NEWS

Growing Our Future
ITV Westcountry aired a short film based on the work of Growing Our Future who is engaging the local community of Okehampton, Devon, in growing and environmental projects. Their aim is to turn Okehampton into an 'edible landscape' and they have been given 16 pockets of disregarded and abandoned green spaces to develop.
ITV Westcountry - ITV Fixers (28 Jan)

Allotments Regeneration Initiative
Nearly £350,000 has been awarded to the Allotments Regeneration Initiative (ARI) to fund a network of Mentors who offer expert advice and support on setting up or rejuvenating allotment sites, plus regional forums for allotment managers. ARI will oversee the Supporting Healthy Allotments programme, created with £299,000 from the Big Lottery's Local Food Programme, and has secured funds from the Department of Communities and Local Government to help ensure allotments are fully incorporated into the wider green spaces agenda. Funding has also been received from the US-based Fund for the Environmental and Urban Life.

The community aiming to feed itself
A West Yorkshire town is attempting to become the first in Britain to become self-sufficient in vegetables.
The Daily Telegraph (27 Feb, p.10)

Village shop opens in church
Following the closure of the local store, St Giles's Church, in Langford, Essex is opening a village shop in its vestry in what is thought to be the first case of its kind. The shop will stock essential items such as bread and milk, as well as local craft produce.
The Sunday Telegraph (1 Mar, p.8)

Soil Association Food for Life Catering Mark
The Food for Life Catering Mark uses three tiers of Bronze, Silver and Gold to allow caterers to make step-wise progress towards greater use of fresh, seasonal, local and organic ingredients, high welfare meat and sustainable fish. It is now available to applicants from across the UK. Caterers in all sectors can apply including local authority and private school meal providers, hospitals, nurseries, sports stadia, workplace canteens and restaurants.

British pubs supporting local
A number of struggling British pubs are opening up delicatessens to showcase local specialities from small local producers and nearby farmers alongside the beer and pub grub. This is reminiscent of a version of the business model of yesteryear, when public houses incorporated shops, as a potential lifeline for survival.
Financial Times (6 Mar, p.12)

England's oldest allotments celebrate 200 years
The 200th anniversary of the country's first allotments situated in Great Somerford, Wiltshire was celebrated on 10 March. In 1809 the local vicar, Rev Stephen Demainbray, asked King George III to spare part of his parish from the Inclosure Acts under which common land was turned over to the wealthy. The king agreed and so The Great Somerford Inclosure Act stipulated that six acres in the centre of the village were to be kept "in perpetuity" for the "poor Cottagers, Parishioners of and residing in the said Parish of Great Somerfield." These were to be shared out annually in small "allotments" - giving the word its modern meaning.
Daily Telegraph (11 Mar)

Local food group in crisis as funding withdrawn
The Highlands & Islands Local Food Network, a network of locally sourced food providers in the Highlands has suspended its services and will lay off staff after regional enterprise chiefs axed a £90,000 funding lifeline at a time when the issue is a key plank of the Scottish Government's rural policy agenda.
The Herald (March 18, p. 5)

Obamas to plant White House organic vegetable garden
Michelle Obama will begin digging up a patch of White House lawn to plant an organic vegetable garden growing 55 varieties of vegetables. She hopes to educate children about healthy, locally grown fruit and vegetables at time when obesity has become a national concern.
The New York Times (19 Mar)

Villages control food prices
Country Life magazine featured Making Local Food Work, an initiative led by the Plunkett Foundation, which aims to reconnect customers with producers and make people more aware of local food at a time when prices are volatile and food scares are headline news.
Country Life (19 Mar)

Cardiff's Riverside Market celebrates tenth anniversary
Riverside Market recently celebrated ten years of successful operation.
There's a report of the birthday 'party' on: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/7849176.stm
RCMA is a social enterprise which, as well as operating Cardiff's two farmers' markets and a soon to be re-launched market in Newport, runs an award-winning Community Garden project where local people learn to grow their own food, a Community Food outreach programme of activities to encourage people in the local community to eat a healthier diet, and later this year will launch the RCMA Market Garden - an intensive horticulture project which will aim to produce fresh fruit and vegetables and a training programme in local food production.

Ethical shopping on the up
The number of British shoppers who buy ethical food - including Fairtrade and locally sourced - has increased since 2006, a new survey by IGD has revealed. However, the number of consumers opting for organic products has fallen by 5% in the last year, according to the Shopper Trends 2009 report. The Grocer (7 Feb)

Can Daisy help the ailing dairy industry bloom?
Diversification is the watchword in agriculture and one Hampshire farmer has joined forces with his community to show the industry one way to keep Britain's dairy farms alive. At a farm in Hook, a nine-year-old black-and-white cow called Daisy is the inspiration behind a new kind of country club: a working dairy that the public can sponsor. The Daisy Trust has been masterminded by James Hague, a farmer who, four years ago, took on a 130-acre tenanted farm in Hook, Hampshire, owned by the county council. He ran a successful, grass-fed dairy herd, producing delicious milk that was bottled and delivered within 24 hours of milking. It became so popular that he ended up delivering it to 1,600 homes within a 25-mile radius.
The Times

Council plans to rear cattle for school meals
Bristol City Council plans to rear its own herd of cows on a 200-acre field near the city and supply its schools with beef. A feasibility study will be funded by Natural England. Peter Wilkinson, parks service manager, said: "Grazing parkland is a low-carbon solution to grassland management compared with mechanical means." The scheme will also reduce food miles. BBC News (19 Feb)

Growing enthusiasm for a plot by the river
British Waterways, which is in charge of 2,200 miles of rivers and canals, is considering making unused stretches of land available for allotments. The organisation is also looking into using retired work boats as floating vegetable gardens and has already set up schemes in London in which strips of land are leased for free to schools and community groups to grow their own food. The Daily Telegraph (21 Feb, p.12)

High Street stores commit to Hampshire produce
Southern Co-operatives Ltd is demonstrating its commitment to the local food industry by becoming a Corporate Partner of county food group Hampshire Fare. Southern Co-operatives Local Product Manager Lucy Avison said; " We have been working with Hampshire Fare for some time and they have been paramount in helping us, through Hampshire producers, to introduce locally grown and produced food to a selection of our stores in the county.".

Supermarkets: The inconvenience stores
Alex Renton writes about the continuing growth of supermarkets over local shops. All over Britain the supermarkets are using the recession as an opportunity for expansion. And central government still overrules local planners. In Berwick-upon-Tweed, where, say campaigners, there is more square feet of supermarkets per head than anywhere else in Britain, Hazel Blears, the "Minister for Communities", recently approved a vast new Tesco. Why? Because choice and competition are good for consumers.
Times2 (27 Mar, p.9)

Supermarkets report growth in local lines

Tesco has reported growth of over 30% in locally sourced products in the calendar year to date, according to a report in Retail Week. Executive Director Lucy Neville-Rolfe, commented "Our aim is to ensure that locally sourced produce becomes part of our mainstream offer to all our customers."

ASDA's local food sales are up 41% on this time last year in England and Wales. Scotland and Northern Ireland has also shown a marked increase in sales, with 29% increase in sales. This increase in sales shows that customers are increasingly keen to shop local and support local suppliers. ASDA currently has over 6,500 local lines on its shelves across the UK and has recently invested over £80,000 in researching its customer's views on local food. They believe that the success of ASDA's local range is down to its award-winning hub system and a willingness to listen to customers. ASDA is also trialling dedicated 'local ambassadors' in the North West to make sure local products are stocked correctly on the shelf and to provide advice to customers who may have questions about where the products come from.

Fix the Food Chain
Friend's of the Earth has launched the Food Chain campaign aimed at getting Government to revolutionise it by: shifting subsidies away from factory farming; supporting farmers to grow their own animal feed; encouraging supermarkets to offer fairer deals for everyone.

EVENTS

'Good Food, Good Governance' Regional Training Days
Co-operativesUK is running the 'Good Governance' strand of the 'Making Local Food Work' project, working to ensure that groups adopt sound legal and organisational structures. As part of our delivery of this work, we are running a series of regional workshops designed to improve the knowledge of good governance and its critical role in the sustainability of organisations. For further information or to book, please visit website or call Laura Chillag on 0161 246 2953.

Launch of "Growing in Haringey"
"Sustainable Haringey", a network of groups and residents across this diverse London Borough, launches "Growing in Haringey" on Friday 27th March at Broadwater Farm, which already hosts the Tottenham Food Coop. The aim is to link the increasing number of existing food-growing initiatives with each other and to help the many citizens who desire to do so but lack land, skills, etc.

Exeter Festival of South West Food & Drink 2009
Friday 17th, Saturday 18th, Sunday 19th April 2009
Located in the heart of the historic city centre of Exeter, the sixth Exeter Festival of South West Food and Drink is a weekend of fabulous food, drink and live entertainment not to be missed. Festival goers can sample and purchase a fantastic array of regional products.

Mudchute Park and Farm, Isle of Dogs, London evening walk, 29th April 2009
Spring is officially here so please come and join us for a glorious evening on Mudchute farm (Wellington boots are non-essential). This is an exciting opportunity to catch up with London Food Link and friends on all the news that has happened over the past 6 months. Booking is essential as spaces are limited.
When: Wednesday 29th April, 4:30- 7 pm ?Where: Mudchute Park and Farm, Pier Street, Isle of Dogs, London E14 3HP (visit http://www.mudchute.org/ for details on how to get there)?How much? London Food Link members £5.50, Non-members £10.50
For more information and to book your place please visit http://www.sustainweb.org/

Stroud Communiversity, 15-17th May

Returning this year with a fresh feast of Stroud's finest projects being showcased and explored over three packed days. With Land, Food and Money at the heart of this recession, our response is an examination of practical, creative and innovative solutions to support the growth and development of a resilient local economy.
Friday 15th May
Richard Keating & Martin Large
Connecting with Place, People and Land through Walking and Art
Exploring models for sustainable livelihoods by researching and experiencing how we connect with nature and the landscape.
Evening: Meal & Social at Star Anise Arts Café

Saturday 16th May
Nick Weir & Odilia Jarman
Food for Life
Closing the gap between production and consumption by directly supporting our farmers and taking part in cultivating, harvesting, preparing and sharing our food.
Evening: Group Bring & Share Meal followed by
Ideas Market Place

Sunday 17th May
Molly Scott Cato & Max Comfort
Working for Ourselves; Working for Each Other
What might a job for life really mean? Becoming a producer in your local economy can offer greater satisfaction than working on the global treadmill - and would also be healthier for the planet.
Evening: Meal & Collage

Location: The Exchange, Brick Row
Registration: 9.30am, Friday 15th May
3 Day Cost: £280/£190 concs including 5 Meals
1 Day Cost: £100/£70concs including 2 meals
For more information & bookings please go to www.stroudcommonwealth.org.uk
Or Email: vitalsqueeze@gmail.com Or phone Odilia: 01453 766598

Celebrate local food & farming at July's Hampshire Food Festival
Over 140 different events feature in this year' Hampshire Food Festival throughout July.
This year's Hampshire Food Festival, from 1st - 31st July is packed with around 140 different events held at numerous venues across the county, in celebration of Hampshire's fabulous food and drink. Events include a host of workshops and master classes for adults and children; farm tours; orchard, brewery and kitchen garden walks; BBQs, Hampshire hog roasts, gourmet dinners, cream teas and local lunches. Hampshire chefs will give cookery demos and 'celebrity chefs' taking part include The Hairy Bikers, Rose Elliot, Atul Kochhar and Valentina Harris. Sign up at www.hampshirefare.co.uk to receive a free Hampshire Food Festival programme in the post when published in May.

Guernsey Local Food Festival, 18th September 2009
Taking place in St. Peter Port, Guernsey organised by the charity Guernsey Climate Action Network and Guernsey Slow Food Group. This festival will celebrate the food produced by Guernsey farmers, fishermen and food processors with tours, food & drink tastings, cooking demonstrations, presentations and displays of Guernsey food as well as talks and exhibits on the history of Island farming and fishing.

PUBLICATIONS, BLOGS & FILMS

Directory of Organic and Local produce produced by Organic Centre Wales, lists over 120 retail outlets offering organic produce throughout Wales, many of them from farm shops and farmers markets. This booklet also offers visitors and local consumers alike, ideas for going on farm trails, eating at on farm cafes, and other great opportunities for buying organic and local produce. Available from Easter in Tourist Information Centres, country pubs, hotels and other outlets, it is also available direct from Organic Centre Wales, 01970 622248, or on line at www.organic.aber.ac.uk

Food Co-op website
More and more people are setting up food co-ops so they can get good food at an affordable price. Our food co-ops website can help you find out if there's already a food co-op in your area, or if not will give you all the information you need to set up your own food co-op.

And finally - after the wackiness of "Slumdog Millionaire" there's "The Age of Stupid" to rock us back to the real world. 'Knocks spots off an "Inconvenient truth" ' says the Ecologist.

Job adverts cost £100 (circulation over 1200)

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