Coast & Bounty
Team with 3 members
The opportunity
Coastal communities like Hamble are rich in natural beauty, local pride and a hunger for sustainability. Yet for residents and visitors alike, truly local food and products remain hidden or hard to access.
Most people want to buy local - 87% of our survey respondents said so - but the systems to support that desire are broken or invisible. Coast & Bounty exists to change that.
The problem
People in coastal communities want to live more sustainably — to buy locally, support nearby producers and be more self-sufficient. But they can’t, because these options aren’t visible, accessible or coordinated.
This limits coastal communities ability to be sustainable (where sustainability in this case means greater resilience, local viability and stronger community connections).
The challenge
How might we make local food and food producers more visible and accessible in coastal communities?
We’re looking for people who want to help us answer that and turn answers into action.
Who’s behind this?
Led by Melanie Foster, Coast & Bounty is an early-stage project with long-term ambition: to reconnect people with the coast and each other through clean food, storytelling, sustainable practices and hyperlocal experiences.
With the support of Future Towns Innovation Hub, our aim is to create something of value for:
- Local producers and small businesses;
- Curious consumers seeking “farm-to-table” connection (but with seafood and salty air!!);
- Policymakers and funders investing in place-based innovation.
Why join us?
If you care about:
- Sustainable food systems
- Blue economies
- Regenerative local enterprise
- Designing for place and people
- Turning ideas into tangible action
… then Coast & Bounty is something you can help shape, not just observe.
Together with Future Towns Innovation Hub and collaborators across sectors, we’re building something honest, beautiful and urgently needed - a coastal blueprint that others can learn from.
Join us
We’re inviting businesses, researchers, doers and dreamers to explore ideas, test prototypes and help steer this future-facing community enterprise.
Bring your insight, creativity or lived experience; and be part of a team that’s working on real problems in real places.
We’re also especially keen to connect with investors, philanthropists and social impact funders who share our vision of:
- Rebuilding local economies through sustainable food and place-based innovation;
- Backing female-led, early-stage ventures tackling climate and community resilience;
- Proving that small coastal places can punch above their weight when given the right tools and support.
If you're looking to help shape a movement rooted in storytelling, sustainability and systems change — we'd love to talk.
Join the team. Add your expertise. Help build the proof of concept.
This project is early-stage, hands-on and open to those who believe in the power of local.
Got ideas already?
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