Home Page - Our Food Trust

Our approach: mission led action.

The key to our approach is demonstrating substantial action on the ground in one place, and participating in the national food policy discussion on this basis. We think demonstrating new approaches is the most effective way to change the agenda nationally.

We see that already happening. When Powys County Council and Bannau Brycheiniog National Park changed planning guidance on our initiative, enabling provision of housing for new agricultural enterprises, the idea spread quickly across Wales.

Doing things teaches us the way forward. For example, it has led us to working with a housing association to build new affordable farms. No-one had ever thought of doing that (including ourselves) until we actually started building farms and realised what the real barriers are.

Our projects

AFFORDABLE FARMS

We are facilitating the development of new affordable farms. Three have been built so far as a pilot at Sarn to test the concept. Now we are working on 30 more through the agency of ClwydAlyn Housing Association, to define a financially sustainable model for the future.

Sarn Farms pilot

NEW MARKETS

To protect our environment and ensure our future food security, we must help new agroecological farms to thrive and also support diversification on existing farms by initiating channels to new markets. We are facilitating a new supply chain into Birmingham, while other organisations are developing local market channels within our region.

NEW FARMERS

We need to ensure a flow of experienced growers to produce food for the region. Black Mountains College, situated within our region, provides agroecological horticulture education and are working to develop a pathway for graduates into new affordable farms. We are also engaging with key Welsh Government support bodies on this, including Farming Connect and Lantra.

Black Mountains College

FOOD SECURITY MISSION

We are leading the development of a Food Security Mission in Powys and Bannau Brycheiniog National Park.

Our Food Security Mission

POLICY PROPOSALS

We are advancing two policy ideas emerging from our work: the need to address the inexorable growth of food poverty as a result of food insecurity, and the need to “feed the cities” through rural-urban collaboration. The BBC has featured our work.

BBC: Can the UK feed itself in a crisis?

Our Food Our Future: new entrants describe the challenges they face when trying to start

The challenges we face

Growing food poverty

Food prices are rising inexorably as a result of escalating economic inequality and this is driving food poverty ever deeper. The global food supply chains we rely on are being undermined by climate change, political and economic instability and war. These create sudden price rises.

Carbon emissions

Food and drink consumption has been found to be the biggest driver of carbon emissions in our National Park, nearly 50% more than either home energy or vehicle fuel.

Water pollution

Pollution driven by current farming policy and economic incentives is killing our rivers.

Access to land

There are currently few incentives for landowners to grow fruit and veg for the local economy. Meanwhile those who want to start farming cannot access land - it is too expensive (and getting more expensive as economic inequality grows) and there is no housing.

Farming under pressure

Existing farming is under incredible pressure, driven by climate change and low prices forced by global supply chains controlled by just a handful of powerful transnational food giants.