NEW DATA: Cardiff ‘Planet Card’ Pilot Demonstrates Climate, Economic & Social Benefits of Voucher Schemes
A Cardiff food pilot giving low-income households weekly credit for organic fruit and veg has helped participants increase their intake to above five-a-day, while simultaneously supporting sustainable local growers, and strengthening community connections.
The findings were shared at an event held yesterday (11th May 2026) at the Norwegian Church in Cardiff Bay, bringing together partners, policymakers, food organisations and community representatives to discuss what the pilot can teach Wales about fairer access to good food.
At the event, Food Cardiff and Food Sense Wales launched a new report, which explores how public funds can build community wealth by channelling crisis funding through local economies to benefit people and planet.
The report is informed by monitoring from the Bridging the Gap programme and independent evaluation by Cardiff University Business School, which found that Planet Card increased healthy behaviours, strengthened community cohesion and enhanced food literacy among low-income households.
Planet Card was developed in Cardiff as part of Bridging the Gap, a UK-wide programme led by Sustain and partners including Food Sense Wales. Coordinated locally by Food Cardiff (the Welsh capital’s Sustainable Food Partnership) in collaboration with Cardiff Farmers Markets, the scheme gave eligible households a weekly £11 credit to spend on organic and planet-friendly fruit and vegetables at Cardiff’s farmers markets in Roath and Riverside.
The pilot reached 120 participating households, generated an estimated 1,744 market visits, and saw £19,000 of Planet Card vouchers spent directly with local farmers producing climate and nature-friendly food, plus at least an additional £1,000 of members’ own money spent at Cardiff Farmers Markets.
But the report also shows that the impact went beyond food budgets. Members described the markets as social, welcoming and empowering spaces, where they could speak directly with growers, learn how to cook unfamiliar produce, feel part of a community, and shop with dignity.
One Planet Card member said, “Sundays became very happy days for me.” Another explained, “I have a lot more respect for organic farmers now. I think with supermarkets there’s a massive disconnect from food, whereas you get a lot more familiar with the process and what goes into creating the food on your table when you’re able to talk with farmers each week and listen to their stories.”
The Food Cardiff and Food Sense Wales report argues that Planet Card demonstrates how public interventions to tackle food poverty can generate significant social return on investment, while simultaneously improving diets, strengthening communities, supporting Welsh farming and delivering for climate and nature.
Economic modelling by the University of Portsmouth and the Organic Research Centre on the nine different Bridging the Gap pilots across the UK estimates that for every £1 of public investment, combined with £1.10 from shoppers, generates £8.78 in social value, including benefits for health, stronger communities, local economic growth and climate and nature.
Derek Walker, the Future Generations Commissioner for Wales said, “The cost-of-living crisis means too many people in Wales cannot afford to put food on the table. At the same time, we are reliant on volatile global supply chains for our fruit and vegetables – food which we could be growing here. The Planet Card Cardiff shows us that making fruit and veg affordable to the families that need it most is possible – and that we can boost Welsh growers and local supply chains while improving health and well-being.
I am pleased the new Welsh Government has made a manifesto commitment to deliver a progressive increase in horticulture production and for 25% of vegetables served in Welsh schools to be of Welsh origin by 2030. It is vital that the Welsh Government and public bodies prioritise growing our horticulture sector and invest in fruit and veg voucher schemes so that the families that need it the most can eat healthy Welsh food, now and in the future.”
The report makes two key recommendations for Cardiff and Wales:
Food Cardiff should extend and expand the Planet Card scheme; and
Welsh Government, local authorities and health boards, via Local Food Partnerships, should collaborate to introduce a Welsh Organic Fruit and Vegetable Voucher Scheme for low-income households.
It also recommends that Welsh Government produces an ambitious horticulture plan to grow organic fruit, vegetable and pulse production, and that public bodies support the expansion of local and community food retail infrastructure such as farmers markets, community food hubs and independent greengrocers.
Pearl Costello, Sustainable Food Places Manager at Food Sense Wales said: “It’s really encouraging to see so many partners who were involved in the co‑creation of the Planet Card coming together to reflect on the reports’ findings and to consider next steps. Having supported Food Cardiff in the development of this scheme, through Bridging The Gap, Food Sense Wales is now recommending that the Planet Card is extended and expanded. We’d also encourage the new Welsh Government, as well as local authorities and health boards, to work with their Local Food Partnerships to introduce a Welsh Organic Fruit and Vegetable Voucher Scheme for low-income households. We look forward to working with colleagues and partners across Cardiff and across Wales, to help facilitate and achieve this ambition.”
Lucinda Sehic, Sustainable Food Co-ordinator at Food Cardiff added, “The learnings from Planet Card will now inform the next stage of our work to improve access to good food in the city. Building on the independent evaluation from Cardiff University Business School and the Food Cardiff report, we want to explore how the scheme could be expanded to reach more households, how access could be made more flexible beyond the farmers’ market model, and how Cardiff can strengthen the local supply of climate and nature-friendly food.”
The event marked a key moment in that process, creating space for stakeholders, citizens and partners to reflect on what has been learnt from the pilot and help shape what a future version of Planet Card could look like in Cardiff and beyond.
To read the full Planet Card 2023–2025 report by Food Cardiff and Food Sense Wales, click here.
The independent Cardiff University Business School evaluation, Planet Card: Good Food for All, is also available here.
