Community supported agriculture must shout much louder to make local food work

Thousands of people in England are improving their overall quality of life by getting involved in community supported agriculture.

But a lack of public awareness means that many more are missing out, according to new research from the Soil Association. 

“Community supported agriculture is an exciting, dynamic, growing movement. It’s all about sharing and giving people proper access to local produce. It’s making a real difference to people’s lives,” Josiah Meldrum of Provenance told the Soil Association’s CSA conference in Bristol.

Indeed, the pace of expansion is impressive. Of the 76 fully-fledged CSA schemes in England, 66 of these got going in the last three years.  Another 120 are in the process of setting up. 

Public understanding  is lacking, however. Two thirds of 1,000 shoppers who took part in a survey had never heard of community supported agriculture schemes like ours in Cornwall. 

The Soil Association commissioned Provenance researchers Nick Saltmarsh and Josiah Meldrum to judge the impact of CSAs in England. They concluded there are enormous social, environmental and economic benefits for members and the wider community.

More than 70 per cent of of CSA members feel their overall quality of life has improved. Almost half believe they’re having a significant impact on the community by bringing people together.

At least three quarters are involved because they want access to healthy, high-quality, sustainably-produced food. Two thirds of them find that the vegetables provided supply nearly all their needs.

Remarks included: 

Food has become interesting again…

I feel involved in the production of the food I eat and have become more connected to the land…

I feel part of something that is truly pioneering, that I am contributing in some way to different more sustainable way of living…

It makes me feel happy – at quite a deep level – that I’m playing a small part in helping such an excellent scheme to thrive…

You can have a more detailed look at the main findings on the Soil Association’s resources pages: -

• Key features and benefits
• Lessons for enterprises
• Introduction for farmers, growers and landowners.

The full report will be published in October.

Watch this video: How Camel Community Supported Agriculture is helping make local food work

Camel CSA’s contribution in Cornwall to Making Local Food Work is featured in a new YouTube video commissioned by the Plunkett Foundation, made by eclips film.

We turned our grow-your-own dream into reality with the support and guidance of the Soil Association via Making Local Food Work. We have £60,000 funding from the Big Lottery’s Local  Food programme and the East Cornwall Local Action Group (part of the South West Regional Development Agency).

Watch all Camel CSA videos

Read all the stories behind Camel CSA’s latest videos

More pictures from our Lottery and EU funding launch

The sun shone on the launch of Camel CSA’s £60,000 Local Food and ECLAG grants.

Children carved pumpkin lanterns for Halloween while work continued on our first big polytunnel. Linda Emmett, manager of  the East Cornwall Local Action Group, presented us with our funding plaque. The Soil Association’s Traci Lewis, who has given us valuable support, was also a guest at the event. 

                                        
                                        Pictures: Shayne House

Camel CSA hosts Soil Association mentoring event

Camel Community Supported Agriculture has been chosen to host a new type of training event being organised by the Soil Association. 

A total of 23 grow-your-own-food enthusiasts in the south-west, from Land’s End to Totnes, are taking part.  It’s proved so popular that more than 10 would-be participants have had to be turned away.

The horticultural mentoring event for existing and prospective CSA groups and growers in the south west is on Monday 14 September at our site at St Kew Highway behind St Kew Harvest Farm Shop.

It will give us an opportunity to consider soil fertility, crop planning and other important aspects of community supported agriculture.  It’ll also help us build all-important networks with other growing groups.

Advice

The event’s being organised by Ben Raskin, the Soil Association’s learning manager and horticultural advisor, with the financial backing of the Making Local Food Work project.  Ben says:

“The idea is to put growing groups with similar aims into mentoring groups where they can get help and advice.

 

“There’s been a massive response to these mentoring events from Cornwall and Gloucestershire in particular, which is fantastic. We’ve had to turn people away from next week’s session at St Kew Highway and there is a waiting list of 10.

Cornwall is already playing a leading role in the Making Local Food Work programme led by the Plunkett Foundation.  As Jan Trefusis of the foundation says in a recent magazine article:

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

Tim Deane from Northwood Farm near Exeter in Devon, who founded the UK’s first organised vegetable box scheme, will share 30 years’ experience of crop planning, labour and machinery needs at the event.  

Dedicated

Camel Community Supported Agriculture’s own team of expert growers – Jeremy Brown, Jane Mellowship and Mark Norman – will describe the ups and down of the initial six months of our own local food project.

The initiative to grow our own food and to share the risks and rewards would never have got off the ground without their combined skills and dedication.  They’ve willingly devoted many hours of unpaid work to what’s often been an uphill task.

Jeremy, Jane and Mark have been brilliant; there’s no other way of putting it.  Camel CSA members owe them a big debt.  We cannot thank them enough.

• See and hear what our expert growers have to say on Camel CSA’s latest video – Our first harvest

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.

A great display of showmanship

Camel Community Supported Agriculture’s stand in the Food and Farming Pavilion at the Royal Cornwall Show has attracted a great deal of interest. 

Countless visitors have stopped to chat and to find out more about our community food growing project, which is the first of its kind  in Cornwall.

They have admired Antonina’s fresh and original design and Jane’s bountiful display of plants in boxes.  Everyone has been really impressed with the beautiful peas, the vast courgette plant, the kohl rabi, broad beans, mint and parsley as well as the marigolds, nasturtiums and cornflowers. 

Lots of people have wanted to touch the peapods.  Small children were tempted to pick and eat them! 

We have fielded all kinds of questions and dealt with a variety of comments, as Antonina explains: -  

Courgette plant - are the spots dangerous?
Are the peas a certain kind?
How do you deal with black fly on broad beans?  Is it best to plant broad beans in autumn or spring?
How do you cook kohl rabi?
Why are the beetroot sooo big?
Why is the cauliflower pink?
Can I pick some of the mint to go in my salad?
Why not grow this and that?
I grow mine like this and that….!!! 

We have sold a large number of freshly-picked mixed salad bags.  The National Trust chef incorporated several of our salad packs in a cookery demonstration and has ordered several more to use on the third and final day.

Camel CSA has been making its presence felt at the show courtesy of the Plunkett Foundation and the Soil Association, who are prime movers in the Making Local Food Work initiative. 

We have been sharing the stand with the newly-formed West Penwith Community Supported Agriculture project and we wish them the very best in their new venture.

We have one more day at the show before our first Open Day on Sunday – Open Farm Sunday.  Watch this space.

We’re open for business

We have a hectic week ahead of us as Camel Community Supported Agriculture members prepare for the Royal Cornwall Show and our first Open Day.

Visitors to the show and the Open Day will be able to talk to our enthusiastic volunteers, find out what we’re growing, and discover the benefits of getting involved in our community food growing venture. 

You will find our stand in the show’s popular Cornwall Food and Farming Pavilion from Thursday 4 June to Saturday 6 June.  Make sure you come and visit us there.

We will be selling freshly-picked salad packs and signing up new members to our local food project - the first of its kind in Cornwall. 

We are sharing the stand with the  Soil Association, which has just helped to set up the new West Penwith Community Supported Agriculture project.  We are also there thanks to the Plunkett Foundation, which manages the  Making Local Food Work campaign.

The next day, on Sunday 7  June, we are holding a series of Open Farm Sunday events between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. including guided tours of the site at St Kew Highway near Wadebridge.

There will be family activities and all-day refreshments including homemade cakes and cold drinks, with a barbeque from 12 noon – 2 p.m.  You are welcome to bring your own picnic.

Schedule of events: -
11:30    Guided tour
12:00    Making bee nests, planting lettuces
12:30    Sheep shearing demonstration
13:00    Scarecrow making
13:30    Guided tour
14:00    Making bee nests, planting lettuces
14:30    Sheep shearing demonstration
15:00    Scarecrow making
15:30    Guided tour

 If you are a member and are able to help out, please get in touch.

Click here for directions to Camel Community Supported Agriculture’s site at St Kew Highway.

Click here to view our entry on the Open Farm Sunday website and details of LEAF (Linking Environment And Farming), the national charity that helps bring farmers and consumers together.