Making Local Food Work

05•01•2010

The objective of of Making Local Food Work, an initiative managed by the Plunkett Foundation and funded by the Big Lottery Fund, is to explore community enterprise approaches to connecting land and people through food.

It's first newsletter of 2010 is copied below.

Introduction

Welcome to the first Making Local Food Work newsletter of 2010, which aims to bring you up-to-date with the goings-on of this diverse programme. There are a number of training events under the Community Supported Agriculture strand and a Co-operatives Forum in February. Weve also highlighted some of the Making Local Food Work projects including the Canalside Community Food and a buying group co-operative successfully operating in Leeds, at Headingley Fowl and Pig Co-op. We have also seen the launch of the new Simply Legal information guide and telephone helpline, aimed at food co-operatives and business enterprises, making available much needed support for social enterprises on governance and legal and structural matters.

We hope this gives you an inspiring start to the year and heres to everyone involved in Making Local Food Work 2010 and beyond.

Diary Events

Food Co-operatives Forum - 12 February 2010 Co-operativesUK would like to invite you to the Food Co-operatives Forum. This event is being run by the membership team and Making Local Food Work project workers and will be held at the Birmingham Midlands Institute on the 12th February 2010. The day will be chaired by Kath Dalmeny from Sustain who will share the key note speaking with Ed Mayo, Secretary General of Co-operativesUK. This networking event will include workshops and case studies enabling attendees to share best practice and embrace the co-operative principle of co-operation among co-operatives. This is a free event and the day will run from 10.30 to 4.30 with lunch supplied by the Warehouse Café, a vegetarian and vegan café based at Friends of the Earth. For further information about the day and the Making Local Food Work project please contact Zena King, our Legal and Project Support Officer: 0161 246 2953 or email zena.king@cooperatives-uk.coop.

Community Supported Agriculture training:

Making Local food Work training events are free for Community Supported Agriculture groups and practitioners and include lunch and refreshments. Please note these are popular and to secure a place booking is essential.

CSA horticultural mentoring - 11 January 2010 11am - 3pm at Harbarrow and Metherell Agricultural Society, near Callington, Cornwall

Tim Deane will be providing advice on rotations, fertility building, crop planning and growing a wide variety of produce for weekly CSA 'shares'. Please state when booking if there are other areas of organic horticultural production you would like to be covered on the day.

Contact: Traci Lewis on tlewis@soilassociation.org. To book a place on either of the horticultural mentoring events in Cornwall. Including your name, address and contact number. They are both free of charge and refreshments are provided.

Marketing for CSAs 23 January 2010
10am - 4pm at Tiger 11 Community Centre, Beeston, Leeds, LS11 8ND

This workshop will be led by Rob Greenland who says that Social Business Consulting Marketing is all about building relationships; it doesn't have to be complicated, and it needn't involve spending loads of money, but you do need to think things through. Monkey Business takes you through a step-by-step plan for marketing your local food business. We take you back to basics - asking you to think about what it is you offer, who you want to offer it to, and what they'll get out of it. Thinking those things through will help you to come up with some key messages - and then (and only then) you can think about what's often called 'marketing' e.g. websites, flyers, PR, word of mouth recommendations etc. With lots of other people running similar businesses at the workshop, we're sure that you'll leave with plenty of good, achievable ideas for building long-lasting relationships with your CSA members.
To book a place please contact Kirstin Glendinning on kglendinning@soilassociation.org or visit www.socialbusinessconsulting.co.uk

CSA Horticultural Mentoring - 27 January 2010 North East Organic Growers, West Sleekburn Farm, Bedlington NE22 For more information and to book a place email lnunn@soilassociation.org

Getting your CSA finances straight - 25 February 2010 10.00-4.00pm at Reading International Solidarity Centre, 35-39 London Street, Reading RG1 4PS

This full day will cover tools and terms for managing your CSA's finances including an introduction to financial jargon; margin/ net profit/ gross profit, budgeting, cash flow and profit and loss templates, financial control, basic book-keeping and accounting and a look at production costs. No previous financial management experience is needed. There will also be time for networking.
For more information and to book a place, contact Lisa Nunn lnunn@soilassociation.org

Building Community and Community Supported Agriculture Administration
27 February 2010 from 10am - 4pm at The Guild of Makers, Sheffield

Led by local food consultant Nick Weir of Stroud Community Agriculture, StroudCo, f3 this workshop will look at: How to run effective CSA meetings, How to communicate with the whole CSA membership, Administration systems for running a CSA smoothly, Additional social activities to help build community in you CSA.

To book a place please contact Kirstin Glendinning on kglendinning@soilassociation.org

CSA Training and networking day - 18 March 2010 10.00-4.00pm Emerson College, Forest Row, East Sussex

This day is for Community Supported Agriculture projects who don't yet have a business plan. It will help you to clarify your aims, objectives and priorities and to help you start to form a realistic plan from your group's various enthusiasms. There will be time for networking and a brief farm walk at the inspirational CSA, Tablehurst Farm. To book a place email Lisa Nunn, email: lnunn@soilassociation.org.

Crop planning, pig and poultry-keeping
27 March, 2010, from 10am - 4pm at Loxley Valley Community Farm, Sheffield

This workshop will look at three main topics:
Crop planning for CSAs, Rearing organic hens, Rearing pigs for pork The day will involve some practical activities, so please bring appropriate clothing and footwear.
To book a place, please contact Kirstin Glendinning on kglendinning@soilassociation.org

Community Supported Agriculture

Community Supported Agriculture enables people to come together to buy food in bulk directly from food suppliers and growers. Groups can be formed by anyone with the need or desire to purchase healthy, locally sourced food at affordable prices. Examples of a groups might be a residents association or a group of parents who between them can see the benefits of coming together to purchase food from a local producer instead of the visiting a supermarket. Through Making Local Food Work, Sustain, the alliance for better food and farming and other organisations, has developed a range of information and resources including toolkits, educational leaflets and marketing materials to help groups of people to set-up food co-ops or to build on the success of existing ones.

Project: Canalside Community Food, Warwickshire
Members: Over 100

This is seven acres of land dedicated to growing vegetables and includes a forest garden planted for the production of nuts and top fruit. This CSA is a great example of how local landowners and members of the community have joined, to provide locally produced sustainable food, at prices people can afford.

In 2002 owners Tom and Caz Ingall returned to the family farm following a number of years working overseas. Determined to use the land with the highest degree of environmental and social responsibility, they decided that Community Supported Agriculture would be the best way to go about doing this. Three years on, the Community Supported Agriculture project was developed and involved supplying organic vegetables to over 100 of its? members, with an impressive financial turnover. Surplus produce is sold through local shops or donated to free food schemes. There is a food share collection point which is also a place for various social activities and where other local producers sell their produce such as meat, eggs and vegetables. Amy Footer, a workshare volunteer on the project said: ?Being part of Workshare linked to this project enabled me to meet new people and to really feel part of the community. I get so much satisfaction from being part of the project and from doing this type of work. It has also enabled me to afford fresh and healthy produce on my part-time income, which I may otherwise not be able to afford.

For more information on Canalside Community Food contact Tom Ingalls on 07916 175191.

Food Co-op / Buying Group

Project: Headingley Fowl and Pig Co-op, Leeds, Yorkshire

This is a buying group led by residents who wanted to purchase organic meat from a local farm at Swillngton in Leeds. By being part of the group members pay a subscription fee, in return for a proportional share of meat produced on the farm. The benefits of this are that it guarantees the provenance, quality and animal welfare of the meat and guarantees the farmer a fair price for his/her produce. The Headingley meat co-ops shows how easy it is for a group of friends or neighbours to join together and to buy food directly from the farmer. It?s a simple way to guarantee where your food comes from and to influence how much it costs and provides mutual benefits for the farmer and the consumer.

Founded in 2008, the fowl and pig co-ops were set-up as pilots with the support and assistance from Making Local Food Work. Following the success of these, they were rolled-out to other community members. This buying group demonstrates the benefits of co-operative buying groups and of the beneficial links that can be formed between producers and consumers within a community.

Jo Cartwright, of Swillington Farm said: The Fowl and Pig Co-ops add stability to my business and allows for much better planning and forecasting. In practical terms it means that I can pay the feed bill when it comes in and I have in return a more sustainable business. I would highly recommend it.

For further information contact: Helen Seymour, at Co-operatives UK on telephone 0161 246 2921.

Good governance and support for your food social enterprise

Making Local Food Work wants to encourage people to take control of their food and where it comes from, and by 2012, aims to have of supported 650 community food enterprises to increase awareness and access of local food for a million people. To achieve this, Making Local Food Work wants to ensure that you have access to specialist enterprise support and that you understand how important good governance is to the long-term viability of your community enterprise. To further show this commitment, Co-operativesUK have launched Simply Legal, the information guide and telephone helpline designed to guide and assist community enterprises on legal and organisational structures. As well as good governance, Making Local Food Work provides specialist support to community owned food enterprises, by assisting them to promote local food and to grow a business that is sustainable and also prosperous. It also gives community-owned enterprises access to Skillshare, a mentoring programme providing long term support once their enterprise is up and running, or, to maintain an ongoing support for food enterprises that have been operating for any length of time.

Ed Mayo, Secretary General of Co-operatives UK says: 2009 has been a record year for local food. We have seen more and more initiatives become fully-fledged enterprises, from inner city food co-operatives and farmers markets through to rural community-owned shops and community supported agriculture. Our Making Local Food Work programme is designed to help them on that journey.

Simply Legal is part of a comprehensive package of support and advice which is provided to new and emerging community food enterprises throughout England. The telephone helpline number is 0161 246 2907. The 2nd edition of Simply Legal can be downloaded.

Best wishes

Making Local Food Work