Banter 116: 22Apr26 Food Resilience, with Daphne Du Cros

Vulnerability in food supply, lack of seed resilience, heavy dependence on imported food. Steps to build food resilience at the community level, community seed banks, local food distribution networks

Video Timeline: Food Resilience 22APR26 (min:sec):

00:00 - 04:00 Introductions and reasons for being here

04:00 -48:14 Presentation

48:14 - 82:29 Q & A

Presentation: Food Resilience 22Apr26

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Du Cros Food Resilience 2026 GC.pdf

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Meeting Summary: Food Resilience 22Apr26

Apr 22, 2026 11:52 AM London ID: 834 5460 8536

Quick recap

This meeting was a discussion on food resilience led by Daphne Du Cros from the Shropshire Good Food Partnership. Daphne presented the current vulnerabilities in the UK's food system, including heavy dependence on imported food (40% overall, higher for horticultural produce), high levels of ultra-processed foods, and lack of seed resilience. She outlined eight steps for building food resilience at the community level, including getting people talking about the issue, assessing local assets and gaps, developing action plans, and building skills and capacity. The discussion covered practical examples like community seed banks, growing spaces, and local food distribution networks. Participants shared their experiences and challenges, including difficulties engaging town and parish councils on food resilience issues. The conversation also touched on regenerative agriculture, the impact of COVID-19 on local food systems, and potential collaboration between food partnerships and corporate entities.

Next steps

Andrew: Develop a questionnaire/process for local communities to assess and prioritize food resilience actions, based on the topics discussed.
Sue: Follow up with local contacts and/or Sustainable Food Places Network to check the status of the local food partnership and potential replacement of departed staff member.
Caroline: Drop a link to her TED talk on creating positive visions of local food systems in the chat for other participants.
Lynn: Contact Daphne (and possibly join her lunch with Janet) to discuss adapting the Eleanor Essex workbook or creating a separate resource to better address food and health issues for parish councils.
Michael Holton: Follow up with Daphne separately to discuss local food resilience initiatives in Shropshire and potential support/consultancy for the organization.
Daphne: Share presentation and additional resources (including those mentioned in passing) with Graham and participants after the meeting.

Summary

Food Resilience Discussion Meeting

Daphne led a discussion on food resilience, asking participants to share their motivations for attending. Several attendees, including Sue, Andrew, and Annie, expressed concerns about food security, climate change, and local food systems. Daphne introduced herself and her work with the Shropshire Good Food Partnership, highlighting the importance of community-based approaches to building food resilience. She mentioned the existence of 123 food partnerships across the UK through the Sustainable Food Places Network and encouraged attendees to connect with local initiatives.

Food Resilience Partnership Initiatives

Daphne presented on food resilience and the work of food partnerships across the network. She explained how food partnerships connect various organizations and work on policy, research, and supporting the local food economy through initiatives like the Shropshire Good Food Trail. Daphne highlighted the vulnerabilities in the UK's food system, including heavy dependence on ultra-processed foods and limited seed production resilience. She noted that while government awareness exists, action is not happening quickly enough, and food partnerships are filling the gap in the meantime.

Food Partnerships Community Resilience Strategy

Daphne discussed the role of food partnerships in building resilience within communities, highlighting the need for proactive communication and preparedness in the face of potential food system crises. She emphasized the importance of relying on communities and building capacity at the hyperlocal level to prevent panic and maintain social stability during crises. Daphne mentioned ongoing efforts by the Shropshire Good Food Partnership and the Sustainable Food Places Network to share knowledge and best practices across the UK, with Wales leading the way through the Future Generations Act.

Shropshire Food Resilience Initiatives

Daphne discussed food resilience initiatives in Shropshire, including pilot projects with local councils and the development of a food strategy. She outlined a step-by-step approach to building food resilience, starting with engaging communities in conversations about food security and running scenario planning exercises to prepare for potential crises like supply chain disruptions or disease outbreaks. Daphne emphasized the importance of mapping local assets and gaps, developing emergency response plans, and building community skills and capacity, while also addressing sustainable production practices in the region.

Food Resilience Collaboration Strategies

Daphne discussed the importance of collaboration between town and parish councils, food partnerships, and community organizations to address food resilience challenges. She highlighted the unique contributions each group brings, such as councils' policy levers and legitimacy, and food partnerships' network connections and local knowledge. Daphne emphasized the need to break down silos and think holistically about food systems, encouraging participants to assess their local community's food assets and resilience. She also shared insights from Shropshire's pilot project, which involved eight key steps to address food resilience, including community assemblies and building networks between urban and rural areas.

Community Food Resilience Initiatives

Daphne presented on community food resilience initiatives, sharing examples from Bishop's Castle including a community seed bank, training programs, and surplus food distribution through initiatives like Supersonic. She outlined various strategies for building food security including accessing publicly owned land through "The Right to Grow" initiative, establishing local farmer's markets, implementing gleaning networks, and developing community processing infrastructure. Daphne emphasized the importance of growing diverse, abundant crops with good storage potential and stressed the need for proactive community engagement rather than reactive preparation for food system challenges.

Food Resilience Community Engagement Strategies

Daphne presented on food resilience and community engagement, discussing challenges and opportunities for town and parish councils. She emphasized the importance of regenerative agriculture and peer-to-peer exchange among farmers. The group discussed strategies for engaging councils on food resilience, including highlighting vulnerable populations and connecting food issues to broader council priorities. Daphne suggested using resources like Tim Lang's report and the "Just-in-Time to Just-in-Case" document to make the case for food resilience. The group also explored ways to involve businesses and communities in local food initiatives, including corporate volunteering and converting lawns into productive gardens.

Food Resilience presentation 22Apr26 - Markdown copy:

Civil Food Resilience & Local Action

Dr Daphne Du Cros Shropshire Good Food Partnership

SGFP: How We Work & What We Do

SGFP: how we work & what we do
Where we can have impact: grassroots, local food resilience

Food Systems Approach

We take a food systems approach to transition – food is our magic tool.

Key Areas:

Partnership work
Policy & research
Local food economy
Land & climate
Education
Health & wellbeing
Advocacy

Working Across the Bioregional Scale

Place-based approach includes:

National engagement (policy & collaboration)
Regional networks
Local food partnerships
County councils
Town & parish councils
Businesses & organisations
Neighbourhoods & communities
Individual households / farms

Current Context: The Good News & The Bad News

Food system pressures increasing
Biodiversity loss & ecosystem collapse
Food shortages and supply risks
National Emergency Briefing context

Pathway to Acute Food System Crisis

Drivers include:

Cyber-attacks
Extreme weather events
Existing climate-related issues
International conflict
Food price / availability shocks
Existing societal vulnerabilities

➡️ These can escalate into acute food system crisis

Reframing Communications

Crisis + fear = destabilisation
Get comfortable with discomfort
Be proactive
Emphasise community & local leadership
“We are the ones we’ve been waiting for”

Civil Food Resilience Response

Coordinate civil food resilience cluster & policy work
Activate UK Sustainable Food Places network
Share knowledge regionally
“Feeding Resilience” initiatives
Support councils (backcasting & community labs)
Identify challenges & opportunities

Capacity Building Framework

Short Term

Scale up awareness & governance

Medium Term

Identify food needs (prioritise vulnerable groups)
Map food assets

Long Term

Build diverse infrastructure
Prepare operational plans

Ongoing Enablers

Upskill communities
Strengthen local food systems
Rebalance power towards communities

Working in Partnership

Reflect on pandemic lessons (trust)
Systems thinking: no silos
Whole-of-society approach
Communicate effectively
Build community
Identify vulnerable groups
Build skills & confidence
Assess assets and needs
Scenario planning (“what if?”)
Plan using local spaces

Delivery Model

Risk Assessment
- Shared understanding
- Strengths & priorities
Strategy & Plan
- Define actions
- Roles & responsibilities
- Communication plan
Practical Action
- Community food activities
- Stronger networks
- Urban–rural links

Case Study: Little Woodbatch

Community food resilience strategy
Growing together
Diverse permaculture systems
Seed bank & production
Upskilling courses
Diversification
Food bank links
Community chef pilot
Compost club pilot

Get Growing

The Right to Grow
Allotments & community gardens
- Waitlists & buddy systems
Land sharing with farms
Training (horticulture & food skills)
Knowledge sharing

Micro Infrastructure

Seed banks / libraries
Tool & machinery sharing
Library of things
Skills & knowledge sharing
Local markets
Garden shares
Gleaning networks
Transport systems
Processing, retail & storage development

Community Prepping

Community larders, pantries, freezers
Surplus sharing
Dry goods storage
Food banks
Rescue & redistribution
Water & energy systems

Decentralise: Relocalise

Build community infrastructure
Local routes to market & direct sales
Strengthen urban–rural linkages
Know your farmers
Increase diversity & storability
Support regenerative systems

Plan: Proactive & Responsive

Community mapping
Identify assets & hubs
Scenario planning & timelines
Define roles & protocols
Maintain hard copies
Ensure full participation

Resources

BareFood – The Food Resilience Game
Grain ETC Report (2025)
Tim Lang – Civil Food Resilience Report
Nourishing Britain (Nesta)
FFCC – Food Narrative Report
Sustain – Ammonia Map
Bridle et al. (2026) – Food Crisis Pathways
Landmatch England
The Right to Grow

Food Resilience banter session 116 - Audio-Transcript:

62 00:12:11.070 --> 00:12:29.279 Daphne Du Cros: Graham, if I may, since we're waiting for people to trickle in, it would be really interesting for me and my colleague, Katie, who's on the call as well, if people would… if there's anybody who wants to volunteer or kick it off to say what has made this

63 00:12:29.280 --> 00:12:38.319 Daphne Du Cros: particular subject, or this theme for a banter session of interest to you? Why… why have you signed up today, and why food resilience?

64 00:12:39.180 --> 00:12:40.509 Daphne Du Cros: I'd love to hear.

65 00:12:40.510 --> 00:12:43.359 Graham Stoddart-Stones-Great Collaboration, Bembridge: Looks like Sue was raising her hand. Off you go, Sue.

66 00:12:43.360 --> 00:12:54.899 Sue Burton Battle TC East Sussex: Oh, I will… oh, no, I… yes, well, I can straight away tell you why that is, apart from always interested in food and my…

67 00:12:55.000 --> 00:13:07.439 Sue Burton Battle TC East Sussex: diet and carbon footprint related to food and packaging and all that stuff. But then, having watched the people's, whatever it's now called, the people.

68 00:13:07.440 --> 00:13:08.950 Graham Stoddart-Stones-Great Collaboration, Bembridge: Briefing.

69 00:13:08.950 --> 00:13:10.760 Sue Burton Battle TC East Sussex: urgency Briefing.

70 00:13:11.340 --> 00:13:21.689 Sue Burton Battle TC East Sussex: And I watched the one about food, and they talked about, local and resilience, and I thought, I need to know more. That's me.

71 00:13:22.100 --> 00:13:35.419 Daphne Du Cros: Wonderful, good. And if… I'm going to run through a range of things, but… so do let me know if there's anything in particular that I haven't answered that you'd, that you'd like me to revisit at the end. Andrew, please.

72 00:13:35.420 --> 00:13:38.080 Andrew Maliphant, Great Collaboratiom: Sure, I discovered,

73 00:13:38.540 --> 00:13:44.989 Andrew Maliphant, Great Collaboratiom: by looking at the government's PREPARE campaign, which talks about all the things we might be thinking about in terms of

74 00:13:45.170 --> 00:13:52.589 Andrew Maliphant, Great Collaboratiom: There's a website presentation talking about emergency rooms of different kinds, weather, floods.

75 00:13:52.800 --> 00:14:02.189 Andrew Maliphant, Great Collaboratiom: power outages and so forth, and the one thing that wasn't there was food supply shortages. I'm thinking, well, of course, those can happen as some of these other emergencies.

76 00:14:02.390 --> 00:14:22.079 Andrew Maliphant, Great Collaboratiom: Then we had the experience a few weeks ago where the government had been given an intelligence briefing about the dangers of food security, which had been apparently suppressed, and the newspapers had to sort of dig it out of government through a Freedom of Information Act. So I'm thinking, actually, this is… this is, this is, you know, it's like the elephant in the room, isn't it? As far as government's concerned, it's not being acknowledged.

77 00:14:22.250 --> 00:14:29.110 Andrew Maliphant, Great Collaboratiom: Great to see that the National Lottery has started their Climate Action Fund this year. Their theme is about food security.

78 00:14:29.280 --> 00:14:41.570 Andrew Maliphant, Great Collaboratiom: So that's, you know, the word is spreading, but obviously, I had a good chat with Daphne earlier this week. We need to help the spread, but also, you know, what do people do… do locally? Absolutely.

79 00:14:42.200 --> 00:14:43.780 Andrew Maliphant, Great Collaboratiom: That's enough for me.

80 00:14:44.050 --> 00:14:46.899 Daphne Du Cros: Thanks, Andrew. Frank, it would be great to hear from you.

81 00:14:46.900 --> 00:14:56.490 frank deas Killearn: Thank you. I'm in a primarily rural area, so we've got a range of villages that come together. We recently lost

82 00:14:56.500 --> 00:15:13.100 frank deas Killearn: We recently lost a barn that was doing community-supported agriculture and trying to sell veg boxes, and we've got an egg food program that's also fallen by the wayside. So, it's trying to understand, as communities who are committed to climate action, what can we do?

83 00:15:13.100 --> 00:15:22.739 frank deas Killearn: There's a really good, healthy, local growing group that advises each other, swaps seedlings, does good things like that, but it's then trying to work out what happens in the rest of the process.

84 00:15:23.630 --> 00:15:27.169 frank deas Killearn: So, great pick-up tips from other people and learn what your thoughts are.

85 00:15:27.360 --> 00:15:27.960 Daphne Du Cros: Great.

86 00:15:28.930 --> 00:15:35.820 Graham Stoddart-Stones-Great Collaboration, Bembridge: Daphne, we're up to what I think is going to be as many as we're going to get, so if you'd love to start the ball rolling, thank you.

87 00:15:36.050 --> 00:15:37.470 Andrew Maliphant, Great Collaboratiom: And he's got a hand up, yeah.

88 00:15:37.470 --> 00:15:38.169 Graham Stoddart-Stones-Great Collaboration, Bembridge: Hope, right?

89 00:15:38.250 --> 00:15:55.310 Annie L , in Llanidloes, in Powys: Oh, just, you know, Brexit, climate change, monoculture, food supply, the war in Iran, how much food Britain imports, and, Tim Lang's videos have been really alarming and interesting.

90 00:15:55.400 --> 00:16:02.380 Annie L , in Llanidloes, in Powys: And Kat in Wales is doing a lot of organizing around this, which is really good. And,

91 00:16:02.510 --> 00:16:08.710 Annie L , in Llanidloes, in Powys: Yeah, I just am, like, motivated to organize locally in my kind of small market town.

92 00:16:09.140 --> 00:16:10.260 Daphne Du Cros: Wonderful.

93 00:16:10.800 --> 00:16:20.209 Daphne Du Cros: Yes, all of those little things, all of those hiccups, those tiny things. Can I go ahead and see the… the presentation that I've put up?

94 00:16:21.700 --> 00:16:22.300 Daphne Du Cros: Great.

95 00:16:22.690 --> 00:16:38.839 Daphne Du Cros: All right, well, hello everyone, thank you for joining. Yes, this certainly is a timely conversation, so I really appreciate you joining, and I hope that the People's Emergency Briefing will incentivize more people to

96 00:16:39.080 --> 00:16:43.179 Daphne Du Cros: To start asking these questions, and to engage with

97 00:16:43.180 --> 00:16:47.269 Daphne Du Cros: The what-ifs about food, and the what's next about food.

98 00:16:47.270 --> 00:17:06.920 Daphne Du Cros: So I'm Daphne Ducrox. I live in Shropshire, I'm from Canada originally. I moved over here to do a PhD in food policy many, many years ago, and was so shocked at the state of the food system that I hightailed it out of London to Shropshire and bought a small holding.

99 00:17:07.180 --> 00:17:23.009 Daphne Du Cros: Where we've run a market garden and have now transitioned to more of a community farm approach, where we engage with our community, and I'll talk a little bit more about that later, but the key thing being, how do we build resilience together?

100 00:17:23.349 --> 00:17:32.109 Daphne Du Cros: What I want to talk about is, my role at the Shropshire Good Food Partnership, and as I say, my colleague Katie is on the call as well.

101 00:17:32.480 --> 00:17:36.139 Daphne Du Cros: What is it that we do as a food partnership?

102 00:17:36.650 --> 00:17:55.999 Daphne Du Cros: I've included a map. We are not the only food partnership. There are 123 food partnerships across the UK through the Sustainable Food Places Network, so you may find that there is one in your neck of the woods. Please get in touch with them. Many of them are doing really great work in food resilience capacity building.

103 00:17:56.160 --> 00:18:05.469 Daphne Du Cros: So I'll speak to that, as well shortly, but I think that what we can do as food partnerships is offer a really place-based

104 00:18:05.830 --> 00:18:12.709 Daphne Du Cros: appropriate to context, and really plumbed-in, networked-in approach to food resilience.

105 00:18:12.870 --> 00:18:30.710 Daphne Du Cros: I have been supporting a group of food partnerships across this network to understand what they're doing in building food resilience. And I guess part of that is the context of where we are nationally. Food partnerships generally work

106 00:18:30.810 --> 00:18:47.040 Daphne Du Cros: across the food system. Don't let this image, you know, overwhelm you. What I wanted to do with this… this image, which is from a report from Corinna Hawks, this just shows that food has a superpower.

107 00:18:47.050 --> 00:18:54.199 Daphne Du Cros: Food connects to so many different places in our system that it's an incredible lever for systems change.

108 00:18:54.410 --> 00:19:01.920 Daphne Du Cros: It's, it's one of the few things that if we do some sort of intervention in one area, like

109 00:19:02.160 --> 00:19:18.820 Daphne Du Cros: teaching kids about food, we can see ripple effects across time and departments and sectors and space. We can have incredible impacts using food as a tool. So, I would encourage you, as the day goes on.

110 00:19:19.010 --> 00:19:31.420 Daphne Du Cros: Think about… think about food, and how it touches your life, and the things that you use to buy food, cook food, throw away food, and the different parts of the system that food touches in our lives.

111 00:19:31.830 --> 00:19:41.370 Daphne Du Cros: Within the Food Partnership, we do a lot of different kinds of work. We try to build networks within Shropshire and the marches.

112 00:19:41.530 --> 00:19:43.790 Daphne Du Cros: In different areas,

113 00:19:44.050 --> 00:19:51.530 Daphne Du Cros: within the food system, we have 400 members who do loads of different things. Those might be councils.

114 00:19:51.760 --> 00:20:04.350 Daphne Du Cros: Community organizations, community gardens, farms, farm clusters, academic institutions, schools, hospitality businesses, hotels, loads of different organizations.

115 00:20:04.350 --> 00:20:19.730 Daphne Du Cros: So we try to connect the dots across those, so nobody's working in isolation. We understand the web, and it's the web that connects us. We work on policy and advise in policy, we do research, we support our local food economy and make visible the

116 00:20:19.730 --> 00:20:21.809 Daphne Du Cros: Food sector in our area.

117 00:20:21.950 --> 00:20:27.660 Daphne Du Cros: We do that through something playful called the Shropshire Good Food Trail, which is a way of shining a light on

118 00:20:27.660 --> 00:20:45.190 Daphne Du Cros: as we say, the people who make, grow, sell, serve, and share good food. So we just… we want to tell the stories. And I think humans are storytelling creatures. We really need to be talking about the wonderful things in our area, get people understanding where their food comes from, and why it's important.

119 00:20:45.420 --> 00:20:52.079 Daphne Du Cros: And we engage across a number of spaces, is what I sort of want to get across here. So this is our food systems lens.

120 00:20:52.920 --> 00:20:58.170 Daphne Du Cros: And we also work at different scales, so we connect with

121 00:20:58.170 --> 00:21:05.940 Daphne Du Cros: on the microscale, individual farms, and then communities, town and parish councils, obviously Shropshire.

122 00:21:05.940 --> 00:21:30.189 Daphne Du Cros: We also work with our partners across the marches for a bioregional approach, and that's Herefordshire, Monmouthshire, and Powis. We'll talk more about Powis later, because they're doing absolutely incredible work, as Annie has said. And we also contribute to the national dialogue on food resilience, getting food farming, and sustainability into the national curriculum, and a number of different areas. So.

123 00:21:30.510 --> 00:21:33.100 Daphne Du Cros: The amazing thing about food is that it travels.

124 00:21:33.290 --> 00:21:50.700 Daphne Du Cros: we can tell the stories of what's happening in best practice in our communities, and we can share those at the national level. We can also take what's going on at the national level and distill it and tell people in our town and parish councils why this is relevant, what is happening, and we can support their work.

125 00:21:50.700 --> 00:21:54.479 Daphne Du Cros: Because this, this is a really interesting and emerging area.

126 00:21:55.660 --> 00:22:01.209 Daphne Du Cros: Which brings me to this part. What is our current food system context?

127 00:22:01.370 --> 00:22:10.440 Daphne Du Cros: again, Annie said, very rightly, that we are in a really vulnerable situation. Tim Lang's report.

128 00:22:10.440 --> 00:22:29.530 Daphne Du Cros: laid that out last year to underscore just how vulnerable we are within our food system, and the reports keep coming, in a number of different ways, from a number of different angles. Andrew mentioned the ecosystem collapse report that was suppressed by government, not a good look.

129 00:22:30.090 --> 00:22:42.820 Daphne Du Cros: the Food Farming and Countryside Commission released a really exceptional, community-engaged report from their food conversations about

130 00:22:42.890 --> 00:22:59.730 Daphne Du Cros: what people really want from our food system, and that was really intended to tackle the narratives, the false narratives of, oh, well, we couldn't possibly do that as government because people don't want the nanny state, and oh, but people want to eat chicken and chips in schools.

131 00:22:59.860 --> 00:23:11.540 Daphne Du Cros: And that really was… this report was used as a tool to say, no, people want regulation, we want you to help keep us healthy.

132 00:23:12.380 --> 00:23:29.850 Daphne Du Cros: And, another really interesting report was from Dolly Van Tulloken and Henry Dimbleby, which, I've put in the resource pack that will sort of go along with this afterwards, but that talked about just how heavily lobbied government has been, and to our detriment as citizens.

133 00:23:29.980 --> 00:23:43.219 Daphne Du Cros: Also, we've got a massively top-heavy centralized food system, corporatized food system, and there's a really excellent report on that. So there are a number of things at play

134 00:23:43.410 --> 00:24:00.199 Daphne Du Cros: and obviously geopolitical climate, not having recovered fully from the pandemic and the cost of living crisis. So, we are seeing more crisis events coming hard and fast and compounding.

135 00:24:00.300 --> 00:24:09.269 Daphne Du Cros: even above and beyond the sort of chronic condition of society that is, that is a lack of knowledge. It is…

136 00:24:09.410 --> 00:24:13.460 Daphne Du Cros: Socioeconomic deprivation, poor health.

137 00:24:13.610 --> 00:24:28.839 Daphne Du Cros: heavily… heavy dependence on ultra-processed foods. We are… in the UK, our diet is 50% ultra-processed food. Bumped that up to 67% for school meals. It's… it's a shocking situation. So, we…

138 00:24:28.840 --> 00:24:33.780 Daphne Du Cros: we are vulnerable. We don't, produce enough of our own food, we import 40%.

139 00:24:34.030 --> 00:24:35.689 Daphne Du Cros: And that's overall.

140 00:24:35.790 --> 00:24:46.059 Daphne Du Cros: That's a lot more when it comes to horticultural produce, fruit and veg, and the places that we get them from are going to be most heavily impacted by climate change.

141 00:24:46.080 --> 00:24:47.590 Daphne Du Cros: One of the…

142 00:24:47.610 --> 00:24:56.830 Daphne Du Cros: key things for my soapbox is we talk about food a lot, in terms of food resilience and crisis preparedness. What is

143 00:24:56.830 --> 00:25:10.440 Daphne Du Cros: really very rarely mentioned in that conversation is seed. So, seed resilience, seed that underpins our food system, be it the blade of grass, the, you know, the corn, that is grown.

144 00:25:11.760 --> 00:25:20.249 Daphne Du Cros: The… all of our horticultural produce, everything we eat comes from a seed, be it, you know, through something else, but…

145 00:25:20.480 --> 00:25:36.849 Daphne Du Cros: Directly or indirectly, we are incredibly vulnerable once it comes to seed production in the UK, and that's not an area that's getting enough research or focus, so I have been working with Sussex University on a project that will be fed back to DEFRA on how we feed back

146 00:25:36.850 --> 00:25:43.099 Daphne Du Cros: How we get more seed resilience built into our conversation about food system resilience.

147 00:25:44.150 --> 00:25:45.759 Daphne Du Cros: So, the…

148 00:25:46.080 --> 00:26:03.490 Daphne Du Cros: I said the good news and the bad news. That was the bad news. The good news is we have food partnerships that are doing a heck of a lot of work on this, and we've got a lot of research that's shining a light on the situation. So our food partnerships are working, as I say, across the UK, filling that sort of middle space.

149 00:26:03.490 --> 00:26:08.150 Daphne Du Cros: Government is not engaging with this in… a fast enough

150 00:26:08.250 --> 00:26:12.420 Daphne Du Cros: timeline. They aren't connecting the dots quickly enough.

151 00:26:12.710 --> 00:26:16.279 Daphne Du Cros: DEFRA is aware, but…

152 00:26:16.800 --> 00:26:30.170 Daphne Du Cros: the government is a big juggernaut, and it has a very difficult time responding quickly, mobilizing quickly. The Ministry of Defense is interested about food resilience from the perspective of social disruption.

153 00:26:30.400 --> 00:26:38.320 Daphne Du Cros: But we, as food… we as food partnerships have, essentially have…

154 00:26:38.930 --> 00:26:51.139 Daphne Du Cros: just as it happens, because we work in food spaces, within, as I say, a place-based context, we know our spaces, our landscapes, our networks, our key players, we have, in a sense.

155 00:26:51.530 --> 00:27:07.190 Daphne Du Cros: moved into the space that previously would have been the county agricultural offices in wartime. The only difference is, we aren't resourced by government, we aren't funded by government. Most of us are charities, CICs, some of us work within councils.

156 00:27:07.190 --> 00:27:16.209 Daphne Du Cros: So, we are creating this sort of middle ground space where we're a conduit, as I said, going from that… those small levels and… and…

157 00:27:16.210 --> 00:27:29.459 Daphne Du Cros: communicating between governments, academic institutions like our agricultural universities, which is another sort of middle ground player, and the bottom of the triangle, which is people. So…

158 00:27:30.310 --> 00:27:32.409 Daphne Du Cros: What are we trying to communicate?

159 00:27:32.600 --> 00:27:42.519 Daphne Du Cros: basically, things are a lot further along the road than we would like. We're on a knife edge, essentially, once it comes to our food system.

160 00:27:42.700 --> 00:27:55.379 Daphne Du Cros: the situation is getting more complicated by the day, and that was really highlighted, with America's invasion of Iran, because of fuel and fertilizer.

161 00:27:55.420 --> 00:28:12.030 Daphne Du Cros: A lot of people still don't understand, they will soon, but they don't yet understand the implications for the food system. Those are coming down the line. But that is only one example of a food system crisis. I talked about that ticking along, under the surface, chronic

162 00:28:12.280 --> 00:28:16.180 Daphne Du Cros: social situation. And that's essentially our Tinderbox.

163 00:28:16.450 --> 00:28:21.019 Daphne Du Cros: When people are disenfranchised, when they're vulnerable.

164 00:28:21.410 --> 00:28:26.490 Daphne Du Cros: Those are the ones who are disproportionately impacted when a crisis hits. And we have seen…

165 00:28:26.490 --> 00:28:49.770 Daphne Du Cros: different types of crises in the last few years. Obviously, we've all lived through the pandemic, but M&S getting hacked, co-op getting hacked, more Russian intervention and foreign intervention in political situations, extreme weather events, like drought last year, which reduced our grain harvests by 24%,

166 00:28:50.070 --> 00:28:52.570 Daphne Du Cros: These aren't just things that are happening elsewhere.

167 00:28:52.890 --> 00:28:53.920 Daphne Du Cros: And…

168 00:28:54.160 --> 00:29:10.939 Daphne Du Cros: International conflict being another one. So these acute events, which quite often don't happen in isolation, they're not solitary, they hit, they compound, or they ripple, that's when we get a bigger food system crisis. That's what we are moving into in real time now.

169 00:29:11.280 --> 00:29:19.540 Daphne Du Cros: So, again, thank you for being here, because this is crunch time. This is a really important moment to start putting our food system glasses on.

170 00:29:21.030 --> 00:29:23.249 Daphne Du Cros: A big reason for that is…

171 00:29:23.430 --> 00:29:42.030 Daphne Du Cros: we have a job, we have a role in communication. As Tim Lang says, the approach from central government has always been, don't spook the horses, but if we communicate from whatever roles you have, whatever positions of influence you have, if we communicate clearly.

172 00:29:42.250 --> 00:29:48.289 Daphne Du Cros: And we set up structures to build people's preparedness and confidence

173 00:29:48.390 --> 00:30:00.029 Daphne Du Cros: We can help people get more comfortable with discomfort. By being proactive, we can build confidence, because what is not being said in a lot of these conversations is.

174 00:30:00.360 --> 00:30:08.960 Daphne Du Cros: That a crisis situation makes people anxious, anxious people panic, and then we have social instability. And that's unpredictable.

175 00:30:09.700 --> 00:30:28.830 Daphne Du Cros: what we want to do is buffer that as much as we can at the hyper-local level, in advance, so that when things do hit, we can be as buffered as possible. So, we need to be relying on our communities and building capacity within our communities.

176 00:30:28.830 --> 00:30:36.130 Daphne Du Cros: So that when… because if we're proactive, we can be responsive in a crisis, rather than just reactive.

177 00:30:36.190 --> 00:30:37.290 Daphne Du Cros: And panic.

178 00:30:40.690 --> 00:30:49.050 Daphne Du Cros: So what we've been doing at the Shropshire Good Food Partnership is, as I've said, working with the broader Sustainable Food Places Network.

179 00:30:49.060 --> 00:30:59.889 Daphne Du Cros: to bring together food partnerships that are in this headspace already. They are actively working on what does building food resilience

180 00:30:59.890 --> 00:31:12.120 Daphne Du Cros: in our community, our region, look like. So they're taking active steps, they're finding things that work for them based on their context, and that cluster and report will be forthcoming on this soon.

181 00:31:12.730 --> 00:31:24.380 Daphne Du Cros: But that cluster is able to communicate out to the broader network of 124 members. So, we are seeding those ideas so that we are creating a web across the UK.

182 00:31:25.890 --> 00:31:41.389 Daphne Du Cros: In the marches, we are… we're working with our partners to figure out how we each have our superpowers, and we can learn from individual projects, and work to build resilience and capacity. So there's a lot of knowledge sharing, and a heck of a lot of expertise. Powess is…

183 00:31:41.390 --> 00:31:49.190 Daphne Du Cros: truly a leader in this, the Difford-Powas area, and Wales, as Annie said, through the Future Generations Act.

184 00:31:49.280 --> 00:31:56.759 Daphne Du Cros: Has taken the food resilience piece on board seriously, with funding going to their food partnerships.

185 00:31:56.860 --> 00:32:03.450 Daphne Du Cros: Which, which we don't have in England. But it does mean that good

186 00:32:03.600 --> 00:32:21.599 Daphne Du Cros: solid research is taking place on what that looks like. This is crucial. And that leadership and that research, recently at the Wales Food Security Summit, when it was, sort of revealed with the framework and report, again, forthcoming,

187 00:32:21.600 --> 00:32:33.399 Daphne Du Cros: was inspiring, and a real, offers a real pathway to other food partnerships to utilize. So, keep an eye out for that, and I'll be happy to share it when it comes out.

188 00:32:33.850 --> 00:32:49.480 Daphne Du Cros: In Shropshire, we've been doing a number of small pilot projects. Our context in Shropshire is that, essentially our county council is facing bankruptcy. They haven't had the capacity to engage in food systems work.

189 00:32:49.660 --> 00:33:01.919 Daphne Du Cros: But what we have done as an opportunity, countering that, is we've started working with our Shropshire Association of Local Councils and our individual town and parish councils

190 00:33:01.920 --> 00:33:20.469 Daphne Du Cros: to identify those that might be interested in working on this. We have one food strategy for Shropshire, and that's where I live, in Bishop's Castle, because it's a project that I've led on. But we can use that as a model and hold that up as an example or a template that other places can use. Likewise, throughout the food

191 00:33:20.470 --> 00:33:29.640 Daphne Du Cros: the Sustainable Food Places Network, there are lots of examples of food strategies. So, that's a starting place for a lot of communities.

192 00:33:30.360 --> 00:33:33.589 Daphne Du Cros: And some of the work that we have done has been

193 00:33:33.710 --> 00:33:41.969 Daphne Du Cros: running scenarios with communities. So key stakeholders, counselors, people working in our… in the local food system.

194 00:33:42.130 --> 00:33:43.550 Daphne Du Cros: To ask, what if.

195 00:33:43.650 --> 00:33:55.630 Daphne Du Cros: So, what would happen if we experienced a hacking event that took out the local Tesco? What would that mean for your community members, their food access, food waste?

196 00:33:55.710 --> 00:34:06.160 Daphne Du Cros: And another example is, what would happen if, if there was a foot and mouth disease outbreak? A different kind of pandemic that would affect the supply chain?

197 00:34:06.210 --> 00:34:18.309 Daphne Du Cros: So, we run these scenarios, and we try to get people's understanding of how they would respond in their community, what the impacts would be, and that leads us into mapping assets and gaps.

198 00:34:18.790 --> 00:34:26.319 Daphne Du Cros: So that can… that's taking a fearful situation and spinning it to be empowered through knowledge.

199 00:34:27.760 --> 00:34:31.490 Daphne Du Cros: So, this is… I'm… I'm presenting this

200 00:34:31.810 --> 00:34:37.099 Daphne Du Cros: because this is, part of what was presented at the Diffod Powess event.

201 00:34:37.330 --> 00:34:54.040 Daphne Du Cros: And this is a very small part of the work that they showed, but it just gives the basic steps that they identified and timelines for how we would be able to approach civil food resilience. The first being, get people talking about it. We can't

202 00:34:54.110 --> 00:35:10.959 Daphne Du Cros: fight an enemy that we don't see. People are very fearful, and we need to bring them into the headspace of, this is something that we need to work on. And we need to do that in a sensitive way, considering we're surrounded by the collapse narrative, but this can be mobilized to empower people.

203 00:35:11.430 --> 00:35:17.329 Daphne Du Cros: We can talk about what local food needs are, and who needs support the most, who needs catching.

204 00:35:17.680 --> 00:35:22.460 Daphne Du Cros: And then understanding our assets and gaps, what we've got going on locally, and what are our strengths.

205 00:35:23.320 --> 00:35:27.799 Daphne Du Cros: Then, from that, we can talk about, well, what do we need to implement? What do we need to put in place?

206 00:35:28.200 --> 00:35:39.179 Daphne Du Cros: And I'll come with… I'll come back to this shortly, about what… what can be implemented on the cheap, actually, and then we can build from there. And next is…

207 00:35:39.230 --> 00:35:52.010 Daphne Du Cros: what would a plan be? What would a, you know, hitting the big red button, crisis, emergency, this is not a drill, what would that plan look like in your community when we have to outline

208 00:35:52.120 --> 00:36:06.720 Daphne Du Cros: the what-ifs, whose job it is, specific roles, and what happens over certain timelines. Is this a one-day thing? A one-week thing? A month? A year? And what happens if there are compounding crises?

209 00:36:08.300 --> 00:36:09.909 Daphne Du Cros: And, running along.

210 00:36:10.090 --> 00:36:19.939 Daphne Du Cros: all the time under these are building skills and capacity for people. I'll give some examples of that, of that soon.

211 00:36:20.360 --> 00:36:21.220 Daphne Du Cros: But…

212 00:36:21.720 --> 00:36:33.810 Daphne Du Cros: Number 7 is we want to see more sustainable production. We are in a sort of triangle in Shropshire with Powice and Hereford,

213 00:36:34.490 --> 00:36:39.099 Daphne Du Cros: Of intensive poultry units, and the pollution is incredible.

214 00:36:39.230 --> 00:36:42.540 Daphne Du Cros: So we need to be thinking of how we…

215 00:36:42.790 --> 00:36:50.800 Daphne Du Cros: work with our systems, consider our soil systems, our water systems, and how we support

216 00:36:51.100 --> 00:36:57.789 Daphne Du Cros: Our food producers and growers through a transition that is more sustainable and more resilient in the long term.

217 00:36:58.230 --> 00:37:04.360 Daphne Du Cros: And finally, bringing it back to people, we have a highly centralized, top-heavy food system.

218 00:37:04.710 --> 00:37:20.059 Daphne Du Cros: And we have been disconnected as people. We have traded a lot over the last two generations for convenience, but what we have done is we've undercut ourselves because we are dependent on a system, and we are disempowered and unskilled.

219 00:37:23.110 --> 00:37:24.060 Daphne Du Cros: So…

220 00:37:24.600 --> 00:37:30.280 Daphne Du Cros: How's that? How's that so far? That's, drinking from a fire hose. There's a lot of material there.

221 00:37:30.930 --> 00:37:35.899 Daphne Du Cros: Just… I can't really see too many people, but,

222 00:37:36.190 --> 00:37:44.069 Daphne Du Cros: Are there… how many town and parish councillors do we have on the call, just sort of vaguely, by a show of hands?

223 00:37:45.650 --> 00:37:53.489 Daphne Du Cros: We've got a few… So one thing I promised in delivering this, this presentation is

224 00:37:54.230 --> 00:38:09.230 Daphne Du Cros: what's your role? What's your… what's your role in the revolution? What is your place in all of this, and how we can support one another? This is going to be part of the report that we put out with, Sustainable Food Places and Sustain coming up.

225 00:38:09.790 --> 00:38:26.640 Daphne Du Cros: But we have an amazing opportunity as councils and food partnerships and the boots-on-the-ground community organizations to come together, because no one can do it in isolation. This has to be a whole-of-society approach.

226 00:38:26.810 --> 00:38:30.830 Daphne Du Cros: We need to take the learning that we had from the pandemic.

227 00:38:32.330 --> 00:38:56.230 Daphne Du Cros: reflect on that, because there were some absolutely amazing things that came out of that situation. Overall, it was not a great situation, but what we found in Shropshire was, all of a sudden, these networks started to develop, and it was not the council that initiated them. It was existing civil society groups. For example, the Shrewsbury Food Hub.

228 00:38:56.230 --> 00:39:03.289 Daphne Du Cros: Of which Katie was one of the founding, founding members, or founding directors, rather.

229 00:39:03.490 --> 00:39:10.529 Daphne Du Cros: the… food hub was already plumbed in, and therefore, when the Council approached them.

230 00:39:10.570 --> 00:39:26.889 Daphne Du Cros: The Food Hub just said, no, no, you join our team. Come in, we're already doing it. And so those established networks were invaluable, and they were invaluable because they were based on not just the established pathways of getting things to and from, and who's doing what, but trust.

231 00:39:27.420 --> 00:39:38.780 Daphne Du Cros: Because this is a profoundly human exercise. It's how we connect with and how we support one another. And change happens at the speed of trust, goes… goes the quote.

232 00:39:39.030 --> 00:39:58.919 Daphne Du Cros: So, part of my research background was, what do councils bring to the table in this? What do food partnerships bring to the table in this? And we each have unique tools in our toolkit that we can use to move these things along. For example, councils have policy levers, legitimacy.

233 00:39:59.150 --> 00:40:14.840 Daphne Du Cros: Hopefully, quite often, some funding, and the ability to communicate to a wide audience, to hold formal meetings, and to have people look up and pay attention, whereas food partnerships and community groups are networked.

234 00:40:14.840 --> 00:40:25.110 Daphne Du Cros: They are people networks, they are boots on the ground, they know who's doing what. They know what works, because they've been doing it quite often for years.

235 00:40:25.210 --> 00:40:33.400 Daphne Du Cros: And so they've got a lot of those things built in. By coming together, we can… we can work solutions, we can work the problem.

236 00:40:34.170 --> 00:40:48.170 Daphne Du Cros: I talked about food systems thinking before, and one of the challenges that we face in councils is that they have their remit. This officer has their remit, that officer has their remit. It's very siloed. But food…

237 00:40:48.170 --> 00:40:56.689 Daphne Du Cros: Just like climate, just like water systems, like energy systems. They connect… excuse me, they connect with so many different things.

238 00:40:57.070 --> 00:41:06.590 Daphne Du Cros: We have to… even if it's just an academic exercise for the purpose of a food resilience plan, we need to break down those silos and think about where things connect.

239 00:41:08.070 --> 00:41:11.000 Daphne Du Cros: So I've talked about some of the other bits,

240 00:41:11.270 --> 00:41:14.150 Daphne Du Cros: Skilling up, I think, is essential.

241 00:41:14.990 --> 00:41:16.020 Daphne Du Cros: And…

242 00:41:16.220 --> 00:41:34.890 Daphne Du Cros: Well, I'll get to that, actually. Apologies. What I think is a really valuable exercise is knowing your community, knowing your landscape. We sort of go through our day-to-day lives without much of a thought to food, but what I would encourage you all to do is just to go for a walk.

243 00:41:34.890 --> 00:41:41.400 Daphne Du Cros: In your community, in your space, and put your food systems glasses on, and have a think about

244 00:41:41.490 --> 00:41:57.769 Daphne Du Cros: who lives in this space? How far is it away from the shop? Is it an affordable shop? If a crisis hit, and this block of houses didn't have power, where would be our food hub? What would be our community kitchen? What assets do we have?

245 00:41:57.880 --> 00:42:08.170 Daphne Du Cros: And then, you can look at your local geography and your local networks and assets, and growing spaces in a completely different way.

246 00:42:08.430 --> 00:42:14.819 Daphne Du Cros: Because those are… those are things that you can mobilize and support and connect together in advance.

247 00:42:17.140 --> 00:42:20.940 Daphne Du Cros: As an example of what we've been doing in Shropshire.

248 00:42:21.060 --> 00:42:35.149 Daphne Du Cros: Now, I've sort of gone over this, so I'm not going to dwell on it too much, but in a sense, we've distilled, for a pilot project, those 8 steps that were in the other document into a sort of

249 00:42:35.730 --> 00:42:39.920 Daphne Du Cros: an easy-to-follow schematic, which just says, let's…

250 00:42:39.920 --> 00:42:56.990 Daphne Du Cros: Understand that context, assess our gaps, bring people together who are key stakeholders, facilitate those conversations. We love a community assembly that brings people together, and food is something that so many people, well, everyone can relate to. Then, identify how we make an action plan.

251 00:42:57.270 --> 00:43:11.850 Daphne Du Cros: And how we communicate food systems crises. And also, what underpins the practical, the practical actions. How do we support food activities that enfranchise people, that are accessible.

252 00:43:12.140 --> 00:43:18.620 Daphne Du Cros: How do we build networks? Remember how remembering how to be people. We've been so…

253 00:43:18.830 --> 00:43:30.870 Daphne Du Cros: so conditioned to think that we are individuals, and that we are stand-alone. And that has been isolating, but we have to remember that we're people. And also to build the links between

254 00:43:30.870 --> 00:43:44.850 Daphne Du Cros: town and country, city and hinterland, because everyone I talked to, I was just at an event last night in Oswestri, and one of the big themes was, well, we want our farmers to feed us.

255 00:43:44.940 --> 00:43:53.110 Daphne Du Cros: But we can't, and the farmers are going, well, we want to feed you, but there's a piece missing. So, it's our job to try to problem-solve those things.

256 00:43:54.690 --> 00:44:00.249 Daphne Du Cros: So… Just for fun, I'm going to tell you about what we've been doing on my farm.

257 00:44:02.690 --> 00:44:06.530 Daphne Du Cros: So, realizing that, of course, we are not food resilient.

258 00:44:06.890 --> 00:44:17.250 Daphne Du Cros: And I have been working at the county level and trying to connect the dots on lots of different projects with, with our directors.

259 00:44:17.460 --> 00:44:33.479 Daphne Du Cros: But also, I have an asset on my doorstep. We operated as a market garden, took a step back from commercial trading, but realized, just this year, it felt very much like that knife edge of the early pandemic, where I had to sit and think.

260 00:44:33.660 --> 00:44:39.310 Daphne Du Cros: What, as a grower, what is my responsibility to my community in a time of crisis?

261 00:44:39.900 --> 00:44:49.270 Daphne Du Cros: And… once again, I have come to the conclusion that it's our job to ramp up production again, so make the land productive.

262 00:44:49.800 --> 00:44:55.600 Daphne Du Cros: But the food resilience piece means upskilling our community. So that…

263 00:44:55.930 --> 00:45:05.370 Daphne Du Cros: has included developing some course materials, and some courses for free, because we need them to be accessible to the community, and those include seed saving.

264 00:45:05.750 --> 00:45:08.310 Daphne Du Cros: How to grow,

265 00:45:08.420 --> 00:45:20.840 Daphne Du Cros: bottling, canning, preserving the harvest in a number of different ways, composting, and generally it brings together an opportunity to, to have people connect. Sometimes food is a happy

266 00:45:20.840 --> 00:45:35.119 Daphne Du Cros: happy outcome, and all of our food goes to the food bank. All the surplus that we provide goes to the food bank first, and then additional surplus to the community. And we're exploring ways to connect more with a community chef.

267 00:45:35.120 --> 00:45:46.700 Daphne Du Cros: role, and potentially a Meals on Wheels delivery pilot, as well as a Compost Club pilot, because there are, just to be honest, there are enough horses around here that we could pull that one off easily enough.

268 00:45:48.180 --> 00:46:06.749 Daphne Du Cros: So, this… and we also produce seed for our seed bank, and we're hoping to work more with the Heritage Seed Library to be essentially redundancy, to be an additional place to build up capacity and produce seed, because we need that

269 00:46:06.750 --> 00:46:10.679 Daphne Du Cros: those distributed networks. Just one space isn't enough.

270 00:46:10.880 --> 00:46:15.650 Daphne Du Cros: So this is an example of Of 4 acres.

271 00:46:15.650 --> 00:46:35.760 Daphne Du Cros: that we are trying to have to use for a positive impact to build community food resilience. And it has offered us, an example to use in our food resilience strategy for Bishop's Castle. So, we can whack that in a document and bring it to our council and say, there's lots going on, you just need to sign off

272 00:46:35.810 --> 00:46:37.480 Daphne Du Cros: and facilitate

273 00:46:37.540 --> 00:46:44.640 Daphne Du Cros: Open doors for us. Help us work through the, this, you know, the logistics of this. Make it accessible to people.

274 00:46:44.860 --> 00:46:48.609 Daphne Du Cros: So, that's… that's one example.

275 00:46:49.070 --> 00:46:55.239 Daphne Du Cros: Shall I? So, I've got a number of examples, and I'm just looking at the time.

276 00:46:55.530 --> 00:47:00.549 Daphne Du Cros: So, Graham and Andrew, would you like me to…

277 00:47:00.990 --> 00:47:08.739 Daphne Du Cros: I can open it up for questions at this point. I've got some examples of specifics that people could do.

278 00:47:09.130 --> 00:47:10.480 Daphne Du Cros: that,

279 00:47:10.870 --> 00:47:19.379 Daphne Du Cros: that are the sort of cheap and easy wins, I suppose. You let me know how you would like me to proceed on that, just so that I'm not overwhelming.

280 00:47:19.860 --> 00:47:20.500 Graham Stoddart-Stones-Great Collaboration, Bembridge: Hey.

281 00:47:20.790 --> 00:47:33.299 Graham Stoddart-Stones-Great Collaboration, Bembridge: My own preference, Stephanie, would be for you to go ahead and give people examples, because I think they'll all be full of questions, and if there are some answers that you've already got, then they'd love to hear them. That would be my view. Wonderful.

282 00:47:33.540 --> 00:47:35.179 Daphne Du Cros: Okay, wonderful, thank you.

283 00:47:35.430 --> 00:47:47.550 Daphne Du Cros: So my suggestion for a good place to start is we… most… most communities have growing spaces, allotments, or…

284 00:47:47.870 --> 00:47:57.079 Daphne Du Cros: disused publicly owned land, which is where we can enter with an initiative from, excuse me, Incredible Edible, called The Right to Grow.

285 00:47:57.690 --> 00:48:07.749 Daphne Du Cros: This is something that has been made public nationally, and DEFRA has gotten behind it to say we should all have the right to grow, and that is simply, people can apply

286 00:48:07.890 --> 00:48:24.939 Daphne Du Cros: to grow food on publicly owned, disused land. So that means working with the local council, or the county council if it's county council-owned land, to say, we see that nothing's happening here, let's double check that it's safe to grow on.

287 00:48:24.940 --> 00:48:32.659 Daphne Du Cros: here's our plan, this is how we'll engage the community, and then, in theory, the council should go.

288 00:48:32.860 --> 00:48:36.509 Daphne Du Cros: Wonderful. We'll step out of your way, and we'll just…

289 00:48:36.640 --> 00:48:40.800 Daphne Du Cros: We'll sign an agreement and say, you can use this space. Well done.

290 00:48:40.920 --> 00:48:42.010 Daphne Du Cros: And then…

291 00:48:42.150 --> 00:48:47.349 Daphne Du Cros: You've got people who are more connected to their food system, and using space that was previously,

292 00:48:47.530 --> 00:49:04.270 Daphne Du Cros: Yeah, unused. That's another avenue beyond allotments and community gardens. Although a lot of allotments have massive waitlists, we recommend a buddy system, where people can join up with somebody who's already got an allotment,

293 00:49:04.490 --> 00:49:09.600 Daphne Du Cros: Who maybe needs a little extra support in working that space, and there's the potential for knowledge sharing.

294 00:49:09.950 --> 00:49:14.859 Daphne Du Cros: We have the opportunity to work with different allotment societies, potentially.

295 00:49:14.920 --> 00:49:20.000 Daphne Du Cros: Seed saving at allotments. A lot of people say it can't be done. It absolutely can.

296 00:49:20.000 --> 00:49:34.929 Daphne Du Cros: There are lots of different ways to get surplus food and surplus seed into the community. We recommend Grow a Row. Grow a row for the seed bank, grow a row for the food bank, and through the Food Partnership, we provide training on a number of these things.

297 00:49:35.740 --> 00:49:52.899 Daphne Du Cros: Upskilling, like I mentioned, that we do on our farm, there are core skills that we've just forgotten about, but we still have people in our communities and organizations across the UK that give training, online training, in-person sessions, and connecting people with land.

298 00:49:53.070 --> 00:50:05.019 Daphne Du Cros: A great example is Land Match England, which is a new initiative that's been launched, working primarily with farmers and, people who have land and

299 00:50:05.030 --> 00:50:19.699 Daphne Du Cros: are willing to share it, and people who are looking for land to get growing or to launch farming initiatives. So this is really one to look for, and there are coordinators that can support with land matching, depending on the region, or your local food partnership should be aware of this.

300 00:50:19.790 --> 00:50:38.299 Daphne Du Cros: So, my view is that there is so much knowledge, there are so many resources, there is so much land, it's a matter of sharing and sort of rebuilding the idea of sharing in our communities, that we're all on the same team, and sharing generously, particularly when it comes to the things that we know and not gatekeeping that knowledge.

301 00:50:40.000 --> 00:50:53.860 Daphne Du Cros: In Bishop's Castle, the pandemic prompted us to start a community seed bank, and this was largely because there was a run on seeds when there was a crisis. I suspect we're going to start seeing that again this time.

302 00:50:54.510 --> 00:50:57.110 Daphne Du Cros: That was,

303 00:50:57.180 --> 00:51:04.780 Daphne Du Cros: Because of that situation, our small-scale seed producers had to close their webshops, limit their hours for processing.

304 00:51:04.780 --> 00:51:19.110 Daphne Du Cros: processing orders, and they had to prioritize market gardens, because we could grow more efficiently at scale. So as a market gardener, I was able to get larger packs of seeds and break them up so that we could share them within the community.

305 00:51:19.240 --> 00:51:21.050 Daphne Du Cros: Thus the seed bank was born.

306 00:51:21.720 --> 00:51:27.300 Daphne Du Cros: Now the seed bank has gone from being available at our local farmer's market once a month.

307 00:51:27.300 --> 00:51:52.169 Daphne Du Cros: to having a place in a cantilever toolbox in our local library, and that makes it accessible anytime the library is open. Obviously, we know libraries are wonderful, welcoming, democratic spaces where people know that they can just go access things for free. So, it has been a huge success. We've already… we've also been piloting one of these in Telford, and just today I spoke with our portfolio holder for libraries in Shropshire.

308 00:51:52.170 --> 00:51:56.680 Daphne Du Cros: who said, we even have a mobile library service, and we have

309 00:51:56.680 --> 00:52:10.240 Daphne Du Cros: however many libraries, yes, let's find some funding and see if we can make this work across more spaces. This is an example of micro-infrastructure that just means

310 00:52:10.530 --> 00:52:14.389 Daphne Du Cros: The means to grow food is accessible to everyone.

311 00:52:14.600 --> 00:52:30.800 Daphne Du Cros: And that is so valuable. During the pandemic, communities in deprived areas might have space, or there were examples of, you know, we've got space, we've got the will to grow, but they couldn't access seed. So, again, seed is the foundation of our food system.

312 00:52:30.860 --> 00:52:47.500 Daphne Du Cros: That also doubles with things like machinery rings, tool shares, repair cafes, library of things, I love the idea of a library of things, knowledge and skill shares, and then we get into sort of bigger infrastructure, like.

313 00:52:47.600 --> 00:53:04.629 Daphne Du Cros: And it doesn't have to be expensive. Setting up a local farmer's market, it can rely on a few volunteers, maybe a part-time market manager. But having a local farmer's market means local food access and, you know, direct sales and routes to market.

314 00:53:04.800 --> 00:53:09.760 Daphne Du Cros: Setting these things up doesn't have to cost the world, but they can have a profound impact.

315 00:53:09.790 --> 00:53:26.369 Daphne Du Cros: gleaning networks. For those who don't know what gleaning means, it's a very old-fashioned word, it's a traditional process where the farmer would allow community members to come and sort of harvest the leftover bits of grain or produce that they couldn't

316 00:53:26.370 --> 00:53:29.969 Daphne Du Cros: harvest during the main event.

317 00:53:30.140 --> 00:53:36.660 Daphne Du Cros: So that might be oats or grains, but now, gleaning typically means

318 00:53:36.870 --> 00:53:57.319 Daphne Du Cros: it might be using, leftover field-scale produce if they didn't fit specifications for, say, Sainsbury's or Tesco contracts, or it might be collecting apples, sort of scrumping, collecting apples and fruit in a really abundant season like last year, and then it gets shared out by the community or used.

319 00:53:58.140 --> 00:54:10.580 Daphne Du Cros: And then we can think about things like, what are our transport connections to get food to and from? Do we have electric vehicles if fuel is impacted? Do we have space to store things? Do we have shops?

320 00:54:10.580 --> 00:54:21.430 Daphne Du Cros: Where we can distribute things, or community centers, or ways of processing food. And this is a really interesting one that we keep bumping up against in the Food Partnership, because

321 00:54:22.540 --> 00:54:35.740 Daphne Du Cros: and it's common across the UK, is our infrastructure for processing has been stripped from the local level. A common example is abattoirs, but that includes,

322 00:54:36.340 --> 00:54:47.819 Daphne Du Cros: machinery for processing grains and pulses, mills. So there are a lot of different scales of infrastructure that we need to bring back to the community level.

323 00:54:50.340 --> 00:54:52.270 Daphne Du Cros: A fun one, where… that…

324 00:54:52.500 --> 00:55:00.119 Daphne Du Cros: This is an interesting narrative, and how do we position this, because we don't want people to panic buy.

325 00:55:00.400 --> 00:55:10.949 Daphne Du Cros: But we do want them to gradually build up their home pantry, and it's not about being a prepper as an individual, it's about how do we

326 00:55:11.630 --> 00:55:26.919 Daphne Du Cros: prepare for our communities? How do we prepare with our families, our neighbors, and our communities in mind? Some of that can happen at an individual level, but there are economic implications there for many people.

327 00:55:27.230 --> 00:55:29.179 Daphne Du Cros: So how do we, with our…

328 00:55:29.500 --> 00:55:44.690 Daphne Du Cros: churches and our faith-based institutions, our food banks, and our councils come together to have conversations about this, and what rotation and storage and responsibility would look like. In the UK, we no longer have

329 00:55:45.260 --> 00:55:52.860 Daphne Du Cros: have a central food storage, but many European nations have been reimplementing that and bringing that back in. We should take that as a hint.

330 00:55:54.130 --> 00:56:11.590 Daphne Du Cros: we have a number of interesting, examples of rescue and distribution initiatives across Shropshire, and I know that there are many nationally. One that our food hub does is called Supersonic, which, I think not only is it a great name, but it's a great initiative that uses

331 00:56:11.850 --> 00:56:17.190 Daphne Du Cros: surplus food, I won't call it food waste, because it's not food waste, it's surplus food,

332 00:56:17.190 --> 00:56:36.650 Daphne Du Cros: that they can make soups out of. The soups get frozen in containers, different sized servings, and those can either be shared out through a community freezer, or taken to schools, or even used for the catering for corporate events. So it's a really great way of using that food.

333 00:56:36.730 --> 00:56:52.530 Daphne Du Cros: And we also need to be thinking about other systems in place. It's very easy, as I say, to talk about the silo of food, but food touches on our energy needs, we need to be thinking about water storage and what we take care of.

334 00:56:52.660 --> 00:57:17.509 Daphne Du Cros: are how we store water, how we access clean water, prescriptions. Some of the things that people forget about, most often are baby formula, and those are the fastest things to disappear off the shelves, diabetes medication, and people very rarely think about pets. So, a few notable things that, and sort of any range of prescriptions, but people need to be thinking about that proactively, and not panicking.

335 00:57:17.510 --> 00:57:20.070 Daphne Du Cros: That's part of our communication and our guidance.

336 00:57:20.070 --> 00:57:21.739 Daphne Du Cros: I've talked about this.

337 00:57:21.740 --> 00:57:34.529 Daphne Du Cros: This is important, though. We need to think about our local food system, build up that infrastructure, those routes to market, and having those conversations to build relationships with the people who are working in our food system.

338 00:57:34.830 --> 00:57:43.769 Daphne Du Cros: And my advice, and what my motto is now for our farm is lots of diversity of the things that we produce.

339 00:57:44.210 --> 00:57:46.020 Daphne Du Cros: Go massive overkill.

340 00:57:46.130 --> 00:57:49.850 Daphne Du Cros: plant more potatoes, there is no downside.

341 00:57:50.010 --> 00:58:01.609 Daphne Du Cros: Grow for abundance, grow lots, and then grow for storability, be really practical. Spuds, squash, courgettes, onions, things like that that will store.

342 00:58:01.760 --> 00:58:08.120 Daphne Du Cros: Courgettes do store reasonably well, but how to store food and, and prepare food in those ways…

343 00:58:09.280 --> 00:58:18.899 Daphne Du Cros: And finally, I think I've harped on this enough, to be proactive and responsive is better to be… than being unprepared and reactive.

344 00:58:18.970 --> 00:58:33.290 Daphne Du Cros: this is a way that we can connect with our communities, get in their headspace, and I think we have an incredible opportunity right now, with the People's Emergency Briefing rolling out across, across everywhere.

345 00:58:33.500 --> 00:58:45.000 Daphne Du Cros: people are going to want to have these conversations, or to understand, yikes, that's scary, what do we do next? And this is an opportunity to ride that wave and engage people.

346 00:58:45.100 --> 00:58:56.670 Daphne Du Cros: We so often talk in an echo chamber about food and food systems in crisis. This is an opportunity where I think we might have more people from outside that echo chamber coming in.

347 00:58:56.690 --> 00:59:07.669 Daphne Du Cros: So we need to figure out how to communicate with them, and not just communicate, but how to invite them in and say, we need you, we need the skills that you're bringing. People have different…

348 00:59:07.880 --> 00:59:23.699 Daphne Du Cros: knowledge, experience, assets, it might be lend, it might be money, it might be tools, we will need all of these things. So figuring out who's got what and how we can pull together is very important. But also, scenarios, timelines.

349 00:59:23.820 --> 00:59:27.049 Daphne Du Cros: Whose job is it, if, and when?

350 00:59:27.130 --> 00:59:39.079 Daphne Du Cros: specific responsibilities, and I can't emphasize this enough, hard copies of things. We have become very reliant on digital systems, but if suddenly those are gone.

351 00:59:39.080 --> 00:59:49.600 Daphne Du Cros: The Vulnerable Persons Register that you have been working to develop in your community and diligently getting people to sign up for, well, it's no good if you can't access an updated copy.

352 00:59:49.600 --> 00:59:54.259 Daphne Du Cros: So, I would encourage people to think about what, phone numbers

353 00:59:54.260 --> 01:00:02.450 Daphne Du Cros: what, what documents, what protocols, and, and resources you would need.

354 01:00:02.610 --> 01:00:10.249 Daphne Du Cros: So I think… oh, and that's my resources page, so I'll be sharing that afterwards. But that sort of brings us… what time is this?

355 01:00:10.770 --> 01:00:12.139 Daphne Du Cros: Let's see… oof!

356 01:00:12.350 --> 01:00:24.359 Daphne Du Cros: Sorry, I talked a lot there. So, I will unshare, and we can do questions, and I'm happy to stay on for a bit longer, since I rattled on for quite a while.

357 01:00:29.550 --> 01:00:31.239 Andrew Maliphant, Great Collaboratiom: That was amazing. Wonderful.

358 01:00:31.240 --> 01:00:32.809 Annie L , in Llanidloes, in Powys: Yeah, fantastic.

359 01:00:33.090 --> 01:00:35.389 Daphne Du Cros: Is that too much? It's too much. There's so much there.

360 01:00:35.390 --> 01:00:37.630 Graham Stoddart-Stones-Great Collaboration, Bembridge: No, definitely.

361 01:00:37.630 --> 01:00:38.570 Daphne Du Cros: It's all happening, folks.

362 01:00:38.570 --> 01:01:01.089 Graham Stoddart-Stones-Great Collaboration, Bembridge: It was a fantastic presentation, and I love the enthusiasm, and the fact that every fact that you made hit home, and as you say, having right on the heels of the emergency briefing, it's wonderful stuff. I had a whole bunch of questions to go through, but I suspect other people have, and Andrew is already ahead of the game, so let's go to you, Andrew, please.

363 01:01:01.090 --> 01:01:17.660 Andrew Maliphant, Great Collaboratiom: Well, just a quickie, obviously, thanks again, Daphne, for actually coming on for quite short notice to do this talk. It will be recorded and shared, but I've just made a note to myself, and we'll talk about it separately. It'd be good to have a questionnaire process that people can follow through at the local level to say.

364 01:01:17.660 --> 01:01:24.520 Andrew Maliphant, Great Collaboratiom: All the things that you've been saying, picking out the ones that they need to look at, because, just to make it easy for people.

365 01:01:25.030 --> 01:01:32.850 Daphne Du Cros: Yeah, definitely, and there is, there are toolkits out there for community food assessment. Okay. But…

366 01:01:34.980 --> 01:01:37.680 Daphne Du Cros: There aren't any that I know of… yet.

367 01:01:38.250 --> 01:01:52.610 Daphne Du Cros: that specify… actually, no, well, that's not true. I suppose, some of Tim Lang's report looks at that as well. So do… do give a look at the just-in… from… just in time to just-in-case report.

368 01:01:53.290 --> 01:02:03.479 Daphne Du Cros: Because, I mean, go for the executive summary version, and not the full honkin' thing, because it's 300 and some odd pages. But it does have…

369 01:02:03.670 --> 01:02:05.170 Daphne Du Cros: tools for…

370 01:02:05.790 --> 01:02:24.859 Daphne Du Cros: for a number of these things, and how we can look at that. Another really great document from Sarah Bridle and et al, from York University is Pathways to Food Resilience. So that was that sort of Tinderbox, report that I… that I showed. So…

371 01:02:25.700 --> 01:02:35.260 Andrew Maliphant, Great Collaboratiom: Good. I mean, going back to what you were… one of the things you were saying earlier about town and parish councils, most town and parish councils want to address this issue of food residence before now.

372 01:02:35.260 --> 01:02:48.930 Andrew Maliphant, Great Collaboratiom: Apart from those that already have, indirectly, that have allotments. So, my mission, Jim, is to find the right wording and the right approach to get those places engaged. Many, many thanks again, Craig.

373 01:02:49.090 --> 01:03:00.610 Daphne Du Cros: Wonderful, yeah, that's something that I've read recently, is when the chips are down, the only currency is calories. And I think it's all well and good for town and parish councils to go.

374 01:03:00.610 --> 01:03:09.619 Daphne Du Cros: Well, you know, it's just another thing to take on, and this is the… unfortunately, this was the view of… when I spoke to our South Shropshire MP recently,

375 01:03:09.620 --> 01:03:16.469 Daphne Du Cros: He said, well, you know, most town and parish councils won't engage with this, because they'll think it's just another thing. And I said, well.

376 01:03:16.540 --> 01:03:19.600 Daphne Du Cros: It's just another thing until it's THE thing.

377 01:03:19.820 --> 01:03:20.710 Andrew Maliphant, Great Collaboratiom: Right.

378 01:03:20.710 --> 01:03:24.539 Daphne Du Cros: It's unavoidable, and you would have wished you'd done something about it, so yeah.

379 01:03:27.870 --> 01:03:30.279 Andrew Maliphant, Great Collaboratiom: Somebody else turned, yeah.

380 01:03:31.290 --> 01:03:45.850 Graham Stoddart-Stones-Great Collaboration, Bembridge: Yeah. Are there any other questions that people would like to ask? By all means, use the, hand-raised facility within Zoom, which is the easiest way, and Frank, you beat everyone to it, just in front of Stuart.

381 01:03:45.850 --> 01:03:52.469 frank deas Killearn: Thanks very much. This is just an observation that, from what I can see, one of the unintended consequences of COVID

382 01:03:52.470 --> 01:04:15.819 frank deas Killearn: was that it created a whole generation of people who will now order online from Costco or Waitrose or Zainsbury, and because they're doing that, because they no longer have to go out to shops, it's much harder for market gardens or community veg growing projects to get off the ground, because people can just sit at their desk, press one button, and everything turns up for them. Is that something that you've experienced or other people have experienced?

383 01:04:15.820 --> 01:04:17.940 frank deas Killearn: Or is that just something that we're going to Europe?

384 01:04:17.940 --> 01:04:28.889 Daphne Du Cros: That is… it's such an interesting observation. It is something that we have been talking about a lot in… in Shropshire, because, we have… we have a lot of market towns.

385 01:04:29.010 --> 01:04:36.109 Daphne Du Cros: And we have, through the Food Partnership, we engage with a lot of schools. And what we have found is that

386 01:04:36.440 --> 01:04:50.619 Daphne Du Cros: there's an opportunity there. So we're part of an initiative that wants to get food farming and sustainability into the national curriculum. We've also worked with schools on decarbonization programs, and ways to get young people

387 01:04:50.730 --> 01:04:56.960 Daphne Du Cros: you know, understanding food and across various things, that's a whole other conversation. But…

388 01:04:57.250 --> 01:05:04.380 Daphne Du Cros: Getting young people who have a lot of social anxiety about transactions and shopping

389 01:05:04.980 --> 01:05:12.289 Daphne Du Cros: That really worries a generation, an aging-out generation, of market stall holders.

390 01:05:12.960 --> 01:05:23.039 Daphne Du Cros: And to think that our markets could decline because young people don't see it as a viable career option, because they're not shopping there, they don't engage with it.

391 01:05:23.300 --> 01:05:31.860 Daphne Du Cros: What a cultural loss. So what we're doing is fielding some opportunities to get schools and young people

392 01:05:32.080 --> 01:05:51.480 Daphne Du Cros: into markets, so that they… it's part of their food training, it's part of their curriculum. They can understand currency, real money, and they can understand what making a meal plan and a shopping list looks like, and going and talking to a person, and understanding what they're buying, and where it comes from.

393 01:05:51.480 --> 01:06:02.869 Daphne Du Cros: So there are so many interesting opportunities to rebuild that from an education perspective and show people the true value of food, and that it's real people doing it. Yeah, thank you, that's a great question.

394 01:06:04.110 --> 01:06:06.269 Daphne Du Cros: I think I've got Stuart next.

395 01:06:09.400 --> 01:06:12.839 Cllr.Stuart Withington, Gt Dunmow TC, Essex: Hi, thanks. It's been a great talk so far.

396 01:06:12.960 --> 01:06:16.059 Cllr.Stuart Withington, Gt Dunmow TC, Essex: I was just wondering what your view…

397 01:06:16.060 --> 01:06:17.269 Daphne Du Cros: All downhill from here.

398 01:06:17.270 --> 01:06:23.530 Cllr.Stuart Withington, Gt Dunmow TC, Essex: Regenerative agriculture is. They were saying,

399 01:06:23.710 --> 01:06:29.650 Cllr.Stuart Withington, Gt Dunmow TC, Essex: A little while ago, there's only so many harvests left in the soil in this country.

400 01:06:30.200 --> 01:06:42.830 Cllr.Stuart Withington, Gt Dunmow TC, Essex: My next-door neighbor is the local farmer. He farms all the land around here, and I've been trying to persuade him to, go in for regen agriculture.

401 01:06:43.230 --> 01:06:55.720 Cllr.Stuart Withington, Gt Dunmow TC, Essex: But he says it's just too difficult at the moment. The farmers don't know whether they're coming or going financially. Yep. The cost of all these inputs has risen dramatically.

402 01:06:56.050 --> 01:07:06.479 Cllr.Stuart Withington, Gt Dunmow TC, Essex: And it'd be even worse now with, the, Straits of Old Moose being blocked. The ELMS funding seems to come and go.

403 01:07:06.730 --> 01:07:12.560 Cllr.Stuart Withington, Gt Dunmow TC, Essex: The Sustainable Agriculture Fund Hasn't yet been decided.

404 01:07:12.820 --> 01:07:18.770 Cllr.Stuart Withington, Gt Dunmow TC, Essex: And the last thing on his mind is trying to change his agricultural techniques.

405 01:07:19.160 --> 01:07:23.410 Daphne Du Cros: Yeah, Peer-to-peer exchange.

406 01:07:23.830 --> 01:07:28.790 Daphne Du Cros: Is the strongest tool that we have for working with farmers.

407 01:07:31.150 --> 01:07:51.060 Daphne Du Cros: It's been so embedded with a heck of a lot of money behind it over the last couple of generations, that if you're not farming in a conventional way, with this kit, and the bundle that your seeds and your chemicals come as with your farm manager getting a kickback from the big companies.

408 01:07:51.060 --> 01:07:59.430 Daphne Du Cros: Then it's not real farming. If you're… go big or go home. No longer is it small as beautiful. And it's disconnected farmers from…

409 01:07:59.470 --> 01:08:01.020 Daphne Du Cros: farming.

410 01:08:01.050 --> 01:08:09.520 Daphne Du Cros: and the land and the systems that we're reliant on. And it's hard to walk that back. So, the way that I have

411 01:08:09.550 --> 01:08:19.849 Daphne Du Cros: very… it's a gracious way of putting it, and I really value it, is everybody is at a different place on that regenerative journey, and

412 01:08:19.850 --> 01:08:29.619 Daphne Du Cros: we know that the science is stacking up in favor of regenerative farming. And when I say regenerative, just to clarify for everyone, it's taking a systems lens of

413 01:08:29.620 --> 01:08:44.569 Daphne Du Cros: how your land and your soil works, your plant systems work, your livestock works, your water system. All of these things are interconnected and can support one another. It's not

414 01:08:44.569 --> 01:08:51.790 Daphne Du Cros: So, regenerative rather than, you know, degrading. We are not seeking to degrade our landscape further, we want to regenerate it.

415 01:08:52.420 --> 01:08:58.020 Daphne Du Cros: And, like sustainability, as a term.

416 01:08:58.260 --> 01:09:18.110 Daphne Du Cros: that really got watered down. True sustainability got watered down by economic interests, just like regenerative is now being co-opted by big companies, like the Cargills and the Monsanto, that go, yes, yes, we advocate for regenerative. That just means a little bit less glyphosate.

417 01:09:18.330 --> 01:09:30.160 Daphne Du Cros: So, you know, it's… it's not, it's not methadone, like, it's not a general phase-out, in that sense. It's… it's greenwashing. So…

418 01:09:30.439 --> 01:09:44.469 Daphne Du Cros: we know that regenerative farming and diverse farming and small-scale mixed farming is the direction that we need to go, not just to feed ourselves, but to take care of the soil and our life systems.

419 01:09:45.000 --> 01:09:57.449 Daphne Du Cros: there will be no other option. It's just, it's really being held back by a hell of a lot of big money. And maybe that's a way to frame it to your farmer friend, you know?

420 01:09:57.680 --> 01:10:07.159 Daphne Du Cros: you've gotten locked into a system, and it's… it's a really, you know, it's like… it's like getting hooked on… on AI and technology and all of these things,

421 01:10:07.580 --> 01:10:14.249 Daphne Du Cros: it's a difficult one, and I'm sure that in time, he will be ready, but, getting people

422 01:10:14.620 --> 01:10:21.249 Daphne Du Cros: to connect with other farmers who have been through it. I know this is a very long-winded answer, there's so much to say on it.

423 01:10:21.920 --> 01:10:29.500 Daphne Du Cros: there are lots of resources, there are lots of training resources out there to get people thinking about regenerative farming.

424 01:10:30.620 --> 01:10:38.210 Daphne Du Cros: And a great argument, particularly as costs are going up, is you save money by reducing your inputs.

425 01:10:38.630 --> 01:10:42.820 Daphne Du Cros: And you can have… fewer animals.

426 01:10:42.920 --> 01:10:54.919 Daphne Du Cros: use your grass better, and have higher quality animals, and keep them out all year round. So there are lots of, lots of positive ticks for moving to regen.

427 01:10:56.010 --> 01:10:58.469 Cllr.Stuart Withington, Gt Dunmow TC, Essex: I'll keep plugging away, then. Yeah, definitely.

428 01:10:58.480 --> 01:10:59.810 Daphne Du Cros: Sue?

429 01:11:00.820 --> 01:11:08.650 Sue Burton Battle TC East Sussex: Hi, thank you. Couple of things. I had, in my local area, we had a food partnership.

430 01:11:08.810 --> 01:11:23.830 Sue Burton Battle TC East Sussex: Which I linked in with, when I could, but the member of staff left, and they haven't been replaced. I'm… I haven't traced it, but I…

431 01:11:23.940 --> 01:11:38.290 Sue Burton Battle TC East Sussex: will do to see what's happening, but they… I don't know who… I know where she was based, but I don't know where the money comes from for the food partnerships. What would pay her, just to ask you that?

432 01:11:38.290 --> 01:11:41.819 Daphne Du Cros: Yeah, it depends. Food partnerships are…

433 01:11:42.060 --> 01:11:55.009 Daphne Du Cros: often, community interest companies or charities. Sometimes, if they are so fortunate as to be part employed by the council, they might be embedded within the council.

434 01:11:55.140 --> 01:12:04.879 Daphne Du Cros: But quite often, it's grant funding. As a food partnership, we survive off grant funding, and so that means it's… it's constantly doing this.

435 01:12:04.880 --> 01:12:17.539 Daphne Du Cros: So, I might be able to make some inquiries, through this, or you can email the Sustainable Food Places Network, and they might be able to tell you what the status is for your area.

436 01:12:17.540 --> 01:12:18.090 Daphne Du Cros: Because.

437 01:12:18.090 --> 01:12:19.390 Sue Burton Battle TC East Sussex: sustainable.

438 01:12:19.390 --> 01:12:23.260 Daphne Du Cros: Sustainable Food Places, and I will get the link.

439 01:12:23.400 --> 01:12:24.440 Daphne Du Cros: for you.

440 01:12:24.990 --> 01:12:33.099 Daphne Du Cros: SustainableFoodplaces.org, and that is sort of an umbrella That, convenes…

441 01:12:33.970 --> 01:12:42.979 Daphne Du Cros: our… the… the sort of the food partnerships across the UK. So sometimes they get funding and they can channel it through to different ones, but,

442 01:12:43.160 --> 01:12:46.360 Daphne Du Cros: Not… not often. Okay.

443 01:12:46.520 --> 01:12:54.139 Sue Burton Battle TC East Sussex: Thank you. Then my second question is about, the Town Council and being,

444 01:12:54.280 --> 01:12:58.669 Sue Burton Battle TC East Sussex: how, you know, that I'm gonna be greeted with

445 01:12:59.320 --> 01:13:03.430 Sue Burton Battle TC East Sussex: We've got enough to do, we can't keep up.

446 01:13:05.210 --> 01:13:20.889 Sue Burton Battle TC East Sussex: I, and I'm not feeling very clear about what I can do, yet. I did have, I've been looking at the,

447 01:13:21.610 --> 01:13:41.249 Sue Burton Battle TC East Sussex: the allotment agreement, and try… changing… trying to change that, saying they could sell their produce before we had a rule that they couldn't. And so I've just initiated that, and that's as a result of learning and think about that. So you're incentivizing food production on allotments.

448 01:13:41.250 --> 01:13:41.880 Daphne Du Cros: Definitely.

449 01:13:41.880 --> 01:13:57.020 Sue Burton Battle TC East Sussex: I'm not sure what else… I just would love some other ideas, short of starting your own network and a big chunk of work. I would love some other ideas, really.

450 01:13:57.020 --> 01:14:03.059 Daphne Du Cros: Yeah, absolutely. I think, an easy solution is…

451 01:14:03.480 --> 01:14:11.490 Daphne Du Cros: A first step, rather, not an easy solution. A first step is… doesn't cost a thing. Just have a community

452 01:14:11.820 --> 01:14:13.100 Daphne Du Cros: conversation.

453 01:14:13.100 --> 01:14:13.480 Sue Burton Battle TC East Sussex: M.

454 01:14:13.480 --> 01:14:19.279 Daphne Du Cros: Open up the doors, book an, you know, book a 2- or 3-hour slot,

455 01:14:19.850 --> 01:14:27.979 Daphne Du Cros: And I went to a great one yesterday in Oswie, which just asked a really simple question, 5 or 6 different tables with people grouped around them.

456 01:14:28.070 --> 01:14:42.610 Daphne Du Cros: what is the future of food for Oswehstry? And it was as simple as that, and it got people to… with some facilitation, not a whole lot, it wasn't very hands-on, but it did give the opportunity to.

457 01:14:42.800 --> 01:14:54.499 Daphne Du Cros: Give people… they shared their vision, they shared their hopes, they shared their concerns, and what you can do is sort of gather that data and say, well, people are really worried about, you know, rising costs.

458 01:14:54.520 --> 01:15:04.679 Daphne Du Cros: And will there be empty shelves? And, you know, will I be able to grow enough, or do I know how? And you can start those conversations, and from there.

459 01:15:05.030 --> 01:15:07.980 Daphne Du Cros: You might be able to think about.

460 01:15:08.110 --> 01:15:21.690 Daphne Du Cros: well, do we need to put a little bit of a plan in place? Like, what do we already have? What are our assets? What are our gaps? Do we have key people who are community food leaders and champions already in this space? And reach out to them, call them in.

461 01:15:21.820 --> 01:15:33.670 Daphne Du Cros: Because I… I bet you, you've got boots on the ground that you don't even know about, and those are your allies. So, build a partnership. It's… there's a lot of opportunity.

462 01:15:34.520 --> 01:15:42.249 Graham Stoddart-Stones-Great Collaboration, Bembridge: Sue, if I could just back in with one organisational thought, it's very possible for a parish council to create a work group.

463 01:15:42.350 --> 01:15:53.699 Graham Stoddart-Stones-Great Collaboration, Bembridge: Which can be outside members of the organization, so they will report to you, so you know what's going on, but you're getting all the volunteers to do the work, because you don't have the capacity to do everything yourself.

464 01:15:54.270 --> 01:15:57.450 Graham Stoddart-Stones-Great Collaboration, Bembridge: Bring in people into a work group and go for it.

465 01:15:57.650 --> 01:15:59.199 Daphne Du Cros: We, I'm not…

466 01:15:59.200 --> 01:16:05.000 Sue Burton Battle TC East Sussex: Somebody said about orchards. We have planted two orchards in our, in our parish.

467 01:16:05.130 --> 01:16:09.420 Sue Burton Battle TC East Sussex: But for me, the question is, so…

468 01:16:10.220 --> 01:16:13.419 Sue Burton Battle TC East Sussex: To get them to come, like, to…

469 01:16:13.470 --> 01:16:32.880 Sue Burton Battle TC East Sussex: to have real benefit, that you get an apple that you take home and cook, which is what you want, and the community not understand… not having the knowledge base of leave it on the tree, and how many years, and all that. This is sort of lots of gaps, really. But workgroup is a good one as well.

470 01:16:32.880 --> 01:16:34.710 Sue Burton Battle TC East Sussex: Thank you, Graham.

471 01:16:34.710 --> 01:16:37.579 Daphne Du Cros: That builds up all of those conversations.

472 01:16:37.580 --> 01:16:57.670 Daphne Du Cros: builds community ownership, which… it's great to have council leadership, but to have a community take ownership of something, it will become… it will take shape and become something that it needs to be through… through that. We don't have to hold everything ourselves. This is a… this is a situation, this is a moment in time where we have to…

473 01:16:57.780 --> 01:16:58.870 Daphne Du Cros: open.

474 01:16:59.360 --> 01:17:03.050 Daphne Du Cros: Oh, you know, release these sort of,

475 01:17:03.220 --> 01:17:08.150 Daphne Du Cros: These ways of working, and look to see what new comes of it.

476 01:17:08.890 --> 01:17:09.540 Sue Burton Battle TC East Sussex: Yeah.

477 01:17:10.070 --> 01:17:11.029 Sue Burton Battle TC East Sussex: Thank you.

478 01:17:11.030 --> 01:17:12.579 Daphne Du Cros: Of course, Caroline.

479 01:17:14.890 --> 01:17:24.619 Caroline Wajsblum: Hi there, guys. Yeah, I just, interesting to kind of follow on from that. I've got something to offer first, which is that,

480 01:17:24.620 --> 01:17:36.769 Caroline Wajsblum: I once did a TED talk on how to create positive visions of our local food systems, and it's got, like, a step-by-step how to create a wonderful event

481 01:17:36.820 --> 01:17:45.559 Caroline Wajsblum: to glean all of that information. So, if you want to find that, it'll be on YouTube, HeadX,

482 01:17:45.900 --> 01:17:49.480 Caroline Wajsblum: Creating positive visions of our local food systems.

483 01:17:49.480 --> 01:17:51.700 Daphne Du Cros: Oh, that's bad. Could you drop a link in the chat afterwards?

484 01:17:51.700 --> 01:18:10.829 Caroline Wajsblum: I can do… yes, I can do that. So, I'm Caroline Wiseble, I'm based in Froome, and, we have quite a flourishing, food network, and, we are actively working on, you know, how do we create a more resilient food system?

485 01:18:11.300 --> 01:18:18.110 Caroline Wajsblum: However, I think my question also relates to the previous one, which was,

486 01:18:18.620 --> 01:18:23.440 Caroline Wajsblum: We're struggling to get, the Town Council on board.

487 01:18:23.540 --> 01:18:38.819 Caroline Wajsblum: It seems to be that for years, I've been going to the council saying, hey, what's your food policy? Oh, we haven't got any. What are you doing on food? And it's, you know, it's kind of slightly embedded in the climate strategy.

488 01:18:39.240 --> 01:18:57.090 Caroline Wajsblum: But, I actually work for the council now, in the resilience team, but working on energy. And yeah, we were hoping that they would take on food this year as well, and they really… they just haven't. And again, it's just kind of a bit of a…

489 01:18:57.170 --> 01:19:02.280 Caroline Wajsblum: Oh, no, there's other more important things to focus on, and what's more important than…

490 01:19:02.480 --> 01:19:19.470 Caroline Wajsblum: food and water, I mean, it's just… I mean, obviously energy, yes, we get it, but, I think what I'm asking is, how do we persuade our councillors, that it needs to be…

491 01:19:19.900 --> 01:19:25.390 Caroline Wajsblum: Taken on as, as, a proper adaptation and resilience.

492 01:19:26.060 --> 01:19:30.429 Daphne Du Cros: Yeah, it's… oh, it's… that's really frustrating, I feel, for you.

493 01:19:31.840 --> 01:19:43.999 Daphne Du Cros: Yes, it can be… because we have been so conditioned that we, you know, we take food for granted. It shows up. It shows up when we click a button, it shows up in the grocery store.

494 01:19:44.230 --> 01:19:58.890 Daphne Du Cros: you will, in-room, no doubt, have vulnerable communities, people who are hard to reach, or disenfranchised, or very reliant on the food bank. You might be able to gather information on

495 01:19:59.080 --> 01:20:02.839 Daphne Du Cros: How many more food bank users you've had since the pandemic?

496 01:20:03.350 --> 01:20:11.550 Daphne Du Cros: Or how many school meals, preschool meals families you have, or people premium families you have.

497 01:20:12.060 --> 01:20:21.560 Daphne Du Cros: Highlighting that there is a significant proportion of the population that's already vulnerable and subject to a bigger gap

498 01:20:21.850 --> 01:20:24.979 Daphne Du Cros: If and when a crisis comes, is…

499 01:20:25.220 --> 01:20:27.989 Daphne Du Cros: I have found a useful lever in saying.

500 01:20:28.290 --> 01:20:34.120 Daphne Du Cros: These are the people that you are… that you need to look after the most, and that you have to be responsible for.

501 01:20:34.380 --> 01:20:41.409 Daphne Du Cros: The obvious… and, and… I mean, it's frustrating, because

502 01:20:42.880 --> 01:20:51.570 Daphne Du Cros: I have found that the knowledge in town and parish councils to be very low when it comes to understanding food, even basic health. So…

503 01:20:51.790 --> 01:21:11.379 Daphne Du Cros: putting together a list of, this is… these are the different areas, you know, climate plan, check. Economic plan, check. Supporting our local food systems, vulnerable people, public health, supporting, you know, school meals, check, check, check. This is all the way that food can hit all of these spaces.

504 01:21:11.380 --> 01:21:12.230 Daphne Du Cros: And…

505 01:21:12.230 --> 01:21:20.159 Daphne Du Cros: it overlaps. You can basically spell out to them that this is a superpower, this is a magic tool, but

506 01:21:20.970 --> 01:21:24.250 Daphne Du Cros: the National Emergency Briefing, or the People's…

507 01:21:24.250 --> 01:21:25.480 Caroline Wajsblum: That'd be really useful.

508 01:21:25.480 --> 01:21:41.169 Daphne Du Cros: I think it's a really useful one, and to say, you know, other places are doing this, and they're leading on this. We need to see the writing on the wall, and the fact that we've got a food system crisis unfolding in real time, where we might not be seeing it tomorrow, but

509 01:21:41.290 --> 01:21:55.810 Daphne Du Cros: we've received the last of the oil that we're going to be getting from the Gulf. It's… so, we are going to start seeing impacts to our food system, and it's going to be a super El Nino year by the look of it, which is going to impact global food supply.

510 01:21:56.250 --> 01:22:05.799 Daphne Du Cros: Yeah, some accounts are saying that we're heading for, essentially, like, a global food crisis and potential famine situation. So,

511 01:22:06.450 --> 01:22:09.919 Daphne Du Cros: Yeah, it's… it's sort of teeing it up to say.

512 01:22:10.390 --> 01:22:16.529 Daphne Du Cros: team, this is serious. Like, we're not messing around. You have a responsibility to take care of people.

513 01:22:16.530 --> 01:22:32.529 Daphne Du Cros: So I've included some resources at the end of my presentation, which I'll share, and you can forward these to them and say, you know, this is Tim Lang's report, this is the sort of leading document, this is the next one, this is the next one. They're all stacking up to say the same thing, we need to do more locally.

514 01:22:32.600 --> 01:22:37.879 Daphne Du Cros: But yeah, if you… I mean, I've always wanted to come to Froome, so, you know…

515 01:22:37.880 --> 01:22:38.980 Caroline Wajsblum: Oh, come visit.

516 01:22:38.980 --> 01:22:41.660 Daphne Du Cros: Well, let me know, and I can shout at your council for you.

517 01:22:41.660 --> 01:22:42.430 Caroline Wajsblum: Yes, please.

518 01:22:42.430 --> 01:22:43.220 Daphne Du Cros: I can't speak with you.

519 01:22:43.220 --> 01:22:45.360 Caroline Wajsblum: Thanks very much.

520 01:22:45.360 --> 01:22:46.960 Daphne Du Cros: Lynn.

521 01:22:47.580 --> 01:22:56.679 Lynn Parker: Hi, Daphne. I'm just down the road from you in Clun. Oh, hi. Hi! I'm the Local Nature Recovery Strategy Coordinator.

522 01:22:56.680 --> 01:22:57.210 Daphne Du Cros: Yay!

523 01:22:57.210 --> 01:23:01.980 Lynn Parker: So, I've spoken to Jenny previously, but really keen to make.

524 01:23:01.980 --> 01:23:02.680 Annie L , in Llanidloes, in Powys: regularly.

525 01:23:02.680 --> 01:23:05.680 Lynn Parker: links, yeah.

526 01:23:05.970 --> 01:23:29.730 Lynn Parker: yeah, so the LNRS is published today, and, we've been kind of working with… I'm sure you'll know Janet well, Janet Corve, in terms of, working with SLALK, and we've got a workbook, which hopefully you might be aware of, in terms of making LNRS, relevant for parish councils, which is great. At the moment, it doesn't really focus on food stuff, and, it'd be really good to,

527 01:23:30.140 --> 01:23:44.849 Lynn Parker: to talk to you more about that, about whether we adapt that, or whether we produce something a bit separate, but I'm also thinking from a health point of view, it doesn't really address some of those issues in that workbook, but really to kind of make

528 01:23:44.850 --> 01:23:52.639 Lynn Parker: Town and parish councils, as you're saying, you know, kind of really aware of… of how they can help and make it as easy as possible.

529 01:23:52.810 --> 01:23:53.350 Lynn Parker: Yep.

530 01:23:53.350 --> 01:24:01.190 Daphne Du Cros: Absolutely. Yes, we have been… oh, it is a great frustration of mine that

531 01:24:01.270 --> 01:24:16.860 Daphne Du Cros: local nature recovery strategies are a statutory responsibility, but having a food strategy for communities isn't. And they do dovetail hugely, and they're so… so complementary and important. So yes,

532 01:24:16.860 --> 01:24:29.360 Daphne Du Cros: I love, love the workbook, and I have talked to Janet about it would be great to get a food workbook, essentially, put together. It's something that we are working on for the food partnership.

533 01:24:29.610 --> 01:24:43.529 Daphne Du Cros: So it's going to more or less be a digital magazine for the time being, just because funding. But it gives us the opportunity to create a toolkit, like a food resilience toolkit, framed as a good news magazine.

534 01:24:43.530 --> 01:24:55.039 Daphne Du Cros: Here are some great examples of things that are going on. This is how, you know, these are the stories of our farmers and the people who are managing our landscapes in regenerative ways.

535 01:24:55.560 --> 01:25:01.000 Daphne Du Cros: different… tools to feed in for practical skills. So…

536 01:25:01.000 --> 01:25:24.819 Daphne Du Cros: Yeah, definitely, it's a further conversation to have. I was just… sorry, everyone, as we sort of talk local shop, I was just at the Shropshire Hills National Landscape Advisory Group meeting, and it was, you know, talking about how we fit these people, these pieces together, and we're all really good at working in our lane, but what we need to do is all come together and figure out how the edges of the edges

537 01:25:24.820 --> 01:25:26.169 Daphne Du Cros: Fit together with

538 01:25:26.170 --> 01:25:36.879 Daphne Du Cros: with water systems, with food and farming systems, with climate systems and landscape systems. So, yes, shoot me an email, and… or you can crash my upcoming lunch with Janet.

539 01:25:37.170 --> 01:25:41.699 Lynn Parker: Oh, okay. I mean, yeah, amazing. That would be great. Thank you.

540 01:25:41.700 --> 01:25:43.220 Daphne Du Cros: Cool, Michael…

541 01:25:46.900 --> 01:25:50.440 Michael Holton - Brunslow Shropshire: Hey, sorry. Firstly, thank you.

542 01:25:50.540 --> 01:26:00.770 Michael Holton - Brunslow Shropshire: It's really interesting so far. I am sort of coming at this from a completely different angle, in the sense that I've been working with a couple of my clients who are food businesses.

543 01:26:01.210 --> 01:26:16.219 Michael Holton - Brunslow Shropshire: And one of the things that I did was I shared some resource that the RHS produced last year, Space to Grow report, which is really interesting, really quite diverse, about how people can take

544 01:26:16.340 --> 01:26:33.680 Michael Holton - Brunslow Shropshire: a proportionate part of their garden or spaces to grow vegetables, you know, so… and it was kind of, sort of balancing around, sort of, food sovereignty. But what they've decided to do is run a couple of initiatives, both of the clients, where we're looking at, creating spaces to grow.

545 01:26:34.210 --> 01:26:50.239 Michael Holton - Brunslow Shropshire: One of the clients has a cookery school with quite a lot of acreage, and they're, planning to turn over part of that to work with a local parish community. Great. And so for me, it's what, you know, sort of, I've tried to work with local parish.

546 01:26:50.240 --> 01:26:56.099 Michael Holton - Brunslow Shropshire: councils before, and councillors before, and obviously we've discussed the frustrations

547 01:26:56.100 --> 01:26:58.270 Michael Holton - Brunslow Shropshire: That, you know, they don't really see

548 01:26:58.300 --> 01:27:12.939 Michael Holton - Brunslow Shropshire: food sovereignty as a priority over other things because of the political agenda at large. So for me, it's always been, you know, sort of about people and communities actually empowering themselves.

549 01:27:12.940 --> 01:27:22.930 Michael Holton - Brunslow Shropshire: to have, you know, sort of tenure in it. So I think, from my perspective, because this is relatively new, and, I'm looking at it from…

550 01:27:23.130 --> 01:27:27.460 Michael Holton - Brunslow Shropshire: Perhaps flipping it from, you know, sort of.

551 01:27:27.600 --> 01:27:36.860 Michael Holton - Brunslow Shropshire: Governing bodies, or, you know, sort of those kind of institutions, to actual commercial interests being involved

552 01:27:36.860 --> 01:27:53.430 Michael Holton - Brunslow Shropshire: in actually creating grassroots and getting behind grassroots. So, you mentioned greenwashing, you know, a lot of people just use it as marketing speak, you know, for PR, or to add value to something that predominantly they're not doing.

553 01:27:53.560 --> 01:28:10.390 Michael Holton - Brunslow Shropshire: And, you know, so I think for me, it's very much, you know, there are lots of people out there doing some amazing things in hospitality, in, you know, sort of running, you know, sort of lovely little bakeries, you know, like, artisanal.

554 01:28:10.390 --> 01:28:26.999 Michael Holton - Brunslow Shropshire: You know, sort of elements that is, you know, not using, you know, regenerative as a, you know, as a buzzword, as a practice, but actually really understanding the practice of what we used to do being important.

555 01:28:27.000 --> 01:28:34.160 Michael Holton - Brunslow Shropshire: You know, and not this homogenized sort of system that we sort of all have fallen into the trap of.

556 01:28:34.410 --> 01:28:53.820 Michael Holton - Brunslow Shropshire: I'm waffling now, sorry, once I get the microphone, I'm off. So I think from my perspective, because I, you know, I have lots of grand ideas, I sort of come from a strategy perspective, so I sort of… I'm always big picture. When working locally and looking at local

557 01:28:53.860 --> 01:29:03.210 Michael Holton - Brunslow Shropshire: parishes. This particular one is in Berkshire. I live around the corner from you, Daphne, I'm in Brunslow. And, so…

558 01:29:03.740 --> 01:29:19.979 Michael Holton - Brunslow Shropshire: Is there something really… I mean, you mentioned, you know, sort of reaching out through parish magazines, gauging the interest of people, seeing who the boots on the ground are, who our champions are, maybe, in the local community that can drive this. Is there anything else that we can be doing?

559 01:29:21.620 --> 01:29:26.450 Daphne Du Cros: Oh, yeah. I mean, I gave… I gave a few wee examples,

560 01:29:26.450 --> 01:29:44.560 Daphne Du Cros: I'll… if it's all right with you, I'll take Michael's question, and and then… and Graham, then can I let you wrap up? I've got a… I've got a 1.30 call. But, yes, oh my goodness, there's so much to do. So, corporate lens. Let's talk corporate lens, that's a really interesting one. A lot of organizations have a social value budget.

561 01:29:45.220 --> 01:29:45.830 Michael Holton - Brunslow Shropshire: Exactly.

562 01:29:45.830 --> 01:29:50.660 Daphne Du Cros: So, through the food partnership, recognizing that a lot of people don't,

563 01:29:51.580 --> 01:29:53.979 Daphne Du Cros: Don't understand food and the food system.

564 01:29:54.120 --> 01:30:06.469 Daphne Du Cros: In a broader sense. You know, they might be a food business and focus on one area, or they might not engage with food very much, but they want to support their local community.

565 01:30:06.670 --> 01:30:10.680 Daphne Du Cros: Through the Food Partnership, we offer

566 01:30:10.990 --> 01:30:24.879 Daphne Du Cros: corporate training, what does food system… what does your local food system look like, what does food… what do food systems look like, what's food resilience? And how you can contribute to it, how that impacts your business, what we can look at there.

567 01:30:24.880 --> 01:30:34.549 Daphne Du Cros: And people love to have corporate volunteering days where they go and, you know, they paint the fence on their kid's football club, but where's the lasting impact in that? So what we can do is

568 01:30:35.020 --> 01:30:37.299 Daphne Du Cros: We can go and…

569 01:30:37.300 --> 01:31:00.299 Daphne Du Cros: talk food, talk food systems, talk food resilience to these organizations, and then bring them into their local community, and have, you know, a half, you know, a work day where they help build a community garden up, and start an initiative like that, or support something as they're getting going, or to maintain something on a regular basis. So there are ways to do that. I'm a huge fan of

570 01:31:00.300 --> 01:31:02.190 Daphne Du Cros: Of an initiative.

571 01:31:02.190 --> 01:31:07.840 Daphne Du Cros: called Food Not Lawns. And Food Not Lawns was started in the States

572 01:31:08.180 --> 01:31:18.239 Daphne Du Cros: Because, essentially, lawns are a pointless monoculture that aren't natural, they're not diverse, they're a green desert. And now, with the current climate, in summer, they just cook.

573 01:31:18.620 --> 01:31:35.700 Daphne Du Cros: But, I think there's an interesting cultural narrative that we can sort of get on, that, what about the traditional cottage garden? It was species-rich, it was providing food, it was providing habitat, it was a showcase in your front yard.

574 01:31:35.730 --> 01:31:42.079 Daphne Du Cros: And I think it would be wonderful to have examples of how we can

575 01:31:42.190 --> 01:31:47.890 Daphne Du Cros: dig up lawns and convert them back to traditional cottage gardens.

576 01:31:47.910 --> 01:31:50.530 Daphne Du Cros: And, and ways to enjoy that.

577 01:31:50.530 --> 01:32:08.160 Daphne Du Cros: We do our Shropshire Good Food Trail, so which is our way of showcasing our local food system and the people who are doing great things in it. If you have organizations that want to put their money where their mouth is once it comes to supporting a local food system, we have a crowdfunder, so you can…

578 01:32:08.160 --> 01:32:17.879 Daphne Du Cros: nudge that towards your clients. And if people want to be engaged in their… in showcasing their local food system, they can be on our…

579 01:32:17.930 --> 01:32:25.189 Daphne Du Cros: be on our magazine, be on our map, and be a part of that as well. I don't know if that fully answered your question, but…

580 01:32:25.190 --> 01:32:42.060 Michael Holton - Brunslow Shropshire: He does, but I'd love to… I mean, obviously not now, but I'd love to pick this up with you separately, simply because there's something I want to do locally. I'm now a resident of Shockshire, so there's something I want to do locally as well, and I just think that,

581 01:32:42.620 --> 01:32:50.670 Michael Holton - Brunslow Shropshire: I also, like, I might be able to help the organization a little bit coming from my consultancy background, so that would be amazing.

582 01:32:51.100 --> 01:32:54.980 Daphne Du Cros: Wonderful. We want all foods on the ground, all gifts are welcome, thank you.

583 01:32:55.480 --> 01:32:56.959 Daphne Du Cros: Graham…

584 01:32:57.370 --> 01:33:09.009 Graham Stoddart-Stones-Great Collaboration, Bembridge: One last comment, the perennial request from everywhere is fundraising. Where do we get the money from to do all this? And we're finding more and more that community energy sources produce money.

585 01:33:09.010 --> 01:33:24.630 Graham Stoddart-Stones-Great Collaboration, Bembridge: Any windmill or wind turbine will generate cash for the community, and we're talking in terms of tens of thousands of pounds per year that can go to the local council for funding these sorts of events, and so much

586 01:33:24.840 --> 01:33:33.409 Graham Stoddart-Stones-Great Collaboration, Bembridge: can be done with so little that I just recommend to everyone that they look into that. We're going to be doing a session in the middle of June, June the 10th, I hope.

587 01:33:33.450 --> 01:33:46.800 Graham Stoddart-Stones-Great Collaboration, Bembridge: on how you can set up your local energy organization so that you do indeed generate cash in the local community. So I just mentioned that to people in passing. And then let me move on, Daphne, because you've got about 30 seconds left.

588 01:33:46.800 --> 01:34:01.579 Graham Stoddart-Stones-Great Collaboration, Bembridge: to say thank you so much for a brilliant day. Everyone's loved it. The comments are still pouring in on the chat, so thank you very much. One question for you is, are you happy for me to put your email address on the…

589 01:34:01.580 --> 01:34:02.640 Graham Stoddart-Stones-Great Collaboration, Bembridge: Vent a page.

590 01:34:02.860 --> 01:34:10.919 Daphne Du Cros: Yeah, absolutely, I've just put my email in the chat for anybody who's still there, and I will share my,

591 01:34:11.020 --> 01:34:19.350 Daphne Du Cros: I'll share my presentation with you, Graham, coming up, and I'll probably knock a few more resources into it, just that I've mentioned in passing.

592 01:34:19.750 --> 01:34:22.430 Graham Stoddart-Stones-Great Collaboration, Bembridge: Fantastic. Where do you find the time? Well done.

593 01:34:22.430 --> 01:34:24.099 Daphne Du Cros: Yeah, lots of coffee, lots of coffee.

594 01:34:24.230 --> 01:34:37.960 Graham Stoddart-Stones-Great Collaboration, Bembridge: Well, it's really been a pleasure to see you again, thank you so much, and thank you everybody for coming, and I'm sure we'll have something to talk about next week. Oh, yes, it's going to be the People's Emergency Briefing again. Wonderful. Thank you very much. Take care all. Bye-bye.

595 01:34:38.100 --> 01:34:39.300 Daphne Du Cros: Thanks, everyone!

596 01:34:39.300 --> 01:34:39.760 Andrew Maliphant, Great Collaboratiom: Thanks.

PreviousBanter 117: 29Apr26 NEB-PEB National Emergency Briefing - People's Emergency Briefing NextBanter 115: 15Apr26 The Great Collaboration Knowledgebase

Last updated 17 days ago

hashtagVideo Timeline: Food Resilience 22APR26 (min:sec):

hashtagPresentation: Food Resilience 22Apr26

hashtagMeeting Summary: Food Resilience 22Apr26

hashtagQuick recap

hashtagNext steps

hashtagSummary

hashtagFood Resilience Discussion Meeting

hashtagFood Resilience Partnership Initiatives

hashtagFood Partnerships Community Resilience Strategy

hashtagShropshire Food Resilience Initiatives

hashtagFood Resilience Collaboration Strategies

hashtagCommunity Food Resilience Initiatives

hashtagFood Resilience Community Engagement Strategies

hashtagSuggested Links: Food Resilience 22Apr26

hashtagContact Daphne Du Cros: [email protected]

hashtagChat: Food Resilience 22Apr26

hashtagFood Resilience presentation 22Apr26 - Markdown copy:

hashtagCivil Food Resilience & Local Action

hashtagSGFP: How We Work & What We Do

hashtagFood Systems Approach

hashtagKey Areas:

hashtagWorking Across the Bioregional Scale

hashtagCurrent Context: The Good News & The Bad News

hashtagPathway to Acute Food System Crisis

hashtagReframing Communications

hashtagCivil Food Resilience Response

hashtagCapacity Building Framework

hashtagShort Term

hashtagMedium Term

hashtagLong Term

hashtagOngoing Enablers

hashtagWorking in Partnership

hashtagDelivery Model

hashtagCase Study: Little Woodbatch

hashtagGet Growing

hashtagMicro Infrastructure

hashtagCommunity Prepping

hashtagDecentralise: Relocalise

hashtagPlan: Proactive & Responsive

hashtagResources

hashtagFood Resilience banter session 116 - Audio-Transcript: