The Conversation – We promised to come back to you with the conclusions of an exciting session we held with Herefordshire Food Alliance and Sustainable Ledbury in June as part of the National Food Conversation and Ledbury’s Great Big Green Week.
A well filled Burgage Hall enjoyed a hearty snack of 100% Herefordshire soup, local cheeses, bread and chutneys put us in the mood. We then got stuck in to conversation about our food system. A video set the scene and we then heard from two local producers about where they are in the ‘food system’.
What do people want? Well, after looking at many things working, and not working about food right now it was pretty hard to whittle down the very many thoughts in the room but a few themes seemed to run across all the tables and chats.
- Policy change – regulating ultra processed foods, and supporting both independent and local food production. But a clear call for policy to be co-created by ALL of us!
- Education – for everyone, really, but some talk of schools and also examples of where this is going well locally.
- Change in supermarket practices – people shared stories of farmers being let down on crops, and prices they’re paid being too low – with a suggestion that changing their practices is something that customers do have some control over.Thanks to everyone who contributed to the conversation – we all learned something from the evening. Special thanks to Herefordshire Food Alliance for moderating the evening.
- What’s next?
We talked in June about how our food is grown and the fertility of the soil.
We are taking this theme further with a showing of the film “Six Inches of Soil” on the evening of 27th January at the Burgage Hall, Church Lane, Ledbury with partners Herefordshire Food Alliance and Sustainable Ledbury.
This film tells story of remarkable farmers, communities, small businesses, chefs and entrepreneurs who are leading the way using ‘regenerative’ farming techniques that work in harmony with, rather than against nature. It focuses on local food systems and shorter supply chains.
There will be plenty of opportunity to follow up on the themes of the film with questions and discussion.
There’s more about this film at https://www.sixinchesofsoil.org/story-of-the-film.
Further details of this evening event will be posted nearer the event.
And also for your diary…
The Ledbury Big Breakfast will take place in and around Ledbury over the weekend Friday 31st January, Saturday 1st and Sunday 2nd February. Full details of participants and their offerings will be available here from mid-January.
Find out more about the National Food Conversation at https://thefoodconversation.uk/
