Are great things happening on a farm near you?

It looks like the government’s ‘cheap food at any cost’ policy will not change, (despite the National Food Strategy), and we may follow the USA where 40% of food is wasted and the food system is effectively bankrupting the health system through increased food related disease.

Luckily a farm near you may be helping buck this trend and love to build a mutually beneficial relationship with you. Interested? Read on….

Unfortunately the UK food industry has gone so far in the wrong direction, some radical changes are required.

Covid19 is radical and has helped raise awareness to the problems in the food industry and increased what we at BigBarn see as the most important factor ‘Enlightenment’. Many people have had more time at home and realised that cooking is actually quite easy and fun, and that they can make cheap, healthy, meals using fresh local ingredients.

We hoped this change could be capitalised on by government but instead see that the Eat-out-to-help-out scheme has cost £180m so far and encouraged people to buy unhealthy meals and probably increase obesity and food related disease.

At the moment UK farmers are between the EU food policy, the, in progress, National Food Strategy, post Covid changes, and Brexit. And it looks like the government seem more focused on the short term economy and job creation than the health of the food system and country.

They seem more likely to allow cheap imported food, that is illegal to produce in this country, than put a duty on substandard foreign goods and use the funds to help UK farmers produce healthy food for local people, and the environment.

Luckily some farmers are switching to growing real food and caring for the environment instead of growing commodities for world markets. To be viable they need direct trade with local people and why we started BigBarn 20 years ago.

Direct trade instead of food from supermarkets where roughly 80p in every £1 we spend on food goes to middle men processors and the retailer.

The mutually beneficial relationship we mentioned is what is needed for direct trade to continue. Over the coming months we will be inviting farmers to tell their story, including those that are already engaging their local food community, and others as they transition to farming with nature and produce food for local people and effectively build a more sustainable, inclusive, resilient, local food community.

In the short term please switch to buying local now using our Local Food Map and MarketPlace to see who is in your area. And perhaps talk to your local farmers about building your local food community. For our blog on how to fix the food industry click here Or our latest about us video here;