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Keep in touch with the Food Alliance Blog - sign up here Follow on Instagram here, Facebook here Here's where you can see what's happening for good local food in Herefordshire. From local food events, through farming to food waste - we use the Sustainable Food Places topics so you can see the things you're interested in at a glance. Click on each one for more information or scroll down the most recent. Contact us to tell us what's going on in your part of the County and sign the food charter to add your voice! |
We are delighted to annouce that Herefordshire Food Alliance has been awarded Awards for All funding from the National Lottery to fund our Farm Link - Feasts on the Farm project. Hurrah!
We were delighted to attend the Sustainable Food Places Day of Action and Celebration in London last week. In attendance were 60 food partnership and community reps, 45 MPs, 19 people representing 8 food and farming NGOs (including SFP programme partners) and 2 civil servants. All in all a successful event for strengthening our network’s public affairs and advocacy voice and visibility.
Congratulations to the fantastic team behind the film, "Six Inches of Soil". They have been nominated for the BBC Food and Farming Awards Digital Creator" Award.
Hopefully you managed to get to one of the ten screeenings of the film that the Alliance organised throughout the county. The announcemnet will be made at the awards in Bristol on 18th November... watch this space.
The team are currently exploring regenerative dairy. Hear all about it on their podcast..
A huge thank you to Mark and Kitty and the team at Perrystone Farm for allowing us to bring the years 5 and 6 from Fownhope Primary school on 7th July.
Sustainable Food Places, of which we are a member, have released a report that showcases how food partnerships are tackling the climate crisis.
Over the last two years, in 12 assemblies and now in community led conversations all around the UK, FFCC has brought together a diverse and representative group of people from all backgrounds, in a ‘gold standard’ process, to ask them: “So, what do we really want from food?”. Your voices have been heard too. Herefordshire citizens fed in through an HFA hosted Food Conversation back in Summer 2024 with Ledbury Food Group at Burgage Hall, Ledbury as well as in Bromyard last Autumn. Blog post here on Ledbury conversation.
Herefordshire Food Alliance is part of The Marches Partnership which is a partnership with Powys, Monmothshire, Shropshire that seeks to create a food system for the Marches fit for future generations. We need your help with a bit of market research!...please share this with your networks. !
Herefordshire have produced the first draft of a county wide nature recovery map – and now they want your input.
As part of the national strategy for encouraging nature recovery all counties in England are currently producing maps showing the existing nature assets, corridors and stepping stones for nature and trying to identify land that has potential for nature recovery.
Burgage Hall in Ledbury was packed this Monday 27th January when over 90 people came to see our Ledbury showing of Six Inches of Soil.
We were treated to a feast of local food, featuring vegetables and produce from Little Marcle Organic Produce, Growing Local, The Handmade Scotch Egg Company and The Fold Veg Shed. Followed by a brilliant Q&A with James Marsden (Gregg's Pit Cider and Chair of Herefordshire Climate and Nature Partnership Board), Joshua Davenport (Little Marcle Organic Produce), Harvey Clay (Showle Dairy) and Ed Godsall (Mixed arable farm and agritourism) and chaired by Patrick Wrixon - North West Herefordshire Farmer and chair of the NFU Members Association in the county and founder and chairman of The Cart Shed charity.
Join Ledbury Food Group for Ledbury’s Celebration of Breakfast over the weekend of Friday 31st January, Saturday 1st and Sunday 2nd February – the 13th Ledbury Big Breakfast
17 local venues in and around Ledbury are taking part on one or more days in this event organised by Ledbury Food Group to celebrate our local food and drink producers and retailers and a healthy breakfast. The event takes place at cafes, pubs, hotels, butchers and delis in and around Ledbury.
We are recruiting! (Please note that this is a re-advertisement, deadline now 15th Jan 2025 and is based in Herefordshire)
Herefordshire Food Alliance, connector of all things food in Herefordshire, is recruiting a coordinator.
The Alliance is a broad network, instigating projects of its own (such as film showings, gleaning events, food conversations, good food database) and supporting other activity in the county towards good food - that supports people, nature and communities. The county has achieved a Bronze ‘Sustainable Food Places’ Award and the Alliance supports and shares information that will lead towards a Silver award in the next year.
Our Steering member Christine Hope was championing Herefordshire, sustainability and Small Business at the House of Lords recently!
Christine runs Hopes of Longtown, village shop and much more! Here's what the Sustainability Lead of BT Group, funding sustainability webinars for small businesses said...
From Growing Local:
The Southside Farm, Hereford. Full Time – March to October 2025 £25,500pa
We have a new position within our team for an ASSISTANT GROWER to support our head grower in cultivating multi crop vegetables for our veg box scheme and wholesale customers.
This is an exciting, challenging and rewarding opportunity to support all aspects of running a commercial community supported agriculture (CSA) market garden in its infancy.
We are looking for someone who thrives on outdoor physically demanding but rewarding work, can work to deadlines and is practical and willing to work and learn as part of a team. Previous experience is desirable but not necessary. However strong motivation, fitness and a commitment to work the whole growing season are.
Event from Cambridge Global Food Security, University of Cambridge
"Ultra processed foods (UPFs) are increasingly identified as a key driver of the global obesity crisis that is threatening many of millions of lives.
So why do we consume UPFs in such huge quantities? Can we feed the world’s population sustainably without them? Could they be a necessary evil?
Ultraprocessed Foods (UPFs) exist thanks to industrial processes and international long-haul transport, which favour homogenous, uniformly packaged, ready-to-eat, long-life foodstuffs. Good for global supply chains and ‘big food’, but perhaps less than optimal for human health.
Our panel of leading experts including Dr Chris van Tulleken, author of Ultra-Processed People and Baroness Walmsley, Chair of the House of Lords Committee on Food, Diet and Obesity, will discuss:
We were absolutely delighted for our coordinator to have represented the whole Herefordshire Food Alliance, and met both our Herefordshire MPs today at parliament. We were part of a Sustainable Food Places day of Celebration and Action.
It feels great to have their support and interest both locally and at a national level to grow a good food movement! We talked about the steps we can take together around hospital procurement, building positive communication together amongst everyone on Herefordshire and about taking action towards what we want - more good food in Herefordshire!
Almeley Village Hall was packed to the rafters on Monday as our Six Inches of Soil Roadshow continues! We paired up with Almeley Green Group this time for what was a brilliant example of a whole community getting together in celebration of the food and farming that is on their doorstep, from the community lunch during the day right to the mammoth washing up session at the end! The Green Group have a number of priorities - working around Energy, Nature, Waste, Water Quality and now Food! and meet monthly to talk through existing and future projects.
101 people from all over the North West Herefordshire community came to feast on local produce, see the film and hear from local farmers Colin Powell and Lucinda Lewis and Grapevine in Kington owner, Martin Peek.
...In good local food in Herefordshire right now?
If you're reading this, you're either interested in or working towards good local food in Herefordshire. Please help us build a brilliant picture of all that's going on so that we can celebrate it, support it and do more of it!
It will take a very small amount of time and we're happy to receive your thoughts in any way - a quick note+ contact details, a document you already have, or a link.
Here's the form! You may see it below or click the link.
VEG BOX CO-ORDINATOR, HEREFORD
Part Time – 20 hours/week
We have a new position within our team for a CO-ORDINATOR to support our growers in delivering our new veg box scheme and wholesale veg sales.
This is a varied and exciting job based in part at our garden in South Wye and part working at home. It is a fantastic opportunity to join our newly expanding community organisation. We are looking for someone with excellent organisational, IT and customer facing skills who can confidently work on their own initiative and help drive our business forward.
We are gearing up for our next showing of Six Inches of Soil as part of the Herefordshire Wildlife Trust's Apple Day Celebration at Queenswood Country Park Sunday 20th October. The whole day runs from 11am - 4pm with the film showing at 1pm - 3.30pm including Q&A with local farmer Rich Thomas who will give his reflections on the film and an insight into the joys and challenges of farming in Herefordshire.
Tickets for the film and Q&A are £7.50 and can be bought HERE on the Herefordshire Wildlife Trust's website.
We were concerned to read the news recently that nature-friendly farming support will potentially be cut in the next budget. Across the board - in policies relating to food access, farming, climate, rivers and more, nature-friendly farming has been recommended as a solution and as guidance in so many areas.
The Nature Friendly Farming Network, Pasture for Life and a number of other organisations are supporting this petition from the RSPB - we are also supporting it.
We have contacted the two Herefordshire MPs alerting them of both the issue and the petition, and will bring it up with them when we meet for the Parliamentary Day of Action being organised through Sustainable Food Places next month.
Our Six Inches of Soil project got off to a flying start in Bromyard last Friday 13th. The ominous date did not deter 120 people turning out to enjoy the film, food and Q&A.
A big thank you to our panel: Claire Howlett, Louise Manning and Andrew McRobb for providing such valuable insights, the audience for being so engaged, Legges for providing the food and finally to the awesome Conquest volunteers who helped make the night happen without any glitches, what a team!