We Earthlets have been busy these past weeks. In response to people struggling to access fresh food during lockdown, we hatched a plan with Port Eliot Festival Co-Founder turned regenerative farming activist Cathy St Germans and created a simple database that will help people connect with their local farmers. We see a huge opportunity for food system change far beyond the current crisis: swathes of people have signed up for veg boxes over the past few weeks and we really hope that newfound connection between farmers and people will stick. Once you've had a muddy potato, you'll never go back.
And so, we’re delighted to share with you the Farms to Feed Us UK-wide database which highlights the small-scale food producers near you who will be able to supply you with fresh produce in coming weeks. Farmers and small scale suppliers are out there waiting to bring you delicious food straight from a resilient food and farming network that is still flowing.
Many of the producers on the database exclusively supplied restaurants and have had to completely redesign their business to adapt to the changing situation during the crisis, and this database is their route to market. This database gives you details on who can provide you with well produced food grown locally on a small and sustainable scale, and also support those on the other front-line: our farmers, growers and fishers who are working harder than ever to keep us fed.
The database is growing every day as we gather new information, and as more and more farms and producers sign up, so please check back regularly. It’s designed to be lo-fi so you can print it off and write on it, for those neighbours and relatives who may not use the internet or social media, and we also have a website version in the pipeline, to follow in the next few weeks. This is a work in progress and we would like your feedback on what works and what doesn't, and what else you need.
This is our opportunity to help change a broken food system and create a sustainable supply chain. Our nations food sovereignty matters now more than ever before.
Please share our database with those who need it. This is an open source document designed to be shared, printed, used. Pass it on.
If you are a farmer grower dairy bakery winemaker fisher and would like to list your business, submit the details here.
Cathy St Germans (Regen Ag Gatherings), Sophie Chatz (Earthly), Catherine Chong, Tom Chatfield, Paul Chalmers, Abby Rose (Vidacycle/Farmerama) and Katy Severson.
THANK YOU, from the bottom of our hearts, to our supporters including Thomasina Miers, chef, writer and co-founder of Wahaca and Blanche Vaughan writer and Food Editor (House and Garden. The Oxford Real Farming Conference, The Biodynamic Association, Pasture for Life, Nature Friendly Farming Network and more have been reaching out to their communities and networks for us.
The logo fills us with joy. You might notice it's not your average. It was drawn and painted by wonderful writer and artist, Brian Selznick @thebrianselznick best known as the writer of The Invention of Hugo Cabret (2007) The Marvels (2015) and Wonderstruck (2011).
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