5 Ways to Create a Food Community

Our community food scheme in Alconbury and Alconbury West is connecting the local school, growers, businesses and the village shop in order to make the villages more self-sufficient. It’s not an easy process and is certainly one that is taking time and effort, but hopefully the outcome will benefit everyone when local produce is in abundance. We want to build a child enthused, social, inclusive, sustainable, community led, local food industry as an alternative to the profit focused, anti-social national one. And surprisingly, it’s not that hard. If you’re considering creating a food community, then follow these initial 5 steps:

1. Consider your environment: Does your town have enough shops, schools and local businesses that could get involved? To make this work you need a food outlet that is willing to stock and sell all the local produce that’s being grown or produced (that might be your business) and you need to get other businesses involved to help spread the word. It’s about igniting that community spirit.

2. Get the whole community involved: Connect with the local schools and discuss the opportunity to get the kids growing their own. This scheme works from the ground up, so children’s participation is vital. Speak to families, allotment owners or local farmers about surplus produce they grow that could be sold in the local shops and work with them to reach out to the wider community. Chat to local producers (use the BigBarn map www.bigbarn.co.uk to discover those in your local area) that might wish to supply their products to the shop.

3. Devise a plan: Once you’ve created a network of businesses to work with, decide on a plan of action. Consider what can be grown and when things need planting, look into funding from the council or local businesses. Consider the volumes required and seasonal fluctuations. For example, how will you continue to create a good supply in the winter months when crops are less abundant? For more advice on growing and supply check out our Crop for the Shop scheme https://www.bigbarn.co.uk/aboutus/crop.php

4. Spread the word: To get as many individuals involved as possible requires word of mouth and publicity. Ring the local paper, radio station and TV channels, create a blog, newsletter or sign up to Twitter or Facebook to post about the scheme. The more you shout about it, the more people will want to get involved.

5. Start small, but think big: It’s important to remember that any community food scheme takes time to set up and get going. Some crops can take months to come to fruition, others years. Try to create achievable goals – such as this year we’ll sell local strawberries, potatoes, carrots and beets and do more next year – remember, it’s about getting more people growing and connecting with the growers that are already there. By uniting your community you are providing valuable opportunities for local businesses, giving children a chance to reconnect to their food and providing a new platform for self-sufficiency in the future.

For more advice on creating your own Community Food Scheme and to see what Anthony is doing in Alconbury and Alconbury West click here or call 01480 890970.