We’re part of a growing agenda

Our dogged efforts to grow and distribute our own vegetable crops continue to attract media interest.

Both Camel Community Supported Agriculture and our counterparts at the far end of the county, West Penwith CSA, are featured in the latest edition of Taste Cornwall magazine.

Writer Kevin Gray-Roberts waxes positively lyrical about reaping the rewards of harvesting earthy new potatoes, ripe tomatoes and crisp dewy lettuces. 

Community supported agriculture is the perfect antidote to the anonymous consumerism that has overtaken food production and retail in the UK.

A certain section of the food-buying public has become so disenchanted with how the conventional food market operates they are taking direct, affirmative action to re-establish control of what they eat.

 The positive spin-offs of this are reduced food miles, packaging and waste, greater stability, security and sustainability for the farms, and community interaction across age and income groups.

Kevin’s article concludes that what we’re doing is superb medication for body and soul.  He urges others to follow our example and get stuck in. 

Not only will your food be fresher, your fitness, your outlook and your social life will all be infused with a new and vigorous growth.

• Taste Cornwall comes free with the October issue of Inside Cornwall magazine.

We’re a feature of Cornwall life

Various pioneering efforts to grow our own food in the far south-west are put under the spotlight in the September issue of the magazine Cornwall Life.

The four-page spread features several pictures of Camel CSA volunteers at work on our two-acre plot at St Kew Highway.

It reveals how our community project is helping Cornwall play a leading role in the Making Local Food Work programme led by the Plunkett Foundation.  As Jan Trefusis of the foundation says:

Cornwall really is the star of this programme, with a high proportion of our uptake for the project coming from across the region.

Rewards

The article emphasises how community supported agriculture can offer a sustainable way of producing local and seasonal food where the rewards and risks are shared between grower and consumer.

It describes Cornwall’s other emergent CSAs at Harrowbarrow near Callington and in the Lamorna valley and at Lowarth Brogh near Land’s End.  It tells us about plans to set up similar projects at Trevalon Organic Vegetables at Herodsfoot, Liskeard and on a farm near Launceston.

Traci Lewis of the Soil Association adds:

Who knows what can be achieved when we all start supporting each other more?  We look forward to working with more landowners, farmers, growers and communities in Cornwall to find out.

Camel CSA hits the headlines

Cornwall’s two community supported agriculture projects are in the news again.

Both Camel CSA and West Penwith CSA featured in the Western Morning News on Monday in the green communities section.  We’re also in this week’s Cornish Guardian.

Growers pool skills to produce veg boxes - Western Morning News 13-07-09

Camel growers reap the fruits – and veg – of their labours - Cornish Guardian 15-07-09

We’re on the radio

Camel Community Supported Agriculture was featured on BBC Radio Cornwall’s Breakfast programme on Monday 6 July.

The item about our first vegetable boxes being prepared featured one of our expert growers Mark Norman, our secretary Mike Sadler and volunteer picker/packer Robert Manders. 

The radio slot included a phone interview with Sally Peterson of  West Penwith Community Supported Agriculture.  They started handing out veg boxes last week as well!

We’re in the news – again

Camel Community Supported Agriculture members succeeded in spreading the word far and wide at the Royal Cornwall Show and the open day on Open Farm Sunday. 

Hundreds more people in the south west now know what Camel CSA is doing to help make local food work and how we’re going about it.

Our efforts also resulted in plenty of media coverage in the past week or so  - on BBC Radio Cornwall, in the Cornish Guardian and in the Western Morning News (three times!)

Discover food glorious food at the Royal Cornwall - Western Morning News May 26 09

Open day to feature county’s first community food growing group - Cornish Guardian June 2 09

Cornish food at its best – South West Farmer June 1 09

Food from Cornwall News - June 6 09

Other groups keen to set up their own community agriculture project should contact the Soil Association’s south west CSA co-ordinator Traci Lewis at tlewis@soilassociation.org or on 0787 0268654.

We’re in the news!

 Camel Community Supported Agriculture is featured in this week’s Cornish Guardian – Group sows the seeds of first community plot.