 2026), there are still some unknowns and we will update this section accordingly including when secondary Good Food Nation legislation on specified functions and descriptions for Scottish Government and Relevant Authorities is laid before the Scottish Parliament.
Key resources
Good Food Nation (Scotland) Act 2022
The full text of the Good Food Nation (Scotland) Act 2022 can be found here: Good Food Nation (Scotland) Act 2022.
First National Good Food Nation Plan (2025)
The final version of the first National Good Food Nation Plan (2025) and related documents can be found here: First National Good Food Nation Plan.
Scottish Parliamentary Information Service (SPiCE) articles
Dr Claire Perier, a research fellow in our Wellcome funded Living Good Food Nation Lab during her recent secondment to the Scottish Parliament, wrote, a series of blogs for the Scottish Parliamentary Information Service (SPiCE) introducing the Act and explaining its history and recent development:
Next steps towards a Good Food Nation – do we have the right plan?
Recent developments in food policy across the UK
Good Food Nation: we have a plan, but does it have any teeth?
Living Good Food Nation Lab documents
Our Living Good Food Nation Lab has produced a one-page briefing on the Act, the National and Local Plans and the new legal instruments that have been created: GFN 101 – A beginners guide.
We have also complied a glossary of key terms related to the Good Food Nation Act and the Good Food Nation processes: Good Food Nation Glossary of Key Terms.
And a summary timeline of the Good Food Nation journey and processes: Good Food Nation Timeline.
Further information
Briefing paper suggested content
Drawing on briefing papers produced by a Health Board, Health and Social Care Partnership, and a Local Authority, we have produced short summary paragraphs that may be useful to relevant authority officials responsible for preparing briefing papers. They introduce the Good Food Nation (Scotland) Act 2022, the new duties placed on Scottish Minsters and Relevant Authorities and associated context relevant to the development and current state of play regarding the legislation, national good food nation planning and the creation of the new statutory Scottish Food Commission: Good Food Nation Briefings – Suggested Content
Scottish Government Good Food Nation video
This video is a presentation from the Scottish Government Good Food Nation Team and gives information to help relevant authorities in producing their GFN plans, with specific focus on the new associated legislative duties: Relevant Authorities GFN Plans Workshop.
The Scottish Parliament’s website describes the process of the Act’s development and provides key documents, including submitted amendments, right through to the final text and the Act that has become Scot’s Law: Good Food Nation (Scotland) Bill.
Technical briefing document
The Lab has produced a technical briefing that details the legislative process and provides links to all the relevant documents: Good Food Nation Legislation – Technical Briefing.
Step 2
Convene & collaborate
One of the first stages in writing a Local Good Food Nation Plan is to identify the relevant individuals, teams, and external organisations who can contribute to the planning process: they can be both internal and external to your Relevant Authority.
Key resources
Membership of Good Food Nation Steering Groups
In collaboration with Relevant Authority partners, the Living Good Food Nation Lab has produced a checklist of internal departments and external stakeholders who should be involved that covers both Health Boards and Local Authorities: Membership of Good Food Nation Steering Groups.
Living Good Food Nation Lab: Reflective Questions
The Living Good Food Nation Lab has also developed a set of reflective questions for steering/oversight/working groups at the outset of their Good Food Nation planning journey to help with developing a shared vision of what good means for their organisation and wider community: Reflective Questions – Strategic Planning Group.
Living Good Food Nation Lab: Workshops
The Living Good Food Nation Lab has been running workshops with Relevant Authorities on how to develop such collaborations, please get in touch with us to request bespoke support from the Lab: our email address is livinggoodfoodnationlab@ed.ac.uk.
Sustainable Food Places briefing
Partnership working is a crucial element of developing a local GFN Plan. The Sustainable Food Places (SPF) Scotland network links food partnerships from across the country and this explains their work and how it relates to the GFN planning process and lists all the partnerships in Scotland at the time of publication (November 2024): Sustainable Food Places: the role of food partnerships in the delivery of the Good Food Nation Act.
‘Partnership Working’ Report
This report written by Dr Beth Cloughton from the Lab’s Grassroots Unit and Simon Kenton-Lake from SPF Scotland and Nourish Scotland, aims to help develop a shared understanding of partnership working and inform the Good Food Nation planning process: Reflections on partnership working towards a Good Food Nation
Further information
SFP Toolkit
The SFP Toolkit is aimed at those setting up food partnerships, but the sections on Engagement and Vision contain useful suggestions about who to involve, questions to address in early meetings and how to develop a shared vision: Sustainable Food Places Toolkit.
Food4Fife Strategy 2024-29
Published in 2024, the Food4Fife Strategy 2024-29 has a nice diagram illustrating their model of partnership working: Food4Fife – Strategy & Action Plan 2024-2029.
Glasgow City Food Plan
The Glasgow Food Policy Partnership website contains a lot of information about how they developed the Glasgow City Food Plan which was launched in 2021: Glasgow City Food Plan.
Step 3
Map & audit
Many strategies, policies, other plans, initiatives, and indicators relevant to the Good Food Nation already exist within the strategic priorities, and work of, your Relevant Authority. As such, early in your Good Food Nation planning journey, it is important to undertake a mapping exercise across the 6 Outcomes to audit existing policies and activities and identify gaps and duplication.
Note: The Lab is in the process of developing a list of Local Authority legislative duties allied to Outcomes in the first National Good Food Nation Plan.
Document to follow shortly.
Key resources
Living Good Food Nation Lab: Data Dashboard
The Living Good Food Nation Lab has produced a Local Good Food Nation Data Dashboard – an open-access, online resource – to support users in quickly establishing local baseline measures for each indicator listed in the first National Good Food Nation Plan. To do this our Analytical Unit sourced, cleaned, analysed, and visualised publicly available data for the Good Food Nation indicators listed in the first National Plan. Users of the app can generate and download a report summarising their baseline values for each indicator: Living Good Food Nation Lab’s local GFN dashboard.
Data Dashboard webinar
Shortly after its launch we held a webinar to demonstrate how to navigate the dashboard, and explore how data from the Dashboard can be used to help with, and inform, the drafting and monitoring of, Local Good Food Nation Plans. A recording of this webinar is available here: Webinar: Introducing the Local Good Food Nation Data Dashboard
Data Dashboard development blog
Dr Megan Kurtzer, from the Lab’s Analytic Unit, has also written a blog about the process of developing the Data Dashboard: Developing the Local Good Food Nation Dashboard.
Relevant Authorities Mapping Workshops
Having run mapping workshops with Relevant Authorities, the Lab has produced worksheets designed to help participants identify relevant activities at the local and national level and link them to the 6 Good Food Nation Outcomes:
Local Economic Multiplier (LM3) Webinar
The Lab has also developed an LM3 tool for Relevant Authorities which tracks the impact of their procurement spending on their local economies. For more details of this free resource please watch this recording of our recent webinar: Local Economic Multiplier (LM3) Webinar
Further information
Edinburgh Climate Change Initiative: ClimateView
A similar resource to our Local Good Food Nation Data Dashboard is the online platform developed by the Edinburgh Climate Change Initiative (ECCI) and the Improvement Service with ClimateView. This platform supports capacity building and implementation of climate action by providing a standardised method for defining activity shifts and logging interventions, tracking impacts and comparing progress across local authorities and may usefully inform Good Food Nation data work: ClimateView Platform.
Step 4
Develop & review
This section provides resources to help with developing a Local Good Nation Plan in line with Scottish Government advice (however this is not a substitute for legal advice). It includes guidance on how Good Food Nation Plans should connect with other strategies, such as local child poverty action reports. Relevant Authorities will also need to conduct assessments of the impact of their Plans on equality and/or island communities where applicable. All Relevant Authorities have a statutory duty to produce a draft Plan which will have to be reviewed and approved for use in the public consultation before moving on to the Consultation stage.
Key resources
Scottish Government guidance for Relevant Authorities
The Scottish Government has published guidance for Relevant Authorities on writing a Good Food Nation Plan: Writing a Good Food Nation plan: a brief guide for relevant authorities.
Local Authority legislative duties
The Lab is in the process of developing a list of Local Authority legislative duties allied to Outcomes in the first National Good Food Nation Plan. Document to follow shortly.
Living Good Food Nation Lab: Timeline of Good Food Nation Governance Processes
We have also produced a timeline of Good Food Nation governance processes to assist in the planning of this work: Recommended Timeline for Good Food Nation Governance Processes.
Living Good Food Nation Lab: Reflective Questions for Mapping and Auditing
And we have produced a short reflective tool to help with the process of reviewing the outputs of mapping and auditing activities: Reflective Questions for Mapping and Auditing.
Further information
Island Communities Impact Assessment
The Scottish Government has also published guidance on producing an Island Communities Impact Assessment (ICIA): Island communities impact assessments: guidance and toolkit
Step 5
Draft Local Plan published for consultation
Your draft Good Food Nation Plan is complete and ready for public consultation. Publish it through your authority’s standard channels and ensure it is accessible to all relevant stakeholders.
Extra resources
Understand
Food Systems Transformation in Scotland
Drawing on her experience as Chair of the Scottish Food Coalition Mary Brennan has written a short open access article about the development of the Good Food Nation Act: Food Systems Transformation in Scotland—The Journey to, Vision of, and Challenges Facing the New Good Food Nation (Scotland) Act
Food Systems Dashboard
For those who want to learn more about the food systems approach underlying the GFN Act, the Food Systems Dashboard has a useful short introduction.
Convene & collaborate
Rethinking our Food Systems: A Guide for Multi-stakeholder Collaboration
The UN has produced guidance for those leading inclusive multi-stakeholder collaborations engaged in the sustainable transformation of food systems.
MSP Guide
Wageningen University has produced a guide to designing and facilitating multi-stakeholder partnerships that contains lots of tools for collaborative working.
Food council development
This resource describes the process of establishing a food council (a US term for organisations that are similar to food partnerships): Food council development A toolkit for communities from seed to start-up