• A model which promotes a one-plate, price-capped meal, served at a set mealtime, across a range of venues both commercial, charitable and civic.

• Recruiting hospitality, community food groups and civic provisioning in a collaborative, turn-taking way which means choice across the week and across a geographic area for the consumer, and a manageable commitment for providers.

• Using existing resources and partners to maximise reach and scope.

• Recruiting sustainable restaurants association-accredited outlets, suitable independent restaurants, schools and community food initiatives to join the coalition.

• Crafting a compelling coalition-building narrative and evidence-base around why eating in groups is a future food behaviour.

• Raising investment for bespoke high street canteens with catering kitchens (which can supply meals at-scale and also provide a catering-sized ready meal service for community groups who have local needs but who may not have local capacity).

• Providing grants for existing community food sector to improve spaces and their capacity to offer weekly, price-capped meals under the model.

• For customers, a choice of places across the week both in neighbourhoods and on the high street, to sit and eat a price-capped meal alongside others- restoring the national mealtime.

• For food producers, a route to market for British, seasonal and sustainable produce.

• For retailers, be part of a movement that shares a story to reignite the joy of shared dining.

• For civic organisations, manifesting a Right to Food, in a dignified, sociable, sustainable manner and for those experiencing poverty, the development of pre-loaded meal ‘credit cards’.

• Building social food infrastructure and social capital, increasing our national capacities around food security and sustainability, improving public health and contributing to a thriving food economy.

1. Storytelling & Movement Building

• Share the history of public social dining

• Elevate community voices and lived experiences (while we still have some!)

• Mobilise public and institutional support through campaigns

• Convene coalition partners

2. Advocacy & Policy Influence

• Make the case for social dining as part of our public infrastructure with expected public health outcomes

• Engage policymakers, local authorities, and health institutions

• Advocate for legislative and funding commitments

3. Research & Evidence Generation

• Build a robust evidence base

• Facilitate pilots, data collection, and case studies

• Provide insights to shape policy and funding models

4. Venture Design & Scalable Solutions

• Develop blueprints for modern social dining models (community/charitable model, new purpose-built model, existing commercial restaurant model)

• Test and refine sustainable funding approaches (e.g., outcomes-based funding)

• Create scalable models that integrate with existing public services

These public dining rooms operated in a diverse range of spaces, including community centres, workplace canteens, school dining halls, and even prefabricated temporary buildings.