A group of young growers in Powys is developing a new model for small-scale food production, with vegetables grown near Newtown now being supplied to customers in the local area and to Birmingham.
Growing vegetables at Wern Farm
The project is based at Wern Farm, where three growing plots have been established on a 15-hectare site near Newtown.
One of the growers is Tilly Gomersall, who runs Cân y Pridd, while neighbouring growers Lydia Dibben and Charlie James operate another plot called Tir a Nant.
The project was developed by Our Food Trust, a charity working on initiatives intended to increase food production and improve access to land for new growers. The charity says its wider programme is developing affordable farms and addressing issues including land access, housing, markets and supply-chain infrastructure.
Gomersall's Cân y Pridd currently grows on around half a hectare of its 4.9-hectare holding, including production inside polytunnels.
The farm produces vegetables including courgettes, cucumbers, tomatoes, salad leaves, spring onions and French beans. Produce is sold through a local veg-box scheme and markets, while the growers also supply a local wholesaler.
A new supply route into Birmingham
A new route into Birmingham has provided another market.
In late July, the growers began supplying Birmingham City Council with fresh produce for its holiday activities and food programme. The produce was distributed to holiday clubs attended by children during the summer.
The Guardian reported that around 1,000 children received boxes containing vegetables from Powys through the programme. The arrangement was negotiated by Our Food Trust and gives the growers a buyer for some of their produce while providing the Birmingham programme with locally grown vegetables.
Access to land and viable markets
The project also addresses one of the challenges facing people trying to establish horticultural businesses: finding affordable access to land and somewhere to live.
Our Food Trust worked with Powys County Council on the Wern Farm project. The charity secured a 95-year lease for the site and worked with the council on planning arrangements that allow growers to have homes connected to the land they farm.
The growers' route into the market also illustrates one of the difficulties of relying solely on local consumers.
The Guardian reported that the farmers had 35 customers through their veg-box subscription service while also selling through markets and a wholesaler. The growers said the amount they can produce is currently greater than the quantity they can sell locally, making the Birmingham contract an important additional outlet.
For Dibben and James, the Birmingham relationship has created an opportunity to sell larger quantities. The Guardian reported that they had supplied around 100kg of courgettes a week to the city.
Testing a regional food supply chain
The arrangement is deliberately small at present. Birmingham's food system team told the Guardian that one van of produce travels from Wales to Birmingham each week.
That scale allows the organisations involved to test how a direct relationship between growers and an urban food system can operate, including the practical issues involved in moving relatively small quantities of fresh produce between regions.
The project is also part of a broader effort by Our Food Trust to increase the amount of food grown in Wales and develop more resilient local and regional supply chains.
For the growers at Wern Farm, the immediate focus is more practical: establishing viable businesses, expanding cultivated areas and developing reliable markets for what they produce.
Sources
The Guardian - A joyful harvest: the young Welsh farmers growing food for Birmingham
Our Food Trust
Wern Farm - official site
Landworkers' Alliance - Cân y Pridd feature
Open Food Network - Cân y Pridd Market Garden
Charity Commission - Our Food Trust
