Vegging In Stroud

CSA farmer Mark

Many years ago as a student at a very traditional agricultural college, I went to an meeting of an organic group somewhere near Cirencester. This was in a time when organic farming was most definitely not considered real farming, but also when I had been working on a farm that had been hit by the lead in milk scandal where contaminated feed meant pints of milk had to be tipped down the drain, calves couldn't be sold and a group of farmers in the South West suffered badly through no fault of their own. As a naive youngster I could not understand how you could feed concentrates to an animal and not know what was in the bag, There seemed to be no thought that it would have a direct link to the food that you were eating. The meeting was my first realisation that farming did not have to be as prescribed by ADAS and a more sustainable future was the vision of a group of mainly young enthusiastic farmers and growers. It was also the first farmer meeting that I had been to that had lots of women and even tiny babies. People in the room were not waiting for their lunch and dozing in their chairs, but were buzzing with energy and ideas.
After leaving college I worked with Helen Browning who started to convert her farm from a successful intensive barley farm where her Dad had make serious money to a risky mixed organic set up with livestock enterprises that had no market. Not good business idea but a vision that luckily did stack up and although the farm has had to get a lot more focused and efficient, one that is still successful today. The first years of the organic vision were full of bold decisions and having a go to see if it worked. Some of the people have dropped by the wayside but many of the first new pioneers in the early 1990's before organic conversion grants are still surviving.
This type of farming was a natural home for me, not being concerned for figures but recognising a system that gave us an opportunity to farm by taking risks and connecting with the consumer. It has been great, but the supermarket dominance has hit the organic sector, driving down prices and changing people's perceptions. In the last year organic poultry sales are down 40%,(ours are not that bad thankfully) and increasing regulation in the food industry have driven our costs up.
So what next? Now old and cynical I have been enthused with my visits to CSA's in America where having no subsidy support has given a hunger to make something work. In the UK many CSA's are starting and a lot have had very considerable support from local food grants and other agencies.
Yesterday I went to Hawkswood College to Stroud CSA to an event run by the Soil Association, There was no babies but again that same enthusiasm for something new that made me feel CSA's definitely have a future.
It was a great lunch, well presented talks and a visit to the farm. It gave me a chance to learn about Teikei (CSA) from a visiting group of Japanese farmers. One farmer was growing 1 acre of veg and 2 acres of rice as a Teikei. His produce was delivered by the very efficient Japanese delivery systems up to an hour from his farm and as bought mainly on taste and quality. He had the same concerns: was there anything for the children that wanted to farm, consumers in a recession and price of land. Teikei is well established in Japan and has been going since 1970's with now over 1000 farms.
We also learnt how the Stroud CSA, that started in 2002, worked and that it is making a small profit each year even after paying a reasonable wage to the 2 growers (Better than most 4o acre farms).
We discussed lots of different options for financing and legal structures. Luckily the Soil Association have done the ground work and have a project officers, funded by the lottery, that will help setting up schemes and will provide templates for membership and finances. These are all available on the Soil Association Website, but if you were contemplating a CSA I would recommend a help from the very professional and enthusiastic Kirstin or Jade that seem to be the kind of girls that would make things happen.

And the main thing I learned, CSA's are all different and its a completely vague term that can cover all sorts of project and definitely not just organic, but the aims are to provide a fair return and secure market for farmers, even the most hardened conventional farmer wouldn't disagree with that.
Cattle for meat sales at CSA