CEO, Community Food Enterprise Ltd
Eric Samuel is the Chief Executive Officer of Community Food Enterprise Limited. In 1998 he abandoned his career in banking to set up the Newham Food Access Partnership, a borough wide umbrella group/forum for providers and advocates of food access projects. In 2002, Eric established the West Ham & Plaistow Community Food Enterprise which became a limited liability company in June 2003 and began trading as Community Food Enterprise Limited (CFE.) Over the past six years Eric has been instrumental in developing some of the most innovative food access projects in the country. In recognition for his work and dedication to the community, Eric was voted Whitbread UK Volunteer of the year, 2001, in November 2003; he won the BBC Radio 4 Food & Farming Award for best Food Campaigner/Educator and in 2004, he won the New Deal for Communities (NDC) Personal Achievement Award. Eric passionately believes in community representation at the highest level of decision making and he sits on various national, regional and local boards, panels and working groups where he champions food access and community issues. They include: London Food Board, London Food Link, British Urban Regeneration Association, West Ham & Plaistow New Deal for Communities and Ethnic Minority Stakeholders Group. Eric is a former member of the King’s Fund Grants Committee and Newham Local Strategic Partnership (LSP).