Daphne lays out the current, pretty dire, situation with respect to the UK's ability to feed itself, and then suggests some steps to help redeem the situation at the local community level
Last updated
00:00 - 42:00 Presentation
42:00 - 78:20 (end) Q & A
The team discussed the potential impacts of the devolution white paper and the abolition of district councils, with a focus on the role of town and parish councils in taking on more responsibilities. Daphne shared her experiences with the 'Right to Grow' initiative in Shropshire and emphasized the importance of food resilience and the need for a national food strategy in the UK. The meeting also covered the challenges of food system resilience, the potential of innovative farming techniques, and the importance of community support and cooperatives in sourcing food sustainably.
Daphne to share experiences from Shropshire's implementation of the Right to Grow initiative.
Joolz to share data, documents, plans and business planning related to their aeroponic growing project with Daphne.
Amanda to discuss offline with Daphne about Mid Counties Co-op's "Best of Counties" local supplier initiative.
Daphne to circulate information about the planned Resilience Conference in Shropshire (tentatively scheduled for September) as details take shape.
Sandra to explore the Y and Usk Foundation's work on river-friendly farming in Herefordshire as a model for Dorset.
Food partnerships to consider ways to provide value to farming clusters, such as offering training, inviting speakers, and providing organizational structure for funding bids.
Andrew to visit Bishop's Castle in the New Year.
All attendees to prepare for the January 8th discussion on how to help communities fund their climate action, in response to a government request.
Andrew to write up the conclusions from the January 8th discussion for submission to the government by January 13th.
Devolution White Paper and Councils
In the meeting, Daphne, Andrew, Jenny, Graham, Chris, and Joolz discussed the potential impacts of the devolution white paper and the abolition of district councils. They discussed how this might lead to town and parish councils taking on more responsibilities, such as waste collection and verge maintenance. Daphne shared her experiences from Shropshire, where they passed the 'Right to Grow' initiative in September 2022. The team also discussed the challenges faced by Shropshire Council, including staff culling and heating issues. The conversation ended with Daphne preparing to present on her experiences with the 'Right to Grow' initiative.
UK Food Resilience and Strategy
Daphne discussed the importance of food resilience and the need for a national food strategy in the UK. She highlighted the country's reliance on imported food, the decline in farming as a viable career, and the impact of climate change, war, and supply chain disruptions on food systems. Daphne also mentioned the Welsh Government's emergency food package and the need for joined-up policies considering food emissions. She emphasized the role of food partnerships in addressing these issues and suggested the potential for community farms or gardens to replace food banks. Daphne also mentioned the upcoming report on civil food resilience and the rebooting of a National food strategy by the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
Improving Food Security and Resilience
Daphne discussed the vulnerability of the UK's food system, highlighting the dominance of a few large companies in the production and distribution of food. She argued for a more decentralized and connected system to improve food security and resilience, particularly in times of crisis. Daphne also mentioned the need to strengthen local resilience forums and bring food into their remit, as they currently lack the capacity to address food-related issues. She referred to the work of Tim Lang, who is set to publish a report on civil food resilience through the National Preparedness Commission. Daphne emphasized the importance of prevention over cure in maintaining food security and reducing the gap between the most vulnerable and the rest of society.
National Risk Register and Food Security
Daphne discussed the National Risk Register, which identifies potential issues and their likelihood. She highlighted that food security is a significant concern, but it is not a priority at the government level. Daphne also mentioned the importance of community food assessments and the need for a food resilience strategy. She shared her experience running a market garden during the pandemic and the subsequent loss of interest in local produce. Daphne also mentioned the "right to grow" initiative in Shropshire, which aims to give people access to disused or underused land for growing fruit and vegetables. However, she noted that the initiative has faced resistance from the council. The conversation ended with Daphne expressing her intention to support community groups and provide training for councillors.
Decentralizing Food Systems for Resilience
Daphne discussed the challenges of food system resilience and the need for a decentralized, equally distributed system. She highlighted the importance of projects that promote food sharing, cooking, and growing, and the need for a range of skills to empower communities. Daphne also emphasized the importance of infrastructure, such as livestock markets and abattoirs, and the potential of dynamic procurement. She mentioned the Shropshire Good Food Trail and the Marches Real Food and Farming Partnership as examples of successful initiatives. Daphne also discussed the potential for collaboration between councils and food partnerships, and the development of a crisis mapping and response system. Lastly, she mentioned the formation of a unified voice for organizations working in climate, nature, recovery, and food systems.
Food Security and Local Production
Daphne discussed the importance of food security and the need for a shift in perspective towards food production and distribution. She emphasized the need for a more resilient food system, beyond the current silos, and suggested the creation of local food strategies. Daphne also highlighted the issue of food banks and the potential for alternative business models and direct sales. Tristram asked about the possibility of increasing domestic food production to 100% in case of an import crisis, to which Daphne responded that it would take time and effort to ramp up production and invest in UK horticulture. Councillor Stuart raised the issue of food preservation, suggesting the possibility of a community food processing unit. Daphne suggested a library of seasonal preservation methods and equipment, emphasizing the need for a variety of approaches to food security.
Community Engagement and Food Resilience
Daphne discussed the importance of engaging with the community at various levels, including through local organizations like the Wy, and the need for a wide range of skills and expertise. She also mentioned the potential for community initiatives and skill shares, and the existence of models and structures that can be replicated. Andrew expressed concerns about the government's plans to build on agricultural land and the need for local action. Chris emphasized the complexity of the food network and the need for a full debate on the issue. Daphne concluded by stating that their focus is on food resilience and they are working to build stronger relationships with farmers and find creative solutions for them to sell their produce.
Innovative Farming Techniques and Challenges
Daphne and Joolz discussed the potential of various innovative farming techniques, including aeroponic and hydroponic growing, and the use of thermal mass in greenhouses. Joolz shared her community's plans to repurpose old grain silos for renewable energy and aeroponic growing, and expressed interest in sharing more information. Daphne acknowledged the value of these innovations but also highlighted the challenges of cost and investment for community initiatives. The conversation ended with Joolz promising to share more details about her community's plans.
Co-OPs, Networking, and Sustainable Food
Amanda discussed the importance of networking and community support, particularly in the context of the Co-OP movement and the role of cooperatives in sourcing food sustainably. She mentioned her involvement with Mid Counties Co-OP and the "Best of Counties" initiative, which supports local suppliers. Daphne agreed on the importance of community empowerment through cooperatives and suggested that Co-OPs could play a significant role in linking up local growers to feed into their operations. She also mentioned a forthcoming Resilience Conference in Shropshire. Sandra shared her involvement with the Dorset Climate Action Network and the Feeding Dorset partnership, and expressed interest in learning more about dynamic procurement. The group also discussed the challenges of procurement in schools and the need for a value change towards resilience.
00:17:52 amanda davis: Adding my questions here as I may not be able to stay the duration:
00:30:49 amanda davis: Do you see food resilience and policy at the a. national level b. commercial level c. protected landscapes d. counties e. district councils f. parish council g. communities for themselves h. poss same as g but individuals growing and trading, probably via allotments AND is it for a temporary emergency bridging or is it for the long term? As a director of Midcounties Coop, we have a twin obligation: 1. to be a responsible retailer of food AND 2. to deliver to the communities of our members. With fairtrade, Best of Counties buying from locals, animal welfare standards (not buying chicken from abroad, for eg) As a member of the Cotswolds National Landscape Board, our net zero by 2050 action planning found that the second higher contributor to ghg emission was food & drink so this may be an important factor to consider too. Then the perceived (is it real?) loss of productive agricultural land to solar farms. A "dump" of my thoughts & questions
00:31:16 amanda davis: Will be watching this develop with keen interest. Final nugget: Do you know FarmEd in west oxfordshire? It seems to be in this space too, especially seed supply and other resilience management 0:39:24 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration: You can download “In case of crisis or war” from here: https://www.msb.se/sv/publikationer/om-krisen-eller-kriget-kommer-pa-engelska/
00:39:53 Sandra Reeve: Where can one find the right to grow application documents please?
00:40:32 amanda davis: "Shropshire council"? is that county level?
00:40:34 Andrew Maliphant: Government has published a community energy plan template, which is not always circulated to local level by local authorities: community_emergency_plan_template.doc
00:41:45 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration: “Right to Grow” links: https://www.incredibleedible.org.uk/what-we-do/right-to-grow/
00:41:51 Andrew Maliphant: Sorry, community emergency plan! !!@@!"£&&! predictive text!
00:43:17 Judith Robinson: In a town in Germany, the council uses their land to grow apple trees. Each autumn, people can make a bid for the apples on each tree, say 1 Euro, and are able to use all the apples on the trees for which they have won the bid.
00:46:00 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration: Highly recommend “From What If to What Is” by Rob Hopkins to show how ‘Transition Towns’ are helping to address some of the very real issues that Daphne is raising here…….
00:46:16 amanda davis: Our parish community orchard was largely seen as costing money and a green space. Now, starting small, we are engaging local community and IT'S community orchard with a wassail event in January. This is NOT a typical event in my village
00:53:58 Andrew Maliphant: In answer to the question of how we put this issue in perspective for everyone, the Maslow human needs hierarchy (1943) has food as one of the most basic needs
00:58:00 Andrew Maliphant: I'm told Government use to stockpile some food during the cold war, but no more - just relying on the supermarket chains
01:00:15 David Morgan-Jones: Thank you for an excellent presentation. This strikes me as an excellent start point to make a hard hitting film that exposes the UK's ability to survive after a major crises ?
01:02:41 amanda davis: Just set this up, in Sept 2024: BOURTON SUSTAINABILITY NETWORK BourtonSnetwork@gmail.com A group of residents from Bourton & surrounding hamlets & farms are forming a network of people interested in: · protecting & improving the local environment · promoting a more sustainable lifestyle · connecting likeminded people This is not a group that has rules, committees and paperwork, unnecessarily slowed by bureaucracy & red tape. And we aim to have fun!
01:04:15 amanda davis: We are excited to have had contact from Bourton people interested in: ·Blue spaces ie rivers, citizen science water quality testing, flood prevention & management etc ·Allotments, gardeners, orchards, nature recovery, regenerative & other farming practices, beekeeping, harvesting, making juice, foraging, composting, swift boxes, beelines etc We are interested in identifying people with a very wide range of skills & expertise in our respective communities, & would like to encourage people to come forward with interest or skills in: ·Community energy, solar & battery storage, turbines, heat pumps, insulation & retrofit, greywater, rainwater harvesting etc ·Car sharing, EV charging, car clubs, public & community transport including the Robin, active travel etc ·Planning, biodiversity net gain, neighbourhood plans, carbon literacy, greenhouse gases net zero, “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle“ etc
01:04:24 amanda davis: Please email BourtonSnetwork@gmail.com for more information, indicating what issues interest and excite you, which you have knowledge & skills in, any questions or comments you might have. No commitment at all :)
01:04:59 amanda davis: Sorry for the longhand but we only have this as a word file so no link to have posted that to
01:12:21 Andrew Maliphant: I have a channel into DEFRA which might help
01:13:45 Jenny Barna: Major slug problems now
01:19:55 Myriam Raso: Thank you so much for all the information you shared today!
01:21:34 Chris McFarling: Thank you so much for the wake up call.
01:29:56 amanda davis: Personally, I think resilience in all of life needs a value change away from "more for less"
01:31:01 Sandra Reeve: Thank you very much and wishing you all a good Christmas and a Happy New Year!
01:31:18 amanda davis: Happy Winter Solstice!
Tim Lang’s Food Thinker’s Series - Civil Food Resilience (video)
Tim Lang on UK food system preparedness for shocks (coming in the future: Tuesday, 21 January 2025, 11:00am–12:00pm): (worth checking the link for a ton of other useful stuff as well!)
Food Ladders, by Megan Blake: (video)
Nourishing Britain - A political Manual for improving the Nation’s Health. H. Dimbleby:
Sustainable Food Places Evidence of Impact:
Values Based Food systems: The Role of Food Partnerships in England:
Sustainable Food Places - A county-Level Guide:
Land Worker’s Alliance Report ‘Horticulture across Four Nations’:
Climate change, biodiversity and nutrition nexus: Evidence and emerging policy and programming opportunities:
WEBVTT
00:04:02.000 --> 00:04:04.000 Daphne Du Cros: Morning.
00:04:04.000 --> 00:04:05.000 Andrew Maliphant: Hi.
00:04:08.000 --> 00:04:09.000 Daphne Du Cros: How are you, Andrew?
00:04:09.000 --> 00:04:10.000 Andrew Maliphant: Thoughts about yourself.
00:04:10.000 --> 00:04:12.000 Daphne Du Cros: I'm well, thanks.
00:04:12.000 --> 00:04:14.000 Andrew Maliphant: Hey? How's the boy?
00:04:14.000 --> 00:04:21.000 Daphne Du Cros: Uh immobilized in front of the television. While I get this done we'll see how it goes.
00:04:21.000 --> 00:04:27.000 Daphne Du Cros: Uh! I might be interrupted as somebody asked me to change an episode of something or more pretzels, or.
00:04:25.000 --> 00:04:27.000 Jenny Barna: Something, or.
00:04:28.000 --> 00:04:30.000 Andrew Maliphant: I heard a story. Um!
00:04:29.000 --> 00:04:31.000 Jenny Barna: I heard the story of.
00:04:30.000 --> 00:04:33.000 Andrew Maliphant: Um, which I don't no way of knowing. It's true that.
00:04:31.000 --> 00:04:32.000 Jenny Barna: Hello!
00:04:32.000 --> 00:04:33.000 Jenny Barna: Don't know.
00:04:33.000 --> 00:04:35.000 Jenny Barna: True, as well.
00:04:34.000 --> 00:04:38.000 Andrew Maliphant: The Queen mother back in the day, had to have somebody to come in and change her television channels.
00:04:38.000 --> 00:04:39.000 Daphne Du Cros: Okay.
00:04:39.000 --> 00:04:45.000 Andrew Maliphant: But when when the family gave her a remote control, she still called called somebody into the room to use the remote control.
00:04:45.000 --> 00:04:53.000 Andrew Maliphant: Whether this is true or not I have no way of knowing, and I have nothing to say against the lady in question at all, but just. It was too good not to share.
00:04:54.000 --> 00:04:55.000 Daphne Du Cros: Mhm.
00:04:55.000 --> 00:04:58.000 Andrew Maliphant: Yeah. How old's how was the boy? How was him.
00:04:57.000 --> 00:04:59.000 Daphne Du Cros: He's 3.
00:04:58.000 --> 00:05:00.000 Andrew Maliphant: Sweet. Okay.
00:05:00.000 --> 00:05:01.000 Daphne Du Cros: Yeah, it was a.
00:05:01.000 --> 00:05:02.000 Daphne Du Cros: About.
00:05:02.000 --> 00:05:06.000 Daphne Du Cros: 5 past 10 that I got a call from the school today, saying.
00:05:06.000 --> 00:05:09.000 Daphne Du Cros: We better come get him. So I had to.
00:05:09.000 --> 00:05:14.000 Daphne Du Cros: Shuffle a couple of things so fingers crossed. Everyone might have to bear with me a little bit.
00:05:15.000 --> 00:05:15.000 Andrew Maliphant: Boom.
00:05:16.000 --> 00:05:19.000 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration: Morning, Daphne, Morning, everyone else.
00:05:18.000 --> 00:05:19.000 Daphne Du Cros: Morning.
00:05:18.000 --> 00:05:19.000 Andrew Maliphant: It is.
00:05:21.000 --> 00:05:24.000 Andrew Maliphant: I'm still not following. How are you doing, mate? Yes.
00:05:24.000 --> 00:05:30.000 Chris McFarling: Yeah, I'm I'm doing okay. Um, obviously, a. A bomb fell on us yesterday.
00:05:30.000 --> 00:05:31.000 Andrew Maliphant: What was your which one was that?
00:05:30.000 --> 00:05:31.000 Chris McFarling: With the um.
00:05:32.000 --> 00:05:34.000 Chris McFarling: Devolution, white paper.
00:05:34.000 --> 00:05:37.000 Chris McFarling: And the abolition of district councils.
00:05:37.000 --> 00:05:39.000 Andrew Maliphant: Yeah, indeed.
00:05:39.000 --> 00:05:40.000 Chris McFarling: So.
00:05:39.000 --> 00:05:40.000 Andrew Maliphant: Um.
00:05:40.000 --> 00:05:41.000 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration: Ouch!
00:05:41.000 --> 00:05:43.000 Andrew Maliphant: Um, I'd I'd say that.
00:05:41.000 --> 00:05:42.000 Chris McFarling: Yeah.
00:05:42.000 --> 00:05:43.000 Chris McFarling: We're just trying to.
00:05:43.000 --> 00:05:45.000 Chris McFarling: Try to respond to that.
00:05:45.000 --> 00:05:48.000 Andrew Maliphant: 1 1 of the councillors in um.
00:05:48.000 --> 00:05:52.000 Andrew Maliphant: Gloucester, that where I used to work, City said, Oh, you know this is.
00:05:52.000 --> 00:05:56.000 Andrew Maliphant: This is the end of the world. Um, but I'm thinking, is this, you know.
00:05:56.000 --> 00:06:00.000 Andrew Maliphant: Gloucester needs a District Council, whatever it is.
00:06:00.000 --> 00:06:04.000 Andrew Maliphant: Um, of course. The other solution is that Gloucester developed a town Council.
00:06:05.000 --> 00:06:10.000 Andrew Maliphant: Which is what happened in Taunton. When Taunton Dean went um was sucked into Somerset.
00:06:10.000 --> 00:06:13.000 Andrew Maliphant: Within. With the same breath Taunton Town Council appeared.
00:06:13.000 --> 00:06:14.000 Andrew Maliphant: So uh.
00:06:14.000 --> 00:06:20.000 Andrew Maliphant: We are opposite, we are. We're already fully perished in in the in the forest. Um, but places like Gloucester.
00:06:20.000 --> 00:06:25.000 Andrew Maliphant: They've just got Quedgley at the moment. Um, Barton, you know Gloucester City Centre.
00:06:25.000 --> 00:06:26.000 Andrew Maliphant: Um.
00:06:27.000 --> 00:06:29.000 Andrew Maliphant: And what that means in turn. Of course.
00:06:29.000 --> 00:06:31.000 Andrew Maliphant: Which has been happening for a while.
00:06:31.000 --> 00:06:37.000 Andrew Maliphant: Um. I don't know what it's like in Shropshire. Daphne is that town and Parish Council is having to step up to the plate because a lot of stuff is.
00:06:37.000 --> 00:06:40.000 Andrew Maliphant: Cascading down on them. Yeah.
00:06:40.000 --> 00:06:45.000 Andrew Maliphant: So we're quite cheerful about that, because there people are close to the community getting this stuff.
00:06:45.000 --> 00:06:51.000 Andrew Maliphant: And as we speak, of course, though they don't want to put their precepts up, they are not capped in terms of how much money they raise.
00:06:51.000 --> 00:06:54.000 Andrew Maliphant: Um. So there's all kinds of other issues about.
00:06:54.000 --> 00:06:56.000 Andrew Maliphant: Obviously losing a District Council. Of course there are.
00:06:56.000 --> 00:06:57.000 Andrew Maliphant: Oh!
00:06:58.000 --> 00:07:03.000 Andrew Maliphant: But one outcomes, and I can see is that actually the spotlight then falls on town and parish councils.
00:07:04.000 --> 00:07:05.000 Andrew Maliphant: There we go!
00:07:05.000 --> 00:07:06.000 Chris McFarling: Um.
00:07:06.000 --> 00:07:10.000 Chris McFarling: Yeah, I I couldn't disagree with you. There.
00:07:10.000 --> 00:07:13.000 Chris McFarling: Although how parish and town councils are going to.
00:07:13.000 --> 00:07:16.000 Chris McFarling: Deliver some of the services. He's not sure.
00:07:16.000 --> 00:07:17.000 Andrew Maliphant: Sure.
00:07:16.000 --> 00:07:18.000 Chris McFarling: How will they deliver waste collection.
00:07:19.000 --> 00:07:20.000 Andrew Maliphant: Well.
00:07:19.000 --> 00:07:23.000 Chris McFarling: You know my Parish Council has got no idea on how it would do that.
00:07:22.000 --> 00:07:23.000 Andrew Maliphant: Sure.
00:07:23.000 --> 00:07:24.000 Andrew Maliphant: Well, I'm not suggesting.
00:07:23.000 --> 00:07:26.000 Chris McFarling: Never mind managing the resources needed to do that.
00:07:25.000 --> 00:07:26.000 Andrew Maliphant: Oh!
00:07:26.000 --> 00:07:32.000 Andrew Maliphant: I'm not suggesting the parishes take over all the district responsibilities, because obviously, those largely go to the unitary. But.
00:07:32.000 --> 00:07:36.000 Andrew Maliphant: I think we're heading we're looking to. We're entering a new world in more ways than one, aren't we, Chris?
00:07:36.000 --> 00:07:37.000 Chris McFarling: Yeah.
00:07:38.000 --> 00:07:41.000 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration: Actually, Chris, it's fun that we.
00:07:41.000 --> 00:07:48.000 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration: We're a few months ahead of you there. So in Somerset they went to a unitary from being a County Council at the.
00:07:48.000 --> 00:07:49.000 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration: Earlier this year.
00:07:49.000 --> 00:07:50.000 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration: And.
00:07:50.000 --> 00:07:58.000 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration: The 1st thing you have to inure yourself is the absolute total chaos that's going to arise, particularly as they discover that they then had a.
00:07:58.000 --> 00:08:01.000 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration: 100 million pound hole in their budget.
00:08:01.000 --> 00:08:06.000 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration: So they thought they were going to save 83 million by becoming a unitary. And in point of fact, they discovered they're going to.
00:08:06.000 --> 00:08:09.000 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration: I've defined about 180 million now. So.
00:08:09.000 --> 00:08:10.000 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration: Not good stuff.
00:08:10.000 --> 00:08:11.000 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration: But.
00:08:11.000 --> 00:08:22.000 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration: The reason I'm mentioning it now is that the 1st question that everybody at the parish level asked is exactly what you said. So where are these ruddy waste bins? How many are there, and how often do we have to empty them.
00:08:23.000 --> 00:08:24.000 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration: And.
00:08:23.000 --> 00:08:23.000 Andrew Maliphant: That's it.
00:08:24.000 --> 00:08:32.000 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration: Parish online sort of leaped to the fore because we managed to find somebody in the unitary who hadn't yet been fired.
00:08:32.000 --> 00:08:35.000 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration: And who did have some knowledge of their um.
00:08:36.000 --> 00:08:36.000 Andrew Maliphant: See ya.
00:08:36.000 --> 00:08:55.000 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration: Geographical information system, their gis, and they were able to respond to our request, saying, You've got all these parishes that need to know where their waste bins are. Where are there this? Where are there that that you're now saying? You're no longer going to mow the verges which verges and the information is all held.
00:08:50.000 --> 00:08:51.000 Andrew Maliphant: No.
00:08:55.000 --> 00:08:57.000 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration: In a database somewhere.
00:08:57.000 --> 00:09:01.000 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration: But identifying where it is and getting it released.
00:09:01.000 --> 00:09:06.000 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration: Into parish online, and so forth, is a battle at which we become remarkably adept.
00:09:06.000 --> 00:09:09.000 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration: So.
00:09:08.000 --> 00:09:12.000 Andrew Maliphant: What was what was it like in Shropshire, Daphne cause that happened? What 2 or 3 years ago.
00:09:12.000 --> 00:09:13.000 Andrew Maliphant: Unitary.
00:09:14.000 --> 00:09:15.000 Daphne Du Cros: Oh!
00:09:16.000 --> 00:09:17.000 Daphne Du Cros: I mean.
00:09:18.000 --> 00:09:21.000 Daphne Du Cros: Yeah, I'm not. I'm not quite sure. At the Shropshire County level. Um.
00:09:22.000 --> 00:09:24.000 Daphne Du Cros: Gosh! Shropshire Council is currently.
00:09:24.000 --> 00:09:28.000 Daphne Du Cros: In a very, very poor position. They've.
00:09:28.000 --> 00:09:37.000 Daphne Du Cros: Sent everybody to work from home a massive culling of staff, and essentially don't have the money to turn on the heating in the main building, so.
00:09:38.000 --> 00:09:41.000 Daphne Du Cros: Yes, it's it's complicated. Um.
00:09:42.000 --> 00:09:55.000 Daphne Du Cros: At this point I've had, I mean I will get into this a little bit in my. In my presentation it presents not only interesting opportunities for town and parish councils, but for communities to step in. If.
00:09:54.000 --> 00:09:55.000 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration: Yeah, okay.
00:09:55.000 --> 00:09:57.000 Daphne Du Cros: If um.
00:09:57.000 --> 00:09:59.000 Daphne Du Cros: Essentially, mechanisms are.
00:09:59.000 --> 00:10:20.000 Daphne Du Cros: Well, either the red tape is removed or opportunities are presented to them to to take those spaces on. Obviously there's investment in infrastructure and coordination and collaboration that needs to take place. I had a great conversation with someone recently, and I said, Well, what about these things like verges and things like, you know, growing on.
00:10:20.000 --> 00:10:27.000 Daphne Du Cros: Disused plots, and they said, Well, at this point we don't have anybody to monitor them, and to tell them not to. So if they were to do it, they could do it.
00:10:27.000 --> 00:10:32.000 Daphne Du Cros: Um. So that's sort of the unofficial position of you know.
00:10:32.000 --> 00:10:34.000 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration: Yeah, it all sounds remarkably familiar.
00:10:34.000 --> 00:10:37.000 Daphne Du Cros: But interesting. And it's.
00:10:35.000 --> 00:10:36.000 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration: It's a bit this.
00:10:36.000 --> 00:10:41.000 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration: Bit disappointing to find that you're 3 years ahead of us, and you're still in that sort of conditions.
00:10:41.000 --> 00:10:46.000 Chris McFarling: Well, the the other thing about um the the white paper is that it.
00:10:42.000 --> 00:10:43.000 Joolz Thompson: Yes.
00:10:46.000 --> 00:10:47.000 Chris McFarling: Also suggested.
00:10:47.000 --> 00:10:50.000 Chris McFarling: You 3 authorities need to group together.
00:10:50.000 --> 00:10:53.000 Chris McFarling: To have a minimum of 1.5 million people.
00:10:53.000 --> 00:10:54.000 Chris McFarling: In the area.
00:10:54.000 --> 00:10:58.000 Chris McFarling: So many of the county of Gloucestershire, for instance.
00:10:58.000 --> 00:11:00.000 Chris McFarling: Would not in itself be.
00:11:00.000 --> 00:11:02.000 Chris McFarling: Eligible, and it would have to join with.
00:11:03.000 --> 00:11:05.000 Chris McFarling: Herefordshire, Worcestershire.
00:11:05.000 --> 00:11:08.000 Chris McFarling: Um. Dare I say, Monmouthshire? But that would be.
00:11:08.000 --> 00:11:10.000 Chris McFarling: That would be crossing the boundary, I think.
00:11:10.000 --> 00:11:14.000 Chris McFarling: But yeah, it's it's it's taking out the whole of the middle.
00:11:14.000 --> 00:11:16.000 Chris McFarling: Middle surface area.
00:11:17.000 --> 00:11:17.000 Chris McFarling: Um.
00:11:17.000 --> 00:11:19.000 Chris McFarling: So interesting. Times, yeah.
00:11:17.000 --> 00:11:19.000 Joolz Thompson: On! On!
00:11:19.000 --> 00:11:23.000 Joolz Thompson: I'm facing the same in Norfolk and Suffolk. I'm a parish councillor in Suffolk.
00:11:24.000 --> 00:11:25.000 Joolz Thompson: And um.
00:11:25.000 --> 00:11:30.000 Joolz Thompson: And considering standing for County Council all in May.
00:11:30.000 --> 00:11:33.000 Joolz Thompson: And yeah, we're gonna we're facing.
00:11:33.000 --> 00:11:40.000 Joolz Thompson: Unitary authority or combined, you know, unitary unitary authority, dissolution of all the district councils, and probably a mayor.
00:11:40.000 --> 00:11:43.000 Joolz Thompson: Um for each, for each county.
00:11:41.000 --> 00:11:41.000 Chris McFarling: Yep.
00:11:42.000 --> 00:11:42.000 Chris McFarling: Yeah.
00:11:43.000 --> 00:11:45.000 Joolz Thompson: Um, it's interesting.
00:11:43.000 --> 00:11:45.000 Chris McFarling: Just what? Yeah.
00:11:45.000 --> 00:11:47.000 Chris McFarling: Sorry. I was just just gonna add that.
00:11:45.000 --> 00:11:47.000 Joolz Thompson: It's interesting, if not.
00:11:47.000 --> 00:11:48.000 Joolz Thompson: Yeah.
00:11:48.000 --> 00:11:50.000 Chris McFarling: That they're cancelling the um.
00:11:48.000 --> 00:11:49.000 Joolz Thompson: Go ahead!
00:11:50.000 --> 00:11:52.000 Chris McFarling: County elections.
00:11:52.000 --> 00:11:54.000 Chris McFarling: They're putting them back a year.
00:11:53.000 --> 00:11:53.000 Andrew Maliphant: Okay.
00:11:53.000 --> 00:11:54.000 Joolz Thompson: Okay.
00:11:54.000 --> 00:11:55.000 Chris McFarling: Yeah.
00:11:54.000 --> 00:11:55.000 Joolz Thompson: Oh!
00:11:57.000 --> 00:11:58.000 Andrew Maliphant: Oh, God!
00:11:57.000 --> 00:12:03.000 Joolz Thompson: Okay, so I won't be stopped campaigning streets recently. That's interesting. Um, okay, sure. Um.
00:12:02.000 --> 00:12:03.000 Chris McFarling: Watch, this space.
00:12:02.000 --> 00:12:03.000 Andrew Maliphant: You.
00:12:03.000 --> 00:12:05.000 Andrew Maliphant: You heard it first? st Here.
00:12:03.000 --> 00:12:05.000 Joolz Thompson: In, in.
00:12:05.000 --> 00:12:16.000 Joolz Thompson: In relation to space to grow. I've done some work with um centre for protection of rural England and town and countryside planning association and incredible edible.
00:12:16.000 --> 00:12:18.000 Joolz Thompson: On a right to grow private Members Bill.
00:12:19.000 --> 00:12:19.000 Daphne Du Cros: Great.
00:12:19.000 --> 00:12:21.000 Joolz Thompson: Um, looking at, accessing.
00:12:21.000 --> 00:12:23.000 Joolz Thompson: You know public land.
00:12:23.000 --> 00:12:30.000 Joolz Thompson: Um for communities to do just that definitely, to build build resilience and the ability to grow because it's super important.
00:12:30.000 --> 00:12:37.000 Joolz Thompson: Which is one of the reasons I'm fascinated in. I do lots of work on food resilience. I'm fascinated to listen and learn today.
00:12:30.000 --> 00:12:31.000 Daphne Du Cros: Great.
00:12:37.000 --> 00:12:49.000 Daphne Du Cros: Great. Yeah, I'll be talking about the right to grow a little bit. That's great that you're doing that Shropshire passed the right to grow in. I want to say. September 2022, so I'll be happy to share some of our experiences from that.
00:12:37.000 --> 00:12:38.000 Joolz Thompson: See you present.
00:12:49.000 --> 00:12:50.000 Joolz Thompson: Bad.
00:12:50.000 --> 00:12:50.000 Andrew Maliphant: Right.
00:12:51.000 --> 00:12:52.000 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration: So.
00:12:52.000 --> 00:12:54.000 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration: Definitely, we tanked.
00:12:54.000 --> 00:13:02.000 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration: Can take the 1st 5 min to allow all those people who tend to arrive late to arrive late. There are 16 people who've booked.
00:13:02.000 --> 00:13:10.000 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration: Yes, Amanda, we I was carefully not avoiding, I mean, avoiding making any mention of any names. But how nice of you to volunteer.
00:13:09.000 --> 00:13:10.000 Andrew Maliphant: Bye.
00:13:10.000 --> 00:13:11.000 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration: Um.
00:13:11.000 --> 00:13:12.000 amanda davis: It's me!
00:13:12.000 --> 00:13:14.000 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration: Yes.
00:13:14.000 --> 00:13:15.000 Andrew Maliphant: No.
00:13:14.000 --> 00:13:22.000 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration: So we we have 14 of the, actually, we've got more than 15. Wow! Even got more people than books. That's great. So.
00:13:22.000 --> 00:13:30.000 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration: I think this would be a time for me to ask you if you would please introduce yourself. Tell us what you're going to talk about, and then by all means, press ahead.
00:13:30.000 --> 00:13:31.000 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration: Thank you.
00:13:31.000 --> 00:13:34.000 Daphne Du Cros: Um? Should I? Should I do a screen share, so that.
00:13:33.000 --> 00:13:36.000 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration: Absolutely yes, be be my guest.
00:13:35.000 --> 00:13:36.000 Daphne Du Cros: They're not like.
00:13:36.000 --> 00:13:41.000 Daphne Du Cros: Assuming I have the necessary permissions to do so. Okay.
00:13:40.000 --> 00:13:41.000 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration: Yep.
00:13:41.000 --> 00:13:42.000 Daphne Du Cros: Bear with me.
00:13:42.000 --> 00:13:44.000 Daphne Du Cros: All right. And now there we are.
00:13:44.000 --> 00:13:44.000 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration: Yep.
00:13:45.000 --> 00:13:46.000 Daphne Du Cros: Perfect.
00:13:46.000 --> 00:13:51.000 Daphne Du Cros: Hi, everyone uh, thanks so much for coming today. I I am.
00:13:51.000 --> 00:14:05.000 Daphne Du Cros: Daphne. I'm in Shropshire. I'm based in Bishop's Castle. I'm originally from Canada, which is why I sound a bit funny definitely. Don't have the Shropshire accent, but I came to the Uk in 2014 to do a Phd. In food policy.
00:14:06.000 --> 00:14:10.000 Daphne Du Cros: At the City University Center for Food policy.
00:14:10.000 --> 00:14:33.000 Daphne Du Cros: Under Professor Tim Lang, who is now essentially on what seems like a book tour for civil food, resilience, and with a forthcoming report on that. So I'll get into that a little bit afterwards. But the interest in civil food resilience comes from from a number of areas obviously looking at.
00:14:33.000 --> 00:14:46.000 Daphne Du Cros: A Phd. In food policy, you tend to see where the gaps in the system are and how the system is incredibly fragile from that, realizing that in Academia there was.
00:14:46.000 --> 00:14:56.000 Daphne Du Cros: We would have these conferences where we would be talking about what farmers needed to be doing to make changes. But then, when I looked around. There weren't very many farmers in the room, if any, so.
00:14:56.000 --> 00:15:00.000 Daphne Du Cros: Left Academia for a time to.
00:15:00.000 --> 00:15:13.000 Daphne Du Cros: Start a farm, so became a market gardener as we started a young family, and so ran a market garden for several years in Bishop's castle, which took us through some really interesting times, notably the pandemic.
00:15:13.000 --> 00:15:14.000 Daphne Du Cros: Um.
00:15:14.000 --> 00:15:16.000 Daphne Du Cros: So that was.
00:15:16.000 --> 00:15:20.000 Daphne Du Cros: A real crash course in what.
00:15:20.000 --> 00:15:26.000 Daphne Du Cros: A fragile food system looks like from production all the way up.
00:15:26.000 --> 00:15:28.000 Daphne Du Cros: And.
00:15:28.000 --> 00:15:40.000 Daphne Du Cros: At that point also got involved with developing the Shropshire Good food partnership. So I will be talking about food partnerships today as well. So through that.
00:15:40.000 --> 00:15:49.000 Daphne Du Cros: I've got a lot of different levels of experience that are coming into this. So from, you know, academia to hands in the dirt food production.
00:15:49.000 --> 00:16:14.000 Daphne Du Cros: From the Bishop's Castle town council level. I was a town councillor for a few years and wrote the county's 1st and still today only food strategy, the Bishop's Castle community food, resilience, strategy and work at obviously the County Council level with the food partnership. But now, increasingly, we've developed the marches food network. So working with Herefordshire, Monmouthshire.
00:16:14.000 --> 00:16:16.000 Daphne Du Cros: North and South Wales.
00:16:16.000 --> 00:16:19.000 Daphne Du Cros: Um oops! My vodafone Bill came in so everyone could see that.
00:16:19.000 --> 00:16:20.000 Daphne Du Cros: Um.
00:16:20.000 --> 00:16:23.000 Daphne Du Cros: So sorry about that. Everyone.
00:16:23.000 --> 00:16:26.000 Daphne Du Cros: Technical difficulties. There we are. Um.
00:16:26.000 --> 00:16:28.000 Daphne Du Cros: So.
00:16:28.000 --> 00:16:50.000 Daphne Du Cros: What what we're doing is working on the with the Marches food network. There's the Marches forward partnership where we're working through leveling, up funding and essentially being the food branch of that initiative. So we're hitting it at a number of scales, but also trying to address what civil food resilience would look like in Shropshire.
00:16:51.000 --> 00:17:00.000 Daphne Du Cros: And the Marches, through research projects and and real practical action work. So I'll be getting into that as well.
00:17:00.000 --> 00:17:01.000 Daphne Du Cros: So.
00:17:01.000 --> 00:17:16.000 Daphne Du Cros: The direction that I'm coming at this from for you today is talking a bit about food resilience? Why, it's important. Why, it's really salient at the moment, but also coming at it from the perspective of food partnerships and.
00:17:16.000 --> 00:17:17.000 Daphne Du Cros: It's.
00:17:17.000 --> 00:17:21.000 Daphne Du Cros: You know, as the discussion kicked off this call.
00:17:21.000 --> 00:17:23.000 Daphne Du Cros: The struggles that.
00:17:23.000 --> 00:17:25.000 Daphne Du Cros: Councils are going through.
00:17:25.000 --> 00:17:50.000 Daphne Du Cros: We present an opportunity. We're here to help. We have boots on the ground, and we have been doing a significant amount of legwork as food partnerships, particularly through the sustainable food Places network which some may be familiar with with now over 110 members across the Uk and Northern Ireland. It's incredible. It's an incredible organization. And it's really plumbed into the various other.
00:17:50.000 --> 00:18:05.000 Daphne Du Cros: Food related movements like incredible edible, and the Land Workers Alliance, the Csa network, Uk. As well as academic institutions doing a lot of work on food systems. So there's a great deal going on there. I will.
00:18:05.000 --> 00:18:07.000 Daphne Du Cros: Get into. Where are we now?
00:18:07.000 --> 00:18:15.000 Daphne Du Cros: This is an interesting time to be looking at food in the Uk and globally.
00:18:16.000 --> 00:18:18.000 Daphne Du Cros: We import.
00:18:18.000 --> 00:18:36.000 Daphne Du Cros: Or sorry, we produce only 58% of our food. That's from down from a high point in the mid eighties, we only produce 43% of our own veg, so most of our veg is imported from from Europe, and a really pathetic amount of our own fruit.
00:18:37.000 --> 00:18:50.000 Daphne Du Cros: I mean, there are a number of reasons for this, but essentially we need to be producing a heck of a lot more of our own stuff. The quote that I have here on the side is from a.
00:18:50.000 --> 00:19:08.000 Daphne Du Cros: Session with the Westminster food and Nutrition Forum. David Chandler, of Warwick University, essentially said, we have a bit of an event horizon coming up where, in the next decade, the places that we rely on most for food are going to be struggling to produce enough surplus for us, and we need to be working.
00:19:08.000 --> 00:19:20.000 Daphne Du Cros: Now to begin to consider food, resilience and domestic food production and food security a lot more. Take that a lot more seriously. It also presents a bit of a moral question.
00:19:20.000 --> 00:19:30.000 Daphne Du Cros: That, as places like, you know, African nations, the Mediterranean Southern Europe are going through such intense climate impacts.
00:19:30.000 --> 00:19:36.000 Daphne Du Cros: Is it fair for us to be making those demands on them? So those are things to consider.
00:19:36.000 --> 00:19:36.000 Daphne Du Cros: Um.
00:19:37.000 --> 00:19:47.000 Daphne Du Cros: We have a massive downturn in farming as a viable career. I mean, we've had farmers protests recently.
00:19:48.000 --> 00:19:50.000 Daphne Du Cros: Interestingly, um.
00:19:50.000 --> 00:19:56.000 Daphne Du Cros: In the past couple of weeks we've had Steve Reid, the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
00:19:56.000 --> 00:20:21.000 Daphne Du Cros: Say that we will be rebooting a National food. Strategy and consultation will begin in the New Year on that, with a greater focus on food, resilience on communities and co-creation of this. So that's going to be really interesting. They've also been in touch with Henry Dimbleby, who wrote the previous report for the food strategy which largely just got tossed out under the previous government.
00:20:21.000 --> 00:20:35.000 Daphne Du Cros: So that's very, very interesting. That's happening. We've also had things like rolling back junk food adverts thinking about biodiversity frameworks. Obviously, the issues with inheritance, tax land use and.
00:20:35.000 --> 00:21:00.000 Daphne Du Cros: Just in the last couple of days an emergency food package announced by the Welsh Government of 1.7 million for food, poverty, alleviation, and that is in partnership with food partnerships, which is really interesting. But anyway, where are we now? So those are some factors. There's movement. There are murmurs of action which is great. But obviously we are dealing.
00:21:00.000 --> 00:21:01.000 Daphne Du Cros: With.
00:21:01.000 --> 00:21:04.000 Daphne Du Cros: Issues relating to climate.
00:21:04.000 --> 00:21:07.000 Daphne Du Cros: War supply, chain, disruption.
00:21:07.000 --> 00:21:19.000 Daphne Du Cros: I mean, we've we've lived through the the pandemic, and we saw firsthand. We had a bit of a trial run about what supply chain disruption looks like war in Ukraine and Gaza. We're seeing.
00:21:19.000 --> 00:21:24.000 Daphne Du Cros: Price increases. Energy impacts. Cost of living crisis.
00:21:24.000 --> 00:21:28.000 Daphne Du Cros: So there is a greater question about what is our right to food.
00:21:28.000 --> 00:21:30.000 Daphne Du Cros: What is the civil.
00:21:30.000 --> 00:21:55.000 Daphne Du Cros: Right to food. Of course we're signed up to to say that everybody has a right to food, but in practice it's a poor show in my very last slide. I'll show you the number of food banks in the Uk and and offer an opportunity to imagine what it would look like if those were community farms or community gardens. Obviously, food emissions, emissions from the food system are over 35%.
00:21:55.000 --> 00:21:56.000 Daphne Du Cros: Um.
00:21:56.000 --> 00:21:57.000 Daphne Du Cros: But.
00:21:57.000 --> 00:22:10.000 Daphne Du Cros: Rarely these feature in any sort of climate plans, so I'll sort of invite you, as we go through, to consider what it would look like to have joined up policies where we consider these things so I could go, you know. Go on and on.
00:22:10.000 --> 00:22:14.000 Daphne Du Cros: Currently there's no national food strategy, as I said, but we're.
00:22:14.000 --> 00:22:28.000 Daphne Du Cros: There are positive positive motions there, but there is no requirement for county or community level food strategies, local nature, recovery strategies. Yes, but no food strategies. So that's a very interesting one.
00:22:28.000 --> 00:22:33.000 Daphne Du Cros: Um as from harkening back to lecturing to students, I.
00:22:33.000 --> 00:22:43.000 Daphne Du Cros: Love this image, because this just shows the illusion of choice that you have when you go into a grocery store, and there are 30,000 things on the shelves.
00:22:43.000 --> 00:22:55.000 Daphne Du Cros: This gives an idea of just who owns and produces those 30,000 items or so, and it goes all the way through the food chain. 4 companies own 44 of the farm machinery market.
00:22:55.000 --> 00:23:09.000 Daphne Du Cros: 2 companies own 40% of global genetic seed stock. So that goes to 4 companies own 60%. So we aren't even self-reliant when it comes to the elements of life which is seed.
00:23:09.000 --> 00:23:12.000 Daphne Du Cros: I found out last week that we have one.
00:23:12.000 --> 00:23:16.000 Daphne Du Cros: Seed producer for arable crops in the Uk. Now.
00:23:16.000 --> 00:23:17.000 Daphne Du Cros: Just one.
00:23:17.000 --> 00:23:28.000 Daphne Du Cros: So we are incredibly vulnerable. Once it comes to things like that where our main seed producers are in China and Africa. So.
00:23:28.000 --> 00:23:33.000 Daphne Du Cros: And our ability to save and utilize seed is diminished by gene patenting regulation.
00:23:33.000 --> 00:23:34.000 Daphne Du Cros: Um.
00:23:34.000 --> 00:23:58.000 Daphne Du Cros: 4 companies, the same ones that own the seed primarily own 62% of the global agrochemical market. So if those flicker like they did when Russia invaded Ukraine, we see the impacts of those in chemical inputs that are used in agriculture, whether they should be or not is a separate thing, and as we know that the grocery retailers have a massive, massive ownership.
00:23:58.000 --> 00:24:04.000 Daphne Du Cros: Over the Uk food market. So what would that look like if we had.
00:24:04.000 --> 00:24:10.000 Daphne Du Cros: A more decentralized system, and it was more distributed and connected. So we're highly centralized.
00:24:10.000 --> 00:24:34.000 Daphne Du Cros: Top heavy. And we've seen throughout the pandemic and and others other situations, and when crisis hits that people are vulnerable, the big focus on the civil aspect of civil food. Resilience is, how do we feed people in crisis? Because through the cost of living crisis, we've seen that the most vulnerable slip, and the gap widens.
00:24:34.000 --> 00:24:39.000 Daphne Du Cros: So in any crisis. That's the case. So one of my main arguments is.
00:24:39.000 --> 00:24:46.000 Daphne Du Cros: We need to close that gap as much as we can before crisis hits, because prevention is better than cure.
00:24:47.000 --> 00:24:48.000 Daphne Du Cros: This is.
00:24:50.000 --> 00:24:53.000 Daphne Du Cros: This is another way that I like to sort of frame the.
00:24:54.000 --> 00:25:02.000 Daphne Du Cros: The structural issues, the potential risks and shocks. This is from just before the Us. Election, as we were watching that.
00:25:02.000 --> 00:25:26.000 Daphne Du Cros: But here we see the BBC strap line or the BBC. Header, Israel Gaza war war in Ukraine. The Us. Election, which, as we're seeing is going to have a much broader impact on climate change and food trade deals. Cost of living crisis is still impacting people. What 2 years on and climate. Of course, these threats, these things that are major.
00:25:26.000 --> 00:25:29.000 Daphne Du Cros: Geopolitical Things.
00:25:29.000 --> 00:25:31.000 Daphne Du Cros: Are.
00:25:31.000 --> 00:25:37.000 Daphne Du Cros: Impacting food in the food system and people's, even though they may be far away. People's livelihoods.
00:25:37.000 --> 00:25:38.000 Daphne Du Cros: So.
00:25:38.000 --> 00:25:41.000 Daphne Du Cros: With that the the image from sustain.
00:25:41.000 --> 00:25:44.000 Daphne Du Cros: It's on everyone's radar that.
00:25:44.000 --> 00:25:47.000 Daphne Du Cros: Things are changing. Things are changing.
00:25:47.000 --> 00:25:51.000 Daphne Du Cros: You know, with with floods, with droughts in the Uk. We've had.
00:25:51.000 --> 00:25:58.000 Daphne Du Cros: 2 of our worst crop seasons and a predicted 3rd coming up. So what happens when.
00:25:58.000 --> 00:26:16.000 Daphne Du Cros: Crisis hits, and we have crop failures. Where is the redundancy in our system? It's currently rely on major grocery retailers to bridge that gap, whereas during wartime, that was the domain of the government and regional food offices, so.
00:26:16.000 --> 00:26:23.000 Daphne Du Cros: There isn't that sort of local level coordination of of people who care for people. Um, obviously, Tesco doesn't.
00:26:23.000 --> 00:26:32.000 Daphne Du Cros: Particularly mind if you know, somebody in our community is, you know, is facing hunger because they haven't been able to access.
00:26:32.000 --> 00:26:37.000 Daphne Du Cros: Access food, just like in the in the pandemic. So.
00:26:37.000 --> 00:26:44.000 Daphne Du Cros: I'm going to make this argument that civil food resilience is a grassroots community initiative.
00:26:44.000 --> 00:26:45.000 Daphne Du Cros: Let's see.
00:26:46.000 --> 00:26:47.000 Daphne Du Cros: So.
00:26:47.000 --> 00:27:04.000 Daphne Du Cros: Looking at the high level. Where do we stand in terms of food security as national security? So I'll sort of pause here and say the once again looking at Tim Lang's work in this, Tim is going to be.
00:27:04.000 --> 00:27:18.000 Daphne Du Cros: Publishing a report on Civil Food Resilience through the National Preparedness Commission, which should be coming out early in the New Year, and so he has been speaking on this in exceptional depth, so I will not be.
00:27:18.000 --> 00:27:25.000 Daphne Du Cros: Be pushing my way into that that space, because, you know, I'll leave that to the the true experts. But um!
00:27:25.000 --> 00:27:50.000 Daphne Du Cros: I have shared a number of resources with Graham and Andrew, who will circulate them. But one of those includes a talk on this subject by Tim done with the food thinkers through the center for food policy at City University, and another upcoming event in January that people may be interested to sign up to, and he really frames it in terms of our.
00:27:50.000 --> 00:27:59.000 Daphne Du Cros: Our vulnerability in the Uk. And what we need to do. So I'll leave a lot of that to him. But just to.
00:27:59.000 --> 00:28:21.000 Daphne Du Cros: To cover the basics. We do have a civil Contingencies act which states that we need local resilient, a local resilience forum in in each area. My experience in working and sort of trying to to get into the local resilience. Forum is beginning with Shropshire Council's resilience.
00:28:21.000 --> 00:28:36.000 Daphne Du Cros: Person. Food is not within their remit. It's not within their job description that comes from on high, from government. If they need to do anything with food. But largely, it's emergency response. In the event of flooding or crisis.
00:28:36.000 --> 00:28:46.000 Daphne Du Cros: Acute crisis. So when when speaking to them about how to integrate food into that, basically, their approach is, make sure you have a bag with snacks in it.
00:28:47.000 --> 00:28:56.000 Daphne Du Cros: That's insufficient. So there is work to be done. Considering. One of one of Tim Lang's main suggestions is that.
00:28:56.000 --> 00:29:21.000 Daphne Du Cros: You know, food partnerships, communities, councils need to be really strengthening that local resilience, forum collaboration and bringing food into it because acute crisis brings food threats. We only have 3 days worth of food in an urban area when crisis hits, because everything is based on the just in time food system. Where you go in you scan something, it beep, beeps it to a satellite.
00:29:21.000 --> 00:29:32.000 Daphne Du Cros: And reorders it. If those communication systems aren't working or the access routes, aren't there? Obviously that restocking can happen.
00:29:32.000 --> 00:29:45.000 Daphne Du Cros: And in crisis when people feel threatened, we've seen stockpiling, and it's the people who are most capable of getting to those and accessing food who obviously get there first.st So leaving leaving a number of people vulnerable.
00:29:45.000 --> 00:29:51.000 Daphne Du Cros: We have the National Risk Register, which I'll look at at the next slide.
00:29:51.000 --> 00:29:54.000 Daphne Du Cros: What that does is.
00:29:54.000 --> 00:30:03.000 Daphne Du Cros: Looks at the potential things that could go wrong, and how likely they are to go wrong. Food is one of over 60 of these things.
00:30:03.000 --> 00:30:07.000 Daphne Du Cros: So I'll look at that next, but essentially.
00:30:07.000 --> 00:30:08.000 Daphne Du Cros: Food, planning.
00:30:08.000 --> 00:30:09.000 Daphne Du Cros: Is.
00:30:10.000 --> 00:30:15.000 Daphne Du Cros: Week in the Uk. By all accounts.
00:30:15.000 --> 00:30:39.000 Daphne Du Cros: It's largely businesses. It's corporations that run in food industry that have taken the time to look at this in detail because it affects their business models. But when it comes to government level it's largely focused sort of at the Whitehall level and doesn't really look at the local angle. So strength varies, and it's it's largely what individual councils have taken on.
00:30:39.000 --> 00:31:01.000 Daphne Du Cros: As their priorities. But, as I said, there are very few food strategies that address these things and and join them up across different departments and look at it holistically. But food defense, food security is national security. So this links into various agencies, departments, public bodies.
00:31:02.000 --> 00:31:14.000 Daphne Du Cros: So largely the awareness and capacity of where food sits, who owns food in terms of, you know, underneath the council structure, where food is housed. It's it's patchy.
00:31:14.000 --> 00:31:26.000 Daphne Du Cros: I would encourage everyone to look at the National Preparedness Commission because it goes well beyond food, and it looks at broader resilience questions and and industries and.
00:31:26.000 --> 00:31:27.000 Daphne Du Cros: So.
00:31:27.000 --> 00:31:28.000 Daphne Du Cros: That's.
00:31:28.000 --> 00:31:40.000 Daphne Du Cros: That's 1. Anyway. This this image that I put here just gives an overview of the food system. In a sense, how it's broken down and the different areas that could impact it. So.
00:31:41.000 --> 00:31:47.000 Daphne Du Cros: This goes to illustrate the complexity of the system, and where there is great complexity there is.
00:31:47.000 --> 00:31:52.000 Daphne Du Cros: A lot of vulnerability where things can can fall down and have broader reverberations.
00:31:52.000 --> 00:31:59.000 Daphne Du Cros: This I know this is is very heavy, Slide. But just to say that this is the National Risk Register.
00:31:59.000 --> 00:32:06.000 Daphne Du Cros: It shows where you know all of these, what can go wrong, and how likely it is to go wrong. But food is.
00:32:06.000 --> 00:32:10.000 Daphne Du Cros: Simply, number 40, food supply, contamination.
00:32:10.000 --> 00:32:12.000 Daphne Du Cros: Um! That's 1.
00:32:12.000 --> 00:32:21.000 Daphne Du Cros: Tiny, tiny aspect of food and the food supply. What it doesn't look at is how these other areas.
00:32:21.000 --> 00:32:25.000 Daphne Du Cros: Impact and have a knock-on effect on food and.
00:32:25.000 --> 00:32:40.000 Daphne Du Cros: They're significant. So should there be war, resource, disruption, bombing power shortages, environmental issues, spills things like that. Another pandemic which is ranked quite high up here.
00:32:40.000 --> 00:32:47.000 Daphne Du Cros: It's there. There are impacts. And obviously there's the supply angle. But there's the way that people react.
00:32:47.000 --> 00:33:02.000 Daphne Du Cros: Anxiety the trauma associated with it, their confidence in governance systems impacts on essential services. What happens if we can't make those calls on our mobile phones to coordinate food drops, for example, who has a landline still.
00:33:02.000 --> 00:33:03.000 Daphne Du Cros: Um.
00:33:03.000 --> 00:33:12.000 Daphne Du Cros: So there are a number of things that we have to consider. And there's obviously through the the report coming out by Tim Lang.
00:33:12.000 --> 00:33:13.000 Daphne Du Cros: These will be.
00:33:13.000 --> 00:33:21.000 Daphne Du Cros: Fleshed out in a lot more detail because of different areas of crisis, likelihood and response.
00:33:22.000 --> 00:33:23.000 Daphne Du Cros: So.
00:33:23.000 --> 00:33:24.000 Daphne Du Cros: That's.
00:33:24.000 --> 00:33:28.000 Daphne Du Cros: That's the the sort of main chunk. Where what's.
00:33:28.000 --> 00:33:34.000 Daphne Du Cros: What are the potential impacts and what civil resilience would look like? Or it looks like at the government level.
00:33:35.000 --> 00:33:36.000 Daphne Du Cros: Um.
00:33:36.000 --> 00:33:39.000 Daphne Du Cros: So what does civil food, resilience look like.
00:33:39.000 --> 00:33:43.000 Daphne Du Cros: When when it's presented at the community level. Um.
00:33:43.000 --> 00:33:47.000 Daphne Du Cros: I mean. I ran a market garden through that time.
00:33:47.000 --> 00:33:52.000 Daphne Du Cros: In 2019 I was doing 15 veg boxes for my community a week.
00:33:52.000 --> 00:34:01.000 Daphne Du Cros: And during the pandemic that increased to 55 veg. Boxes a week, which is quite a lot to do off one acre. But.
00:34:01.000 --> 00:34:02.000 Daphne Du Cros: Essentially.
00:34:03.000 --> 00:34:12.000 Daphne Du Cros: You know. We all remember people were anxious about going into grocery stores from simply a contamination perspective.
00:34:12.000 --> 00:34:21.000 Daphne Du Cros: But we saw supply chain disruption. You know we joke about Luroll, but there were many, many other things on the shelves that were empty, and it's the same case when there's a big snowstorm.
00:34:21.000 --> 00:34:38.000 Daphne Du Cros: Or you know the impact in the Suez Canal, and we find shortages and things. It's very difficult to find Palestinian olive oil right now, for example. So there are lots of ways that supply chains can be impacted in case of these issues. But.
00:34:39.000 --> 00:34:46.000 Daphne Du Cros: People were really appreciative of being able to get local local produce, but.
00:34:46.000 --> 00:35:03.000 Daphne Du Cros: There's that desire to go back to normal, whatever normal is. And as soon as the pandemic sort of started to disperse and people were able to travel again. The market garden had a lot of people pulling out of the veg boxes and the appreciation that was there for our local producers and farmers.
00:35:03.000 --> 00:35:04.000 Daphne Du Cros: Once again!
00:35:04.000 --> 00:35:13.000 Daphne Du Cros: That money and that energy and investment went back to Sainsbury's and Tesco. We've had people in our communities who.
00:35:13.000 --> 00:35:35.000 Daphne Du Cros: Who didn't have access to resources and the Internet and food, who weren't able to ask for help, and were essentially, you know, starving in their homes, and had to be retrieved and and brought into the community because they were so disenfranchised and are still receiving food support. There was a run on seeds because small independent seed producers.
00:35:35.000 --> 00:35:46.000 Daphne Du Cros: All of a sudden we're getting so many people realizing that their home gardens were their greatest front line so that they could maintain their own food security. So.
00:35:46.000 --> 00:35:51.000 Daphne Du Cros: Our independent seed producers across the Uk. Started to prioritise.
00:35:51.000 --> 00:36:07.000 Daphne Du Cros: Selling to market gardens instead of of individuals. So just some indications of of gaps, and and where there were issues, so we have to look at increasing domestic production, but supply and demand is only one part of it.
00:36:07.000 --> 00:36:08.000 Daphne Du Cros: We have to build.
00:36:08.000 --> 00:36:11.000 Daphne Du Cros: Community we have to focus on.
00:36:12.000 --> 00:36:13.000 Daphne Du Cros: People, their homes.
00:36:13.000 --> 00:36:16.000 Daphne Du Cros: Um in in my images here.
00:36:16.000 --> 00:36:17.000 Daphne Du Cros: Um.
00:36:17.000 --> 00:36:23.000 Daphne Du Cros: Looking at. Can everyone see this? I'll just bring that over there.
00:36:23.000 --> 00:36:25.000 Daphne Du Cros: Sweden.
00:36:25.000 --> 00:36:39.000 Daphne Du Cros: Is, you know, and the closer you get to the Russian border the more direct your government will be about telling you exactly how you need to prepare for for crisis. But Sweden has developed this. This document.
00:36:39.000 --> 00:36:49.000 Daphne Du Cros: Called in case of crisis or war, it's available from the National Preparedness Commission in English. So do please have a look. It's very detailed and.
00:36:49.000 --> 00:36:52.000 Daphne Du Cros: There's been interesting.
00:36:52.000 --> 00:36:57.000 Daphne Du Cros: Sort of what I've noticed in news media that.
00:36:57.000 --> 00:37:04.000 Daphne Du Cros: Articles about things like this. This was actually in a guardian article a week or a week and a half ago. It almost seems that.
00:37:04.000 --> 00:37:19.000 Daphne Du Cros: There's testing the waters about what people might think and how they might respond to more discussion of crisis in news media. So I suspect that's a way for government to sort of take the temperature of people's sentiment on this.
00:37:19.000 --> 00:37:20.000 Daphne Du Cros: Um.
00:37:20.000 --> 00:37:25.000 Daphne Du Cros: But a food, resilience, strategy. Looking at the Bishop's castle, one here.
00:37:25.000 --> 00:37:29.000 Daphne Du Cros: We, as a food partnership advocate for.
00:37:30.000 --> 00:37:30.000 Daphne Du Cros: Um.
00:37:30.000 --> 00:37:55.000 Daphne Du Cros: Community food assessments so that you can create an evidence-based plan in collaboration with your communities because the wonderful thing about food strategies for local communities at the Town and Parish council level, or the city level, is that they are entirely bespoke. There are so many templates that you can utilize, but they're incredibly valuable to make sure that your community.
00:37:55.000 --> 00:37:57.000 Daphne Du Cros: Has a plan.
00:37:57.000 --> 00:37:58.000 Daphne Du Cros: Um.
00:37:59.000 --> 00:38:00.000 Daphne Du Cros: There's.
00:38:00.000 --> 00:38:22.000 Daphne Du Cros: Here's where I come to the right to grow, Jules, because in Shropshire we passed the right to grow, which for everyone who's not aware, this is an initiative that was originally launched by incredible edible. So this is the formidable Pam Warhurst who says, if you eat, you're in. This is the ultimate sort of community enfranchisement which you know.
00:38:22.000 --> 00:38:26.000 Daphne Du Cros: We can all relate to food, but the notion that we pay taxes.
00:38:26.000 --> 00:38:33.000 Daphne Du Cros: For maintaining publicly owned plots of land, but don't necessarily get to use them. The right to grow is saying.
00:38:34.000 --> 00:38:46.000 Daphne Du Cros: Give people access to disused or underused land that is publicly owned, so that they can grow fruit trees, fruit, and veg, and and connect as communities to increase.
00:38:46.000 --> 00:38:48.000 Daphne Du Cros: Local level, food, production.
00:38:48.000 --> 00:39:02.000 Daphne Du Cros: So it's very much in line with food resilience in Shropshire. We have really, you know, as much as we got the tick mark, and it was passed unanimously by Shropshire Council. It has since.
00:39:02.000 --> 00:39:06.000 Daphne Du Cros: Been kicked into the long grass.
00:39:06.000 --> 00:39:09.000 Daphne Du Cros: The documents are there for people to apply, although.
00:39:09.000 --> 00:39:31.000 Daphne Du Cros: The couple of cases where community groups have applied, it has been met with a great deal of resistance. And it's really disheartening for community groups who are keen to grow, but then find resistance at the council level. What Shropshire Council has essentially done is passed it off to the town and parish council level.
00:39:31.000 --> 00:39:55.000 Daphne Du Cros: But with no guidance to the town and parish councillors on how the right to grow works, how it can be implemented, what the procedures and protocols are so it has atrophied as a food partnership we aim to support through this. We support community groups, and we have worked on trainings for councillors, but very little uptake.
00:39:55.000 --> 00:39:57.000 Daphne Du Cros: So that's a challenge.
00:39:58.000 --> 00:39:59.000 Daphne Du Cros: Um.
00:39:59.000 --> 00:40:15.000 Daphne Du Cros: We can. You know, I think everybody has projects that they can relate to, and that they see in their communities to get people growing cooking and sharing food. But there are a range of skills that we need to reconnect with and to re-empower communities.
00:40:15.000 --> 00:40:20.000 Daphne Du Cros: One of my, my great focus or my my sort of great things, that I.
00:40:20.000 --> 00:40:23.000 Daphne Du Cros: That I like to hark up on about is.
00:40:23.000 --> 00:40:48.000 Daphne Du Cros: Nature does not do monoculture, and nature doesn't do perfect. There is no single type of tree or single shape of pond. Nature doesn't do perfect nature does diversity. So we need a range of different projects of all sizes, different types of growing. We have to look at these great initiatives like the circular economy and the donut model, to bring in a different type of thinking on how we do projects.
00:40:48.000 --> 00:41:12.000 Daphne Du Cros: And change our thinking about how community members engage and get creative and think beyond sort of really standard economic model of how to do things. We talked about food, waste, redistribution. I love projects that take a community action focus on composting and utilizing soil. The composting programs in Monmouthshire that.
00:41:12.000 --> 00:41:21.000 Daphne Du Cros: Work in schools to create soil, to put in gardens, to grow the food from, to share with the community are a beautiful example of this circular economy.
00:41:21.000 --> 00:41:23.000 Daphne Du Cros: Um.
00:41:24.000 --> 00:41:27.000 Daphne Du Cros: Take a moment there, hold on! Everyone can catch their breath, because I've really been going.
00:41:29.000 --> 00:41:31.000 Daphne Du Cros: And I realize we've I've probably.
00:41:31.000 --> 00:41:41.000 Daphne Du Cros: Gone a little longer, so forgive me on that um. But what we have, as I said before, is a very centralized top, heavy system.
00:41:41.000 --> 00:42:05.000 Daphne Du Cros: We need to move to a more decentralized system, but also a more equally distributed system. If you think of things as nodes or nodes in a web that if one node is compromised, it just means that other aspects can come together to fill that gap and to bridge that gap. So looking at, relocalizing, and rather than governance up here.
00:42:06.000 --> 00:42:13.000 Daphne Du Cros: Empowering people, and making sure that people can grow, share, connect, and.
00:42:13.000 --> 00:42:34.000 Daphne Du Cros: Through the food partnership and the farmers that I talk to routes to market and infrastructure. Because this great decentralization of the food system, the corporatization of the food system. The routes to market have been gutted. So unless you have a large contract through a grocery retailer, it's very difficult to manage direct sales, and also.
00:42:34.000 --> 00:42:36.000 Daphne Du Cros: Thinking about near near us. We have.
00:42:36.000 --> 00:42:42.000 Daphne Du Cros: One livestock market nearby, another one. If you want to drive into Wales.
00:42:42.000 --> 00:42:46.000 Daphne Du Cros: Um, and we have one abattoir that's.
00:42:46.000 --> 00:42:49.000 Daphne Du Cros: Reasonably nearby, but these.
00:42:49.000 --> 00:42:52.000 Daphne Du Cros: Key parts of infrastructure are.
00:42:52.000 --> 00:43:02.000 Daphne Du Cros: Often invisible and lacking. And if you're part of the farm community and they disappear, it fundamentally changes and undermines your business model.
00:43:02.000 --> 00:43:03.000 Daphne Du Cros: Um.
00:43:03.000 --> 00:43:16.000 Daphne Du Cros: So, and what councils can do in terms of dynamic procurement is great lots of great research going on around dynamic procurement. Local procurement. Wales is, is definitely stepping up in that regard. So whoops.
00:43:17.000 --> 00:43:18.000 Daphne Du Cros: As I move on.
00:43:19.000 --> 00:43:20.000 Daphne Du Cros: So what?
00:43:20.000 --> 00:43:24.000 Daphne Du Cros: Are food partnerships, and what do food partnerships do.
00:43:24.000 --> 00:43:27.000 Daphne Du Cros: And how can we be useful in.
00:43:27.000 --> 00:43:30.000 Daphne Du Cros: Developing local food, resilience.
00:43:30.000 --> 00:43:34.000 Daphne Du Cros: So each of these images that I've put here.
00:43:34.000 --> 00:43:56.000 Daphne Du Cros: Is an example of what we in Shropshire are working on. So we have engaged with the sustainable food Places network. As I said, 110 organizations and partnerships across the Uk and Northern Ireland. This lovely, lovely wheel that we have here sustainable food places has created essentially an impact measurement tool to show.
00:43:56.000 --> 00:44:02.000 Daphne Du Cros: How much contribution, and across which areas food partnerships are delivering.
00:44:02.000 --> 00:44:03.000 Daphne Du Cros: Um.
00:44:04.000 --> 00:44:21.000 Daphne Du Cros: And while it's difficult to monetize every aspect of what a food partnership does, it might be one person's improved mental health, or the fact that a kid had more servings of vegetables because they grew their own carrots at school.
00:44:21.000 --> 00:44:24.000 Daphne Du Cros: It's very difficult to measure these things, but through.
00:44:24.000 --> 00:44:36.000 Daphne Du Cros: Working with something called a social value engine. We have seen farms measure this in a more direct way. In addition to just their conventional Gdp focused sales.
00:44:37.000 --> 00:44:48.000 Daphne Du Cros: So I would encourage you to check that resource in the list of resources that I shared from the sustainable food places network on on the impact of food partnerships. We have.
00:44:48.000 --> 00:44:50.000 Daphne Du Cros: Linked with them.
00:44:50.000 --> 00:45:15.000 Daphne Du Cros: Through their decade of sustainable food places, meetings which means that we are sharing knowledge with the broader network. So there's a huge exchange. We link with them through our an annual day of celebration, where we aim to meet our Mps and talk to them about food systems resilience. So again, we're working sort of at the net from the local to the national level.
00:45:15.000 --> 00:45:19.000 Daphne Du Cros: Um. In Shropshire we developed the Marches, real food and farming.
00:45:19.000 --> 00:45:43.000 Daphne Du Cros: Partnership, which is a network of, as I said, Herefordshire, Monmouthshire, North and South Wales, and we have annual food Conferences which mirror the Oxford real Farming Conference. We have our own strategic plan as a partnership on how we deliver on our objectives for our over 350 members of our own partnership.
00:45:43.000 --> 00:45:48.000 Daphne Du Cros: So those are organizations, academic institutions, councils.
00:45:48.000 --> 00:46:12.000 Daphne Du Cros: Councillors, food hubs, farms. You name it, people who subscribe to the values of a better food system, self-select and join us. And through that we've developed the Shropshire Good Food Trail, which is from a tourism and agritourism and economic visibility. Perspective has been fantastic.
00:46:12.000 --> 00:46:36.000 Daphne Du Cros: We're boosting Shropshire's visibility nationwide as a foodie destination. So for a rural county to have people coming in for agritourism, knowing that we have exceptional food to be able to do. Farm tours, engage with their kids in the natural environment through the Shropshire Hills, national landscape, and and make those connections. It's hugely valuable, difficult to understand.
00:46:36.000 --> 00:46:55.000 Daphne Du Cros: How much of a monetary impact there is. But it's an incredible amount of leg work that is happening. And this is these are just a few examples, not to mention how we're linking with schools, how we're linking with food hubs and distribution networks, food loops, etc. We have a lot of work going on and.
00:46:55.000 --> 00:47:00.000 Daphne Du Cros: That's a huge contribution to what Shropshire is, and.
00:47:00.000 --> 00:47:04.000 Daphne Du Cros: Um, and and what we can achieve for greater food security.
00:47:04.000 --> 00:47:06.000 Daphne Du Cros: So.
00:47:06.000 --> 00:47:10.000 Daphne Du Cros: What does that mean for us as a network? It means when the proverbial hits the fan.
00:47:10.000 --> 00:47:34.000 Daphne Du Cros: We can respond very quickly, because we know who's who and who's doing what, where we know how to contact them. We know where they are and where they can be found. And we can also link people up who have common values and objectives. So we have seen a great collaboration happening across the county where chefs join up with farms, join up with schools, join up with composting initiatives.
00:47:34.000 --> 00:47:44.000 Daphne Du Cros: So they might all sound like small projects. But it's a larger systems, level shift that we get to see and and take part in food partnerships.
00:47:44.000 --> 00:47:46.000 Daphne Du Cros: Because of that.
00:47:46.000 --> 00:47:54.000 Daphne Du Cros: We. We are well positioned to respond in crisis and to support councils in their development of plans, because.
00:47:54.000 --> 00:48:12.000 Daphne Du Cros: We know what the food system looks like across the county in very, very, you know, boots on the ground terms. The National Government obviously is a massive Juggernaut, and doesn't have the capability of pivoting as quickly and being as responsive as a local or a county level network.
00:48:13.000 --> 00:48:28.000 Daphne Du Cros: So that's a big part of why working together makes sense. We also have different skill sets. So county councils and and local councils have the ability to shift policy. They bring legitimacy, they bring potentially.
00:48:28.000 --> 00:48:31.000 Daphne Du Cros: Funding potentially.
00:48:31.000 --> 00:48:36.000 Daphne Du Cros: But we also bring the networks, the people.
00:48:36.000 --> 00:48:56.000 Daphne Du Cros: The connections, the boots on the ground. So there's a huge potential for collaboration and and very wise councils recognize this and bring in food partnerships as a part of their their internal council working so often through public health or through sustainability. So there are obvious links across a number of areas.
00:48:57.000 --> 00:49:01.000 Daphne Du Cros: Let's see. So um, Andrew and Graham.
00:49:01.000 --> 00:49:04.000 Daphne Du Cros: Are we? Are we still okay? There.
00:49:04.000 --> 00:49:06.000 Daphne Du Cros: As I'm plowing on.
00:49:06.000 --> 00:49:07.000 Andrew Maliphant: Keep going.
00:49:07.000 --> 00:49:12.000 Daphne Du Cros: Keep going. Okay. I'm I'm packing a lot in here. I hope you're all okay.
00:49:11.000 --> 00:49:12.000 Andrew Maliphant: Very conscious of that.
00:49:13.000 --> 00:49:18.000 Daphne Du Cros: Yeah, sorry. It's dense. It's dense material. Um, so.
00:49:18.000 --> 00:49:25.000 Daphne Du Cros: What we are taking on in terms of food, resilience work across Shropshire and the Marches.
00:49:25.000 --> 00:49:30.000 Daphne Du Cros: What I said earlier about recognizing that, you know, during.
00:49:30.000 --> 00:49:48.000 Daphne Du Cros: World War one. And, and, you know, starting in World War one and rolling into World War 2. There were county offices of food and agriculture that coordinated, who would grow? What? Where? Interestingly, in that every 10th field at that point was put aside for seed growing.
00:49:48.000 --> 00:49:57.000 Daphne Du Cros: So that just shows how far we've come from our broader security when we have one producer of arable seed in.
00:49:57.000 --> 00:50:00.000 Daphne Du Cros: The Uk, or sorry in in England. Um.
00:50:00.000 --> 00:50:01.000 Daphne Du Cros: Anyway.
00:50:01.000 --> 00:50:04.000 Daphne Du Cros: What we are working on through this.
00:50:04.000 --> 00:50:22.000 Daphne Du Cros: Project with the Marches food network of which we are a part is, what does that food resilience look like in practice? So if we were developing a crisis mapping and crisis response and intensity response.
00:50:22.000 --> 00:50:23.000 Daphne Du Cros: How do we.
00:50:23.000 --> 00:50:25.000 Daphne Du Cros: Make that a very.
00:50:26.000 --> 00:50:27.000 Daphne Du Cros: Functional.
00:50:27.000 --> 00:50:35.000 Daphne Du Cros: And and visible network, and that goes from the domestic level and reskilling and.
00:50:35.000 --> 00:50:40.000 Daphne Du Cros: You know, community food larders, community cafes, food hubs.
00:50:40.000 --> 00:50:51.000 Daphne Du Cros: And food loops things things to that effect, but a massive education and outreach campaign and reskilling campaign. To bring people into this notion of.
00:50:51.000 --> 00:50:58.000 Daphne Du Cros: Dig for resilience, because we, we have to adapt to the issues that are facing us. This is.
00:50:58.000 --> 00:51:20.000 Daphne Du Cros: You know, a very complex time that we're living in with sort of multiple and overlapping impacts that affect the food system and therefore affect people when we've essentially, as a society, been left really disconnected from the food system, from nature, from our skills and therefore our ability to weather these storms. So we are developing this.
00:51:20.000 --> 00:51:41.000 Daphne Du Cros: As essentially a county and regional bio-regional model of how we would respond to this so that we can share that through the sustainable food places network and across the Uk, with the hope that we can feed that in to a national food strategy and a real practical action.
00:51:41.000 --> 00:51:44.000 Daphne Du Cros: You know. As I say, boots on the ground function.
00:51:44.000 --> 00:52:01.000 Daphne Du Cros: And so we recognize that there are spaces where this fits in at the national level. Speaking of defense and public health and sustainability. So we hope that now that since there's more chatter about this, that it will be recognized as as having value, as we sort of see that event horizon coming up.
00:52:03.000 --> 00:52:04.000 Daphne Du Cros: Um.
00:52:05.000 --> 00:52:17.000 Daphne Du Cros: I don't feel like I have to, you know. Keep, keep going. But one other aspect that I just really wanted to mention for this group is, we're also doing another quite unique thing in Shropshire, which is we're talking about.
00:52:17.000 --> 00:52:20.000 Daphne Du Cros: Talking together.
00:52:20.000 --> 00:52:23.000 Daphne Du Cros: One unified voice for organizations that are working.
00:52:23.000 --> 00:52:27.000 Daphne Du Cros: In these sort of values, driven spaces, climate.
00:52:27.000 --> 00:52:39.000 Daphne Du Cros: Nature, recovery, biodiversity, food, water, all of these essential life systems, where or often as different organizations working in our areas of specialization.
00:52:39.000 --> 00:52:50.000 Daphne Du Cros: But we are going to be coming together to make sure that we are presenting a unified voice, bringing together the the areas that we're working in to try to identify where the overlaps are, because.
00:52:50.000 --> 00:53:15.000 Daphne Du Cros: They all overlap and connect and and support one another, because you can't have food security without nature recovery. You can't have an improved climate without dealing with the emissions, for example, from from food, or we need to manage our water systems. Otherwise our farming systems are going to get washed out. So we have to think about this in a much more deliberate way, and where our Council doesn't have the capacity to do that, really, unfortunately.
00:53:15.000 --> 00:53:35.000 Daphne Du Cros: It's civil society organizations that are filling this space and and sort of taking up the reins to do it. So of course, we want our local councils and our town and parish councils to be a part of this. But in there, you know, if there's any lack of capacity to do that.
00:53:35.000 --> 00:53:40.000 Daphne Du Cros: We are going to be pushing forward on the work because it has to happen.
00:53:40.000 --> 00:53:44.000 Daphne Du Cros: Um. So it's an interesting time to be to be doing that.
00:53:44.000 --> 00:53:54.000 Daphne Du Cros: So my my ask of all of you. Obviously you are here because you are interested in this area, and I'm so grateful for it. But please.
00:53:54.000 --> 00:54:19.000 Daphne Du Cros: Think about food, think about food, and where it connects to all other aspects, be it planning land use, you know, business and economics and climate, and and how you can work with your local food partnerships because we are touching all of those areas as well. And we see that from a food systems, lens. So let us let us support you. Let us help you create local.
00:54:19.000 --> 00:54:31.000 Daphne Du Cros: Food strategies and county food strategies. We we want to see beyond the silos that you know Council departments work in. So we can create a bit. You know, we can create a more resilient system.
00:54:31.000 --> 00:54:36.000 Daphne Du Cros: Um, I'll stop there, because that's a lot of material. But as I promised.
00:54:37.000 --> 00:54:41.000 Daphne Du Cros: That's that's our number of food banks across the UK.
00:54:41.000 --> 00:54:42.000 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration: Oops!
00:54:41.000 --> 00:54:42.000 Daphne Du Cros: So.
00:54:42.000 --> 00:54:44.000 Daphne Du Cros: Again. I invite you to.
00:54:44.000 --> 00:54:51.000 Daphne Du Cros: Think about what those dots could be. What could those little pins be other than food banks.
00:54:51.000 --> 00:55:13.000 Daphne Du Cros: Could they be community gardens? Could they be local food hubs? Could they be alternative business models and and different ways of direct sales? They could be lots of things other than food banks. So let's let's have a think about this sort of creative Utopian view of how we could figure this all out together.
00:55:13.000 --> 00:55:15.000 Daphne Du Cros: So I'll stop there.
00:55:15.000 --> 00:55:21.000 Daphne Du Cros: And we can. We can talk about it for the remaining 10 min.
00:55:21.000 --> 00:55:33.000 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration: Daphne. Thank you very much indeed for that. You take me back to my early days of being taught how to do public speaking, and they said, in the 1st 30 seconds you have to grab everyone's attention.
00:55:33.000 --> 00:55:45.000 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration: They didn't say that you then go on for the next 80% of your lecture to depress people into the very bottom. Most resistances of mankind. But you've done a wonderful job of a showing us what the problem is.
00:55:42.000 --> 00:55:43.000 Daphne Du Cros: Oh!
00:55:45.000 --> 00:55:48.000 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration: And then be coming up with.
00:55:48.000 --> 00:55:57.000 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration: Um some potential solutions. Early on you used a phrase which, as a Canadian, you probably don't realize is completely forbidden.
00:55:57.000 --> 00:56:03.000 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration: In the Uk. But you said joined up strategy. Now that is not permitted in Uk government.
00:56:03.000 --> 00:56:04.000 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration: But.
00:56:04.000 --> 00:56:07.000 Daphne Du Cros: That build back better. Is that another one of that.
00:56:04.000 --> 00:56:05.000 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration: That's see.
00:56:05.000 --> 00:56:09.000 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration: Well, I I think I think that um.
00:56:09.000 --> 00:56:15.000 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration: We? We're going to have to start from the community level upwards rather than from government level downwards. So that's all for it.
00:56:15.000 --> 00:56:19.000 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration: Lots of questions, Tristram, would you like to start? Please.
00:56:21.000 --> 00:56:23.000 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration: You need to unmute.
00:56:23.000 --> 00:56:24.000 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration: Here we go!
00:56:24.000 --> 00:56:35.000 tristram cary: Stephanie, thank you very much. That was a brilliant talk. Your frustration comes across that. People sort of not taking this seriously enough, and I completely understand that. But I just want to understand if.
00:56:35.000 --> 00:56:37.000 tristram cary: If though, if tomorrow.
00:56:38.000 --> 00:56:42.000 tristram cary: All import stops. The balloon went up in a big way.
00:56:42.000 --> 00:56:46.000 tristram cary: Britain had to rely on itself for its food.
00:56:46.000 --> 00:56:56.000 tristram cary: How long would it take to go from your 58% that we're currently producing ourselves to 100%? And is it possible to do with the resources we have in our country.
00:56:58.000 --> 00:57:00.000 Daphne Du Cros: That's a very big question.
00:57:00.000 --> 00:57:04.000 Daphne Du Cros: I think I mean, we we saw during the pandemic people do respond.
00:57:04.000 --> 00:57:07.000 Daphne Du Cros: Right? Um. People are.
00:57:07.000 --> 00:57:11.000 Daphne Du Cros: Are very keen to take action when.
00:57:11.000 --> 00:57:16.000 Daphne Du Cros: You know, when they realize that there is a crisis which which is amazing.
00:57:16.000 --> 00:57:26.000 Daphne Du Cros: I mean, there's a time lag on producing food. Obviously. So, you know, time lag, notwithstanding. I mean, I don't have a great answer for you during the war, when people were.
00:57:19.000 --> 00:57:20.000 tristram cary: Pretty much.
00:57:27.000 --> 00:57:35.000 Daphne Du Cros: You know, in in crisis existential crisis. It took years to get to a point where there was.
00:57:35.000 --> 00:57:52.000 Daphne Du Cros: You know, adequate food security. At 1 point there were, there was 3 weeks left of food, and so that that got pretty dire, and it was largely thanks to the sort of dig for resilience or sorry dig for victory movement that people were able to manage.
00:57:53.000 --> 00:57:54.000 Daphne Du Cros: Our.
00:57:53.000 --> 00:58:09.000 tristram cary: Because it strikes me it strikes me you've done. You've done a massive amount of the work to work out what has to be done like, you know, making our own seeds and distribution and all that sort of stuff. So if if he got really serious, I think people would go very quickly from apathy to.
00:58:05.000 --> 00:58:06.000 Daphne Du Cros: Hmm.
00:58:09.000 --> 00:58:27.000 tristram cary: You know, really joining in, and because you thought through the structure, I guess I guess all that would become very efficient very quickly. And then, as you say, there would be a time lag until you've managed to grow your own food. But the 58% of the food we've got, if we could distribute it accurately, would probably stop people starving, wouldn't it? In general.
00:58:28.000 --> 00:58:30.000 Daphne Du Cros: It would be a very narrow range of food.
00:58:30.000 --> 00:58:31.000 tristram cary: Yeah, I would. Yeah.
00:58:30.000 --> 00:58:43.000 Daphne Du Cros: And very and obviously there's a seasonality consideration there. Um, I mean, another another thing that we're not allowed to talk about is how everyone needs to learn how to love turnips, isn't it?
00:58:34.000 --> 00:58:35.000 tristram cary: Yeah.
00:58:40.000 --> 00:58:41.000 tristram cary: No.
00:58:43.000 --> 00:58:44.000 Daphne Du Cros: But.
00:58:45.000 --> 00:58:48.000 Daphne Du Cros: I mean we. We are not in a position to respond.
00:58:48.000 --> 00:58:54.000 Daphne Du Cros: If there were a crisis tomorrow, we simply don't have adequate supply.
00:58:54.000 --> 00:59:06.000 Daphne Du Cros: To pull ourselves together. That's the issue. This is the argument that I'm making is that we have to raise the baseline of what our food standards. Our food security is now our sort of our.
00:59:06.000 --> 00:59:31.000 Daphne Du Cros: Our domestic production of essentials. So that I mean, and it's wonderful that we have imports. I'm not for a moment saying that we shouldn't be importing food. It gives us an amazing range of food, nutrition, and cuisine and wonderful things. That's great. But we do have to think about the event horizon that is coming and how to scale that up. Now we're very fortunate that we're not in crisis.
00:59:31.000 --> 00:59:31.000 Daphne Du Cros: You know.
00:59:31.000 --> 00:59:56.000 Daphne Du Cros: In acute crisis. Today we are in chronic crisis at this point because of the cost of living crisis. Health crises. My goodness, I mean the state of health. There's been a report with a response that's going to be coming out. I think it's on the 24th about ultra processed foods. We are in a health crisis. We are in a connection and a nature and a biodiversity and a climate crisis.
00:59:56.000 --> 01:00:06.000 Daphne Du Cros: Crisis. So all of these things play into food. But we are at a point where we need to be shifting that and bringing it to people's attention. The issue is that people shut down.
01:00:06.000 --> 01:00:07.000 Daphne Du Cros: Um.
01:00:07.000 --> 01:00:10.000 Daphne Du Cros: When you have a system with such great complexity.
01:00:10.000 --> 01:00:16.000 Daphne Du Cros: Either it's impossible to fathom or it's absolutely terrifying.
01:00:16.000 --> 01:00:23.000 Daphne Du Cros: So people just can't engage, and I think a great part of the or a key part of the resilience.
01:00:23.000 --> 01:00:26.000 Daphne Du Cros: Messaging has to be.
01:00:26.000 --> 01:00:31.000 Daphne Du Cros: Adaptation. You know, if we say that we are becoming more resilient, it's not.
01:00:31.000 --> 01:00:36.000 Daphne Du Cros: Emergency crisis. We're all going to die. Pull it together. It's.
01:00:36.000 --> 01:00:49.000 Daphne Du Cros: We need to start planning. We need to start being smart. And we need to begin ramping up. We need to be investing in Uk horticulture. We need to be, you know, bringing back British orchards. We need to get rid of this sort of narrative that.
01:00:43.000 --> 01:00:44.000 tristram cary: No.
01:00:49.000 --> 01:00:50.000 Daphne Du Cros: We can't throw that here.
01:00:51.000 --> 01:01:01.000 Daphne Du Cros: Well, a hundred years ago we did so. Why aren't we doing that now? Well, because it's not economically viable, because we're getting apples from New Zealand, you know it's.
01:01:01.000 --> 01:01:02.000 Daphne Du Cros: It's a.
01:01:02.000 --> 01:01:11.000 Daphne Du Cros: A massive industrial structure. But the thing is we can say our food system is broken, but it's working exactly as it should. It's just serving.
01:01:11.000 --> 01:01:15.000 Daphne Du Cros: A very, very few people where it needs to be restructured to serve many.
01:01:15.000 --> 01:01:18.000 Daphne Du Cros: Sorry. That was a very long-winded response to your question.
01:01:17.000 --> 01:01:18.000 tristram cary: Thank you.
01:01:18.000 --> 01:01:19.000 Daphne Du Cros: Yeah.
01:01:19.000 --> 01:01:22.000 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration: Stuart, the ball is in your court. Please.
01:01:22.000 --> 01:01:24.000 Cllr Stuart Withington Gt Dunmow, Essex: Hi! Thank you that that was um.
01:01:25.000 --> 01:01:29.000 Cllr Stuart Withington Gt Dunmow, Essex: Fascinating talk and plenty of food for thought.
01:01:29.000 --> 01:01:30.000 Cllr Stuart Withington Gt Dunmow, Essex: If you probably come.
01:01:29.000 --> 01:01:30.000 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration: Aha!
01:01:30.000 --> 01:01:31.000 Cllr Stuart Withington Gt Dunmow, Essex: Um.
01:01:32.000 --> 01:01:35.000 Cllr Stuart Withington Gt Dunmow, Essex: I am heavily into grey, brown.
01:01:35.000 --> 01:01:39.000 Cllr Stuart Withington Gt Dunmow, Essex: But my biggest problem is preserving.
01:01:39.000 --> 01:01:40.000 Cllr Stuart Withington Gt Dunmow, Essex: Food.
01:01:40.000 --> 01:01:44.000 Cllr Stuart Withington Gt Dunmow, Essex: As you said, there's great sort of seasonality about stuff.
01:01:44.000 --> 01:01:49.000 Cllr Stuart Withington Gt Dunmow, Essex: Uh. But at this time of year you're basically down to.
01:01:49.000 --> 01:01:54.000 Cllr Stuart Withington Gt Dunmow, Essex: Uh! I've I've got a fridge full of apples. So the bumper apple crop this year.
01:01:54.000 --> 01:01:58.000 Cllr Stuart Withington Gt Dunmow, Essex: My potatoes have run out. I've just harvested the carrots.
01:01:59.000 --> 01:02:00.000 Cllr Stuart Withington Gt Dunmow, Essex: Um.
01:02:00.000 --> 01:02:03.000 Cllr Stuart Withington Gt Dunmow, Essex: But is there any place for a community.
01:02:04.000 --> 01:02:06.000 Cllr Stuart Withington Gt Dunmow, Essex: Food Processing.
01:02:06.000 --> 01:02:07.000 Cllr Stuart Withington Gt Dunmow, Essex: Unit.
01:02:07.000 --> 01:02:12.000 Cllr Stuart Withington Gt Dunmow, Essex: Um. I I keep thinking about buying myself. A flash freezer.
01:02:12.000 --> 01:02:16.000 Cllr Stuart Withington Gt Dunmow, Essex: Freezing things like French beans isn't a good idea.
01:02:16.000 --> 01:02:19.000 Cllr Stuart Withington Gt Dunmow, Essex: But if you put them through a flash freezer, and then.
01:02:19.000 --> 01:02:21.000 Cllr Stuart Withington Gt Dunmow, Essex: Obviously store them in a freezer.
01:02:21.000 --> 01:02:23.000 Cllr Stuart Withington Gt Dunmow, Essex: That will last forever.
01:02:24.000 --> 01:02:24.000 Daphne Du Cros: Hmm.
01:02:24.000 --> 01:02:30.000 Cllr Stuart Withington Gt Dunmow, Essex: Um, I I don't know of anyone that uh in a community has this sort of facility.
01:02:30.000 --> 01:02:33.000 Cllr Stuart Withington Gt Dunmow, Essex: Do you think that would be something worth setting up.
01:02:34.000 --> 01:02:43.000 Daphne Du Cros: I think it's going to take. As I. As I said, it's going to take lots of different formats of things deployed in.
01:02:43.000 --> 01:02:51.000 Daphne Du Cros: Loads of different ways. So if you have somebody who has that infrastructure, what about a library of stuff?
01:02:51.000 --> 01:03:09.000 Daphne Du Cros: Because things are highly seasonal. We do seasonal, pressing days. We have a traveling apple press so, and that comes with Pasteurizers. So people can pasteurize the juice or not pasteurize it and make cider we've got. I mean, we have our seed bank, the Bishop's castle seed bank.
01:03:09.000 --> 01:03:13.000 Daphne Du Cros: I have a pantry coming from North America.
01:03:13.000 --> 01:03:20.000 Daphne Du Cros: Canning or bottling. Here we have a pressure canner, and so you don't need electricity for that.
01:03:21.000 --> 01:03:23.000 Daphne Du Cros: The lowest um.
01:03:24.000 --> 01:03:27.000 Daphne Du Cros: The systems that require the least amount of.
01:03:27.000 --> 01:03:35.000 Daphne Du Cros: Long-term energy, like freezers, are great. They're tested and true, and they're what our ancestors used and sort of.
01:03:35.000 --> 01:03:38.000 Daphne Du Cros: Bringing back these skills where very few people have them.
01:03:39.000 --> 01:03:40.000 Daphne Du Cros: Or um.
01:03:40.000 --> 01:03:52.000 Daphne Du Cros: You know, engaging at the community level, I mean, who has a local wy, we have a local wy, several local Wylies and I have given talks to the Wi, saying.
01:03:52.000 --> 01:03:53.000 Daphne Du Cros: Nanas.
01:03:53.000 --> 01:04:17.000 Daphne Du Cros: We need you. We need your skills. We need to understand how to make bacon, and to, you know, make jams and preserves, and and all of these things. So yes, in short, yes, all of these ways, all of these formats, salting, pickling, bottling, drying, dehydrating, whatever smoke it. Yeah, we need it all. And so setting those up.
01:04:17.000 --> 01:04:34.000 Daphne Du Cros: As community initiatives and skill shares and ways to bring communities together. Skill exchanges. There are wonderful formats. If you have a climate hub, we have some great examples of climate hubs and community kitchens.
01:04:34.000 --> 01:04:35.000 Daphne Du Cros: And.
01:04:35.000 --> 01:04:59.000 Daphne Du Cros: And there are some wonderful models, and they're often so happy to talk about how they've developed these things. Community shops. The Plunkett Foundation is a wonderful organization that talks about basically for a membership fee. You can sign up and help organize and set up a community shop. So there are structures in place that you can just rip from other people.
01:04:59.000 --> 01:05:06.000 Daphne Du Cros: And and get their support in doing it, because we want to see all of these, you know, mushrooming all over the place. So yes, do it.
01:05:07.000 --> 01:05:08.000 Cllr Stuart Withington Gt Dunmow, Essex: Thanks.
01:05:09.000 --> 01:05:11.000 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration: Brilliant Andrew, please.
01:05:11.000 --> 01:05:16.000 Andrew Maliphant: Just a couple of notes about to reinforce the idea that.
01:05:16.000 --> 01:05:18.000 Andrew Maliphant: We have to act locally on this matter.
01:05:18.000 --> 01:05:25.000 Andrew Maliphant: Back in the day under a previous government. There was an idea that you could chiefly build on 2% of the English countryside.
01:05:25.000 --> 01:05:34.000 Andrew Maliphant: Because that wouldn't wouldn't make any difference, wouldn't do any damage. The Think tank report in which that policy was based actually said, and I've got a copy of it somewhere.
01:05:34.000 --> 01:05:37.000 Andrew Maliphant: You know we shouldn't be aiming to um.
01:05:38.000 --> 01:05:40.000 Andrew Maliphant: Grow all our food in this nation.
01:05:40.000 --> 01:05:51.000 Andrew Maliphant: We shouldn't aim for total self-sustainability. All right. There may be one thing, but there's no point in making it worse in the meanwhile, and of course we have got now have a new government which is desperate to.
01:05:51.000 --> 01:05:51.000 Andrew Maliphant: Um.
01:05:51.000 --> 01:06:03.000 Andrew Maliphant: Build house, and he said, grow houses, build houses, even at the expense of agricultural land, and I think you know that that is, that is the world we are now living in. So there's a big fight to stop. Um.
01:06:03.000 --> 01:06:05.000 Andrew Maliphant: That locally if we can.
01:06:05.000 --> 01:06:13.000 Andrew Maliphant: The other thing is, I spoke to a green Mp. Not long ago, but not tell you which one about this issue, about not enough food being produced.
01:06:06.000 --> 01:06:06.000 Daphne Du Cros: Hmm.
01:06:13.000 --> 01:06:26.000 Andrew Maliphant: And I was quickly told, oh, well, the problem is that farmers are building feed for livestock, and that's because that's more economically viable. And if they didn't do that we could actually then grow enough food for ourselves. And I'm thinking.
01:06:26.000 --> 01:06:34.000 Andrew Maliphant: That was a very quick response. The same person said, You're keen on having local allotments, I know Chris is speaking next, so he could perhaps give me a bit more perspective on that.
01:06:34.000 --> 01:06:50.000 Andrew Maliphant: But I thought, Why is that? Oh, we shouldn't be eating more meat, therefore we don't need so much livestock. Therefore we don't need to bring feed for livestock, but I thought that was a rather swift response to something which is probably more complex. I'll shut up now because Chris is a member of the Green party, and I'm sure he could put me right on what I just said.
01:06:52.000 --> 01:06:53.000 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration: All yours, Chris.
01:06:54.000 --> 01:06:55.000 Chris McFarling: Thank you. Um.
01:06:55.000 --> 01:06:58.000 Chris McFarling: I'm not going to answer that because it is complex.
01:06:58.000 --> 01:07:00.000 Chris McFarling: And doesn't deserve a.
01:07:00.000 --> 01:07:02.000 Chris McFarling: A short knee-jerk response.
01:07:02.000 --> 01:07:07.000 Chris McFarling: Um as as Daphne has as illustrated, quite, quite cleverly, and and.
01:07:02.000 --> 01:07:03.000 Andrew Maliphant: Great.
01:07:07.000 --> 01:07:08.000 Chris McFarling: Formidably.
01:07:08.000 --> 01:07:12.000 Chris McFarling: The the food network is, and and the the diet.
01:07:12.000 --> 01:07:17.000 Chris McFarling: State of food, preparedness and food security in this country.
01:07:17.000 --> 01:07:19.000 Chris McFarling: Deserves a full debate, and.
01:07:20.000 --> 01:07:22.000 Chris McFarling: A round table discussion with all partners.
01:07:22.000 --> 01:07:24.000 Chris McFarling: Um. So yes.
01:07:24.000 --> 01:07:27.000 Chris McFarling: But in general, if we're importing feed from.
01:07:27.000 --> 01:07:29.000 Chris McFarling: From the Amazon rainforest.
01:07:29.000 --> 01:07:31.000 Chris McFarling: Um, you know where they grow. Soya.
01:07:31.000 --> 01:07:38.000 Chris McFarling: To feed our chickens in intensive poultry units. That can't be a good thing on on a number of.
01:07:38.000 --> 01:07:40.000 Chris McFarling: Grounds, you know. Carbon.
01:07:40.000 --> 01:07:41.000 Chris McFarling: Cost.
01:07:41.000 --> 01:07:44.000 Chris McFarling: Sustainability, etc.
01:07:44.000 --> 01:07:46.000 Chris McFarling: And when when we meet the.
01:07:46.000 --> 01:07:48.000 Chris McFarling: From cattle that are grown.
01:07:48.000 --> 01:07:49.000 Chris McFarling: Quote, unquote.
01:07:49.000 --> 01:07:53.000 Chris McFarling: In the Amazon rainforest as well, where the Amazon is chopped down.
01:07:53.000 --> 01:07:57.000 Chris McFarling: The cattle farms. Then that can't seem to be a good thing either.
01:07:57.000 --> 01:08:01.000 Chris McFarling: Um. So we're looking at, you know, more plant-based diets.
01:08:01.000 --> 01:08:03.000 Chris McFarling: To do that, and there is a trend.
01:08:03.000 --> 01:08:06.000 Chris McFarling: Which is towards vegetarianism and veganism.
01:08:06.000 --> 01:08:08.000 Chris McFarling: Which which will help in that.
01:08:08.000 --> 01:08:11.000 Chris McFarling: But as far as agriculture is concerned, I remember.
01:08:11.000 --> 01:08:12.000 Chris McFarling: Um.
01:08:12.000 --> 01:08:16.000 Chris McFarling: I think it was Jonathan Van Dam on.
01:08:16.000 --> 01:08:18.000 Chris McFarling: On on desert island discs.
01:08:19.000 --> 01:08:24.000 Chris McFarling: And he used to work for a government-based Agricultural Research Center.
01:08:24.000 --> 01:08:25.000 Chris McFarling: We used to have those.
01:08:26.000 --> 01:08:29.000 Chris McFarling: They weren't privatized. They were government based.
01:08:29.000 --> 01:08:33.000 Chris McFarling: And he said, we learned to to store carrots for 4 years.
01:08:33.000 --> 01:08:35.000 Chris McFarling: Without electricity.
01:08:35.000 --> 01:08:43.000 Chris McFarling: And I just thought, my goodness, you know, why aren't we doing this? That is absolutely critical to our preparedness.
01:08:43.000 --> 01:08:46.000 Chris McFarling: But to cut, to come up. My my question was simply.
01:08:46.000 --> 01:08:49.000 Chris McFarling: Well, it wasn't a question, it was just an observation. Thank you, Daphne.
01:08:49.000 --> 01:08:52.000 Chris McFarling: I know as the Cabinet member for Climate.
01:08:52.000 --> 01:08:54.000 Chris McFarling: And have been for 8 years.
01:08:54.000 --> 01:08:57.000 Chris McFarling: Um. It's difficult not to.
01:08:57.000 --> 01:09:02.000 Chris McFarling: To start ranting at the precariousness, precariousness of the situation. We're in.
01:09:03.000 --> 01:09:06.000 Chris McFarling: And wanting to to shock people into into action.
01:09:06.000 --> 01:09:10.000 Chris McFarling: But we do have to bring people with us. It is a complex subject.
01:09:10.000 --> 01:09:14.000 Chris McFarling: And we don't want to overwhelm them into denial or.
01:09:14.000 --> 01:09:15.000 Chris McFarling: Or just just.
01:09:15.000 --> 01:09:16.000 Chris McFarling: Closing the doors and.
01:09:16.000 --> 01:09:18.000 Chris McFarling: And starving in their own homes.
01:09:18.000 --> 01:09:23.000 Chris McFarling: Um, yeah, we have to. We have to do this and thank you. You seemed.
01:09:23.000 --> 01:09:25.000 Chris McFarling: In Shropshire. You seem to be leading the way on this.
01:09:25.000 --> 01:09:31.000 Chris McFarling: And I wonder whether there's there's more that could be done to spread that awareness.
01:09:31.000 --> 01:09:32.000 Chris McFarling: Across the country.
01:09:33.000 --> 01:09:40.000 Daphne Du Cros: Well, thank you. Um, thank you for so many wonderful compliments in that I really appreciate it. Um!
01:09:40.000 --> 01:09:47.000 Daphne Du Cros: In. We. We are going to do our very, very best as a food partnership. We have really.
01:09:47.000 --> 01:09:51.000 Daphne Du Cros: Redirected our efforts, and with the recognition that.
01:09:51.000 --> 01:09:56.000 Daphne Du Cros: Food. Resilience has to be the umbrella under which everything else.
01:09:56.000 --> 01:09:57.000 Daphne Du Cros: Slots.
01:09:57.000 --> 01:10:03.000 Daphne Du Cros: Just like climate change is the umbrella under which everything slots. Resilience is the heading.
01:10:03.000 --> 01:10:04.000 Daphne Du Cros: And.
01:10:04.000 --> 01:10:14.000 Daphne Du Cros: Food, resilience, climate, resilience, nature, recovery. All of these things feed into that same direction. So we need to be talking and collaborating with one another.
01:10:15.000 --> 01:10:16.000 Daphne Du Cros: And.
01:10:16.000 --> 01:10:30.000 Daphne Du Cros: In in Shropshire, we, we have decided that civil food, resilience, food, resilience is our focus. And when we are framing our issues, we we are looking at that, and and that has really led us to.
01:10:30.000 --> 01:10:32.000 Daphne Du Cros: Reformulating, how, how we approach.
01:10:32.000 --> 01:10:48.000 Daphne Du Cros: Our members, for example, building much stronger relationships to our farmers, clusters around the county because building those relationships and supporting them, the the real. The foundation of our food production is.
01:10:48.000 --> 01:10:57.000 Daphne Du Cros: Crucial. I mean, they need routes to market. We need to come up with creative alternatives for them to sell the produce and.
01:10:57.000 --> 01:11:09.000 Daphne Du Cros: It's um, and getting it to people and revaluing food and rethinking food waste. And so there are. As you say, it's massively complex. But.
01:11:09.000 --> 01:11:14.000 Daphne Du Cros: As a food partnership. We have been working since our inception to understand what the landscape is.
01:11:15.000 --> 01:11:17.000 Daphne Du Cros: Um, human and otherwise.
01:11:17.000 --> 01:11:25.000 Daphne Du Cros: So we are trying to connect the dots. And and I think that's the best any of us can do. It's very rare that we can work.
01:11:25.000 --> 01:11:50.000 Daphne Du Cros: On a sort of systems focus. Looking across, you know, all aspects of the food system, but also from the household level upwards. And we've got amazing partners across the Marches who likewise they're really focused on this. They get it. And so we're hopefully able to share what we find as we progress through this we'll be. We'll be pitching.
01:11:50.000 --> 01:11:53.000 Daphne Du Cros: The approach to defra, to say.
01:11:53.000 --> 01:12:02.000 Daphne Du Cros: Will you support us so that we can scale this up and and do this properly because we think that the return on investment is um.
01:12:02.000 --> 01:12:03.000 Daphne Du Cros: Is, a.
01:12:03.000 --> 01:12:07.000 Daphne Du Cros: Yeah, it's it's there. And we need it across the nations.
01:12:09.000 --> 01:12:12.000 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration: Thank you very much, Stephanie. Jules, please.
01:12:17.000 --> 01:12:17.000 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration: Oh!
01:12:17.000 --> 01:12:18.000 Daphne Du Cros: Nope.
01:12:18.000 --> 01:12:20.000 Joolz Thompson: Right, took took me a moment to tell me.
01:12:18.000 --> 01:12:19.000 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration: To be moved to her.
01:12:20.000 --> 01:12:21.000 Joolz Thompson: And.
01:12:21.000 --> 01:12:24.000 Joolz Thompson: Thanks. That's absolutely fascinating, really inspiring.
01:12:24.000 --> 01:12:26.000 Joolz Thompson: Um stuff.
01:12:26.000 --> 01:12:31.000 Joolz Thompson: Um. I'm glad you mentioned the Plunkett Foundation. We've got 10 acres of land.
01:12:31.000 --> 01:12:35.000 Joolz Thompson: Um as a community benefit society. We've also bought our local pub.
01:12:36.000 --> 01:12:41.000 Joolz Thompson: Um as a hub, because, as you say, um, who doesn't like food.
01:12:36.000 --> 01:12:37.000 Daphne Du Cros: Great.
01:12:41.000 --> 01:12:47.000 Joolz Thompson: Great connect to growing, cooking and eating together. And it's really community. Um.
01:12:47.000 --> 01:12:49.000 Joolz Thompson: A real community endeavor.
01:12:50.000 --> 01:12:55.000 Joolz Thompson: Um. I'm just responding um to the question in relation to.
01:12:55.000 --> 01:12:57.000 Joolz Thompson: What we can produce. And again.
01:12:57.000 --> 01:12:58.000 Joolz Thompson: Had you.
01:12:57.000 --> 01:12:58.000 Daphne Du Cros: Hmm.
01:12:58.000 --> 01:13:10.000 Joolz Thompson: Touched on the Second World War, where we were really, really up against it. And you know, we're still having food deliveries across the Atlantic in this country. But yes, we could. There's much land we can turn over and.
01:13:11.000 --> 01:13:12.000 Joolz Thompson: I wonder!
01:13:12.000 --> 01:13:20.000 Joolz Thompson: Daphne. What consideration, if any, you've given to things like um, aeroponic growing or new technology.
01:13:20.000 --> 01:13:27.000 Joolz Thompson: Um that can grow um root, vegetables from potatoes to onions, and other much other stuff. 3, 6, 5, 24, 7.
01:13:28.000 --> 01:13:29.000 Joolz Thompson: Um.
01:13:29.000 --> 01:13:31.000 Joolz Thompson: I've always been a bit.
01:13:31.000 --> 01:13:35.000 Joolz Thompson: Um reluctant because of the energy usage from going under lights and.
01:13:35.000 --> 01:13:42.000 Joolz Thompson: That kind of environment, but co-located with renewable energy. It's quite an elegant solution.
01:13:36.000 --> 01:13:36.000 Daphne Du Cros: Hmm.
01:13:42.000 --> 01:13:45.000 Joolz Thompson: Um. We're also looking at what's called a wallapini, which is a.
01:13:45.000 --> 01:13:47.000 Joolz Thompson: Um.
01:13:47.000 --> 01:13:50.000 Joolz Thompson: A greenhouse recess 4 foot into the ground, and the.
01:13:50.000 --> 01:13:51.000 Daphne Du Cros: Hmm.
01:13:50.000 --> 01:13:52.000 Joolz Thompson: The earth gives it the thermal mass.
01:13:52.000 --> 01:14:09.000 Joolz Thompson: And that allows you to actually cultivate citrus fruit year round in the Uk, and do other marvellous things like unseasonable veg. And enough winter veg for 140 odd households. We want to put Wallopini so, and they're kind of suitable for also for urban and peri-urban growing.
01:14:09.000 --> 01:14:12.000 Joolz Thompson: Um, and and this and this kind of thing.
01:14:12.000 --> 01:14:17.000 Joolz Thompson: And finally, just in terms of the processing question, which I think is Stuart. Um.
01:14:17.000 --> 01:14:33.000 Joolz Thompson: Farmers around here are starting to get the community involved in their own processing on site. So so less, less individuals, but more again, community supported agriculture, but they might have an abattoir butchery and or processing, including distillery for chin and.
01:14:33.000 --> 01:14:38.000 Joolz Thompson: And brewing and stuff on on site, actually on the farm, and encouraging visits.
01:14:38.000 --> 01:14:48.000 Joolz Thompson: So those are. Those are a few things that we're doing in East Anglia, but definitely loads of loads of food for thought. If you'll excuse the pun, and we'd absolutely love to have another conversation.
01:14:48.000 --> 01:14:52.000 Joolz Thompson: Definitely because it's absolutely incredible what you're doing. Thank you.
01:14:52.000 --> 01:14:53.000 Daphne Du Cros: Thank you.
01:14:54.000 --> 01:14:55.000 Daphne Du Cros: Ah!
01:14:54.000 --> 01:14:55.000 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration: Indeed.
01:14:55.000 --> 01:14:58.000 Daphne Du Cros: Yeah, just as as a quick answer, um.
01:14:59.000 --> 01:15:08.000 Daphne Du Cros: All of these things are innovations, whether it's putting your greenhouse in the ground, or whether it's growing hydroponically or aeroponically.
01:15:08.000 --> 01:15:10.000 Daphne Du Cros: It's it's.
01:15:10.000 --> 01:15:16.000 Daphne Du Cros: Any contribution is of value. I think the the issue is.
01:15:16.000 --> 01:15:17.000 Daphne Du Cros: Um.
01:15:17.000 --> 01:15:31.000 Daphne Du Cros: Is cost setup cost, like most things. Typically if you've got dirt in the backyard, you can whack a seed in it, but it's A. It's a much bigger initiative. And considering community initiatives struggle to find investment.
01:15:31.000 --> 01:15:56.000 Daphne Du Cros: Overall initiatives like that which which are taking place in, you know, great institutions and sort of research facilities are great. They're really interesting. It's where do we put them? They're wonderful for urban spaces. I've been working with a food project in Wales that's looking to get produce from a Welsh food loop into Birmingham, because obviously, how do you feed.
01:15:56.000 --> 01:15:57.000 Daphne Du Cros: Cities.
01:15:57.000 --> 01:16:01.000 Daphne Du Cros: Um, it's it's a much bigger question.
01:16:01.000 --> 01:16:17.000 Daphne Du Cros: So those initiatives are being looked at as as national defense tools for feeding urban spaces, which is a really interesting area of research. So, yeah, it takes all kinds. And just.
01:16:17.000 --> 01:16:20.000 Daphne Du Cros: Yeah, it's it's not an area that I have experience with.
01:16:20.000 --> 01:16:27.000 Daphne Du Cros: Personally as a grower. I mean, I've looked at. I've done research on food production on green roofs.
01:16:27.000 --> 01:16:30.000 Daphne Du Cros: Um. I've done, you know my my own growing.
01:16:31.000 --> 01:16:32.000 Daphne Du Cros: Um.
01:16:32.000 --> 01:16:33.000 Daphne Du Cros: But.
01:16:33.000 --> 01:16:35.000 Daphne Du Cros: Yeah, those those are.
01:16:35.000 --> 01:16:41.000 Daphne Du Cros: I'm sure they've they've got a place in it. I don't have the exact, you know formula for it.
01:16:42.000 --> 01:16:48.000 Joolz Thompson: I'll I'll share. We're doing a feasibility study and stuff. So I'll share some data with you and docs and plans and.
01:16:48.000 --> 01:16:56.000 Joolz Thompson: Um business planning. And and we're looking at repurposing some old, some really massive old grading silos at the moment. It's about 6 of them.
01:16:55.000 --> 01:16:56.000 Daphne Du Cros: Cool.
01:16:56.000 --> 01:17:01.000 Joolz Thompson: They're really huge, co-locating with some renewable energy for the 8 aeroponic.
01:17:01.000 --> 01:17:02.000 Joolz Thompson: Aponic Aeroponic Ground.
01:17:02.000 --> 01:17:04.000 Joolz Thompson: So, yeah.
01:17:02.000 --> 01:17:03.000 Daphne Du Cros: Fantastic.
01:17:04.000 --> 01:17:09.000 Joolz Thompson: Look forward to sharing some stuff, and thanks so much I've got to. I've got to shoot off my dad's here for lunch. But thanks again.
01:17:09.000 --> 01:17:10.000 Daphne Du Cros: Sure thing. Thank you.
01:17:10.000 --> 01:17:12.000 Joolz Thompson: Thanks, bye, bye.
01:17:12.000 --> 01:17:14.000 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration: Amanda, how can you get on? Please.
01:17:15.000 --> 01:17:17.000 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration: Amanda, Amanda.
01:17:17.000 --> 01:17:21.000 amanda davis: Thank you. Thank you. Um, and thank you. Daphne.
01:17:21.000 --> 01:17:24.000 amanda davis: Ah! For reassuring.
01:17:24.000 --> 01:17:25.000 amanda davis: Me!
01:17:25.000 --> 01:17:28.000 amanda davis: In terms of the value of networking.
01:17:28.000 --> 01:17:29.000 Daphne Du Cros: Yes.
01:17:28.000 --> 01:17:31.000 amanda davis: And how important it is to be. I.
01:17:31.000 --> 01:17:33.000 amanda davis: Excuse me.
01:17:33.000 --> 01:17:35.000 amanda davis: But.
01:17:35.000 --> 01:17:48.000 amanda davis: Gosh! I'm getting excited. Excuse that. Um, it's like the oil in the works. It's it's what we learned from Covid, but it's what we always knew, and that's why the WI get together.
01:17:48.000 --> 01:17:56.000 amanda davis: And share, isn't it? It's that thing of passing it on. It's that making connections, not reinventing the wheel. It's all that stuff.
01:17:56.000 --> 01:18:05.000 amanda davis: But um back in September, when a council run formal committee just didn't work for environmental action.
01:18:05.000 --> 01:18:09.000 amanda davis: Um. We set up a bought and sustainability network.
01:18:09.000 --> 01:18:14.000 amanda davis: And the whole point of it is just to connect people that are already doing.
01:18:14.000 --> 01:18:21.000 amanda davis: And then you can. You've got that self-sustaining. Oh, look sustainable! Um cycle of reinforcing.
01:18:14.000 --> 01:18:15.000 Daphne Du Cros: You know.
01:18:18.000 --> 01:18:19.000 Daphne Du Cros: Hmm.
01:18:21.000 --> 01:18:35.000 amanda davis: People and wishing them well, and knowing that you're not alone, and it's building on all those things that that added the resilience for covid times when we were helping each other out. And it's still in our recent memories. So.
01:18:35.000 --> 01:18:39.000 amanda davis: You know it kind of. That was where it came from. Really, in September.
01:18:39.000 --> 01:18:49.000 amanda davis: Um. I need to give it another really good push in spring, because it hasn't. It's taking off slowly. But you gave me so many more ideas about the other places.
01:18:49.000 --> 01:18:51.000 amanda davis: To link into it.
01:18:51.000 --> 01:18:54.000 amanda davis: And I thought we were already thinking quite wide.
01:18:51.000 --> 01:18:52.000 Daphne Du Cros: Amazing.
01:18:54.000 --> 01:18:55.000 amanda davis: Um.
01:18:55.000 --> 01:19:02.000 amanda davis: So the only word I wanted to finish with really in terms of a question is, um the role of co-ops.
01:19:02.000 --> 01:19:04.000 amanda davis: And the whole Co-OP Movement.
01:19:04.000 --> 01:19:12.000 amanda davis: And I think, bear in mind that the current Labour Government have got a target of doubling the size of the co-OP sector.
01:19:12.000 --> 01:19:13.000 Daphne Du Cros: Hmm.
01:19:12.000 --> 01:19:14.000 amanda davis: General 1st term.
01:19:14.000 --> 01:19:24.000 amanda davis: And so I'm a director of Mid County's Co-OP. But obviously we've got a major place to play in, where we source our food from, and how we get it into the stores.
01:19:24.000 --> 01:19:28.000 amanda davis: And that's everything. From greenhouse gas emissions.
01:19:28.000 --> 01:19:36.000 amanda davis: And about resilience, and about affordability, and about range and choice, and giving people what they want.
01:19:30.000 --> 01:19:31.000 Daphne Du Cros: Hmm.
01:19:36.000 --> 01:19:40.000 amanda davis: But it is very much more than other supermarkets are.
01:19:40.000 --> 01:19:41.000 amanda davis: About.
01:19:41.000 --> 01:19:42.000 amanda davis: Responsibility.
01:19:43.000 --> 01:19:44.000 Daphne Du Cros: Hmm.
01:19:43.000 --> 01:19:53.000 amanda davis: And I guess resilience is a big part of that. And whilst retail commercially might see resilience as being about always having an alternative supply up your sleeve.
01:19:53.000 --> 01:19:58.000 amanda davis: Or about being agile and able to turn it around the just in time sort of model.
01:19:58.000 --> 01:19:59.000 Daphne Du Cros: Hmm.
01:19:58.000 --> 01:20:01.000 amanda davis: Um, actually, it's about so much more than that.
01:20:01.000 --> 01:20:07.000 amanda davis: It's about. Where have we got that whole network of local farmers that we're supporting.
01:20:07.000 --> 01:20:11.000 amanda davis: That aren't just there when we need them, but we're there for them the whole way through.
01:20:11.000 --> 01:20:14.000 amanda davis: And that's our model at Mid County's. Co-OP.
01:20:14.000 --> 01:20:19.000 amanda davis: And um. You know I've already. When I heard that this was the talk today.
01:20:19.000 --> 01:20:21.000 amanda davis: I quickly emailed.
01:20:21.000 --> 01:20:37.000 amanda davis: Everybody, all the board and all the execs to say, if there's anybody can make it, please do, because this is where what we're about. This isn't meant to be an advert, by the way, but it is about saying, could you pop co-OP somewhere in, or that Co-OP movement somewhere into your.
01:20:37.000 --> 01:20:41.000 amanda davis: Your presentation, maybe even.
01:20:41.000 --> 01:20:43.000 amanda davis: And what are your thoughts on that.
01:20:44.000 --> 01:20:53.000 Daphne Du Cros: Um. So I think community empowerment through cooperatives is essential. I think community ownership is essential.
01:20:54.000 --> 01:21:00.000 Daphne Du Cros: We were. I think we've worked with. I want to. I want to say mid counties co-OP on a.
01:21:00.000 --> 01:21:02.000 Daphne Du Cros: A food. God! What was it?
01:21:03.000 --> 01:21:05.000 Daphne Du Cros: Ah blah blah.
01:21:05.000 --> 01:21:10.000 Daphne Du Cros: A dynamic procurement sort of initiative. Um.
01:21:10.000 --> 01:21:11.000 Daphne Du Cros: So.
01:21:12.000 --> 01:21:16.000 Daphne Du Cros: I think the biggest thing that Co-OP could do is figure out.
01:21:16.000 --> 01:21:19.000 Daphne Du Cros: In partnership with farmers.
01:21:19.000 --> 01:21:20.000 Daphne Du Cros: How to.
01:21:20.000 --> 01:21:28.000 Daphne Du Cros: Or link up growers locally to feed into what they're doing. We and we have had in my community.
01:21:28.000 --> 01:21:34.000 Daphne Du Cros: Huge trouble communicating with Co-OP about this is what we want.
01:21:34.000 --> 01:21:49.000 Daphne Du Cros: But then the conversation gets lost in the hierarchy and the structure of we want locally produced food. We want organic. We want no plastic, but it gets lost in the conversation.
01:21:49.000 --> 01:22:05.000 Daphne Du Cros: If the Co-OP could be in a position to figure out how to crack, relocalizing the food system through local procurement loops, what a game changer, and what an edge in the market they could have! That would be really interesting.
01:22:05.000 --> 01:22:10.000 amanda davis: Maybe we should talk offline because we do have something in Mccounty's co-OP, which is not the same thing as.
01:22:10.000 --> 01:22:11.000 amanda davis: Show up!
01:22:11.000 --> 01:22:12.000 Daphne Du Cros: Go. Up. Right? Okay.
01:22:11.000 --> 01:22:16.000 amanda davis: The Co-OP group. Um, and we call it best of counties.
01:22:13.000 --> 01:22:13.000 Daphne Du Cros: Yeah.
01:22:13.000 --> 01:22:14.000 Daphne Du Cros: Okay.
01:22:16.000 --> 01:22:17.000 Daphne Du Cros: Great. Okay.
01:22:16.000 --> 01:22:22.000 amanda davis: And it's basically our local counties and giving suppliers a certain percentage space on our shelves.
01:22:22.000 --> 01:22:23.000 Daphne Du Cros: Great.
01:22:23.000 --> 01:22:25.000 amanda davis: So let's talk more offline. But.
01:22:25.000 --> 01:22:26.000 Daphne Du Cros: Yeah, that's great.
01:22:26.000 --> 01:22:29.000 amanda davis: Thank you. And yeah, overcoming these big.
01:22:26.000 --> 01:22:27.000 Daphne Du Cros: Um.
01:22:29.000 --> 01:22:31.000 amanda davis: They're big barriers, aren't they?
01:22:31.000 --> 01:22:46.000 Daphne Du Cros: And I put again in the sort of resource list that I created to back up this talk. There's a very short video on food ladders, and I think a lot of what you said at the beginning of your your question.
01:22:46.000 --> 01:23:11.000 Daphne Du Cros: I think you find a lot of value in that. And it gives a really great synopsis of emergency response to capacity building to letting communities sort of fly from from what has been built up. So from the network and and broader resilience perspective that might be of interest. Also, we in Shropshire are planning a Resilience Conference.
01:23:11.000 --> 01:23:14.000 Daphne Du Cros: In gosh, probably September.
01:23:14.000 --> 01:23:21.000 Daphne Du Cros: We're we're starting to pull together the threads of it now. But to illustrate, so to bring together the key.
01:23:21.000 --> 01:23:46.000 Daphne Du Cros: Players working in sort of civil society, charity values driven sector, who are working in these various spaces to come together for the 1st time in our area to have a conversation of where our overlaps are, where our connection points are, how we can support one another, and we will be inviting our our counselors, we will be inviting anybody who, we think, also needs to be in the room to witness that, and see the momentum.
01:23:46.000 --> 01:24:00.000 Daphne Du Cros: And be a part of facilitating and collaborating as a part of that. So that's that's something that I may be able to circulate as things take shape, but it's it's what we think is the the unified voice. Unified action approach so.
01:24:01.000 --> 01:24:02.000 Daphne Du Cros: Cool.
01:24:01.000 --> 01:24:02.000 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration: Wonderful.
01:24:02.000 --> 01:24:04.000 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration: Sandra, please thank you for waiting.
01:24:04.000 --> 01:24:11.000 Sandra Reeve: Yeah, sorry I have to dash off. Thanks very much. Um, it's been really, really inspiring. And um.
01:24:12.000 --> 01:24:25.000 Sandra Reeve: I'm part of Dorset climate Action network. So based in Dorset. And I'm now also one of the partners in the feeding Dorset partnership. So we've just joined sustainable food places. So it's been really interesting.
01:24:23.000 --> 01:24:24.000 Daphne Du Cros: Hey!
01:24:25.000 --> 01:24:29.000 Sandra Reeve: And what I wanted to offer here was just that we we met the other day. So we're.
01:24:30.000 --> 01:24:31.000 Sandra Reeve: There's an awful lot going on.
01:24:31.000 --> 01:24:37.000 Sandra Reeve: Endorse it in food in all kinds of areas. But we are now slowly kind of getting people.
01:24:38.000 --> 01:24:40.000 Sandra Reeve: To network more and.
01:24:40.000 --> 01:24:45.000 Sandra Reeve: The idea we're thinking of focusing on for this year is exactly what you were talking about. The end there, about.
01:24:45.000 --> 01:24:49.000 Sandra Reeve: We're going to meet some farming clusters. Um!
01:24:49.000 --> 01:24:57.000 Sandra Reeve: In early in the New Year, who are also working in a river catchment area. So they've got quite a lot of funding from Defra. This particular area.
01:24:57.000 --> 01:25:01.000 Sandra Reeve: And then we're going to talk with them about.
01:24:57.000 --> 01:24:58.000 Daphne Du Cros: Yep.
01:25:01.000 --> 01:25:02.000 Sandra Reeve: How can they?
01:25:02.000 --> 01:25:06.000 Sandra Reeve: How would they feel, or would it be a realistic.
01:25:06.000 --> 01:25:09.000 Sandra Reeve: Market model for them if they were.
01:25:09.000 --> 01:25:17.000 Sandra Reeve: Uh, if they could provide to the public sector. So basically, the Nhs and the schools and.
01:25:16.000 --> 01:25:17.000 Daphne Du Cros: Hmm.
01:25:17.000 --> 01:25:18.000 Sandra Reeve: Whatever else.
01:25:18.000 --> 01:25:25.000 Sandra Reeve: And that's something that's that's kind of feasible. Because one of the people in the feeding Dorset partnership is involved with.
01:25:25.000 --> 01:25:28.000 Sandra Reeve: The Nhs in quite a big way. So, and and.
01:25:28.000 --> 01:25:29.000 Sandra Reeve: Um.
01:25:29.000 --> 01:25:47.000 Sandra Reeve: Yeah. So I just wanted to share that and wondered what you thought about it, and would also be really interested in any other sources of information about local procurement. I don't yet, really, I'm new to this, and I don't yet really understand what dynamic procurement just sounds very, very abstract to me, but I'm sure it means something good. But.
01:25:45.000 --> 01:25:46.000 Daphne Du Cros: Okay.
01:25:47.000 --> 01:25:48.000 Daphne Du Cros: Yeah. Um.
01:25:48.000 --> 01:25:56.000 Daphne Du Cros: Well, yeah, I've just pinging as you talk, looking at the Y and Usk Foundation.
01:25:56.000 --> 01:26:09.000 Daphne Du Cros: Might be of interest. They've been doing in Herefordshire lots of work with farmers on river, friendly farming, so a great model to to have a look at, and really.
01:26:04.000 --> 01:26:05.000 Sandra Reeve: Okay.
01:26:09.000 --> 01:26:13.000 Daphne Du Cros: Very well done. Farmer engagement, um.
01:26:13.000 --> 01:26:16.000 Daphne Du Cros: Some feedback, you know. I was in a room where.
01:26:16.000 --> 01:26:17.000 Daphne Du Cros: There were.
01:26:17.000 --> 01:26:36.000 Daphne Du Cros: Farmers from the Nfu. Feeding into our Shropshire hills, national landscape meeting, saying, farmers are really hacked off by constantly being asked to give their opinion, and then there's no follow through. There's no no feedback on on what has happened as a part of those those sort of.
01:26:36.000 --> 01:26:45.000 Daphne Du Cros: Those collaborations and the time they took, nor nor any compensation. Typically, um, so. And what we're finding is that the Shropshire food partnership is.
01:26:45.000 --> 01:27:10.000 Daphne Du Cros: We're building those relationships over time with the food, the farming clusters, and part of that is saying, how can we be useful to you. What training do you want? What speakers do you want us to invite in and pay for? We'll make a good lunch. You come and and we'll all get together on site and have a really good talk and a really good lunch. Maybe we'll go to the pub afterwards and have a chat. So there are good ways of connecting.
01:26:56.000 --> 01:26:57.000 Sandra Reeve: Yeah.
01:27:10.000 --> 01:27:34.000 Daphne Du Cros: And also we're finding that as the food partnership as a Cic, we have a structure under which they can fit if they're going for bids. We can provide that sort of historic credibility to say you can bid for it under our umbrella, and so ways that we're finding that we can be useful, and we can build that sort of reciprocity.
01:27:28.000 --> 01:27:29.000 Sandra Reeve: Hmm.
01:27:34.000 --> 01:27:40.000 Daphne Du Cros: The your your other question about remind me what the second part was. Procurement.
01:27:40.000 --> 01:27:41.000 Sandra Reeve: So, just yeah.
01:27:41.000 --> 01:27:42.000 Daphne Du Cros: Um.
01:27:42.000 --> 01:27:49.000 Daphne Du Cros: Procurement's a funny thing. It's a funny old thing, particularly when it comes to.
01:27:49.000 --> 01:28:13.000 Daphne Du Cros: Multi-year contracts. Particularly, we found that through schools they're nearly impenetrable because our schools are no longer run under Shropshire council. They've gone to the sort of academies format, and so they all have independent contracts. If the food is, you know, and sometimes, if it's not even produced on site, it's it's brought in.
01:28:13.000 --> 01:28:18.000 Daphne Du Cros: It's race to the bottom garbage. Ultra processed crap.
01:28:18.000 --> 01:28:25.000 Daphne Du Cros: Um, my kids get packed lunches because I watch that. And it's just really frustrating.
01:28:25.000 --> 01:28:36.000 Daphne Du Cros: You know what with reports on ultra processed food and obesity and all this stuff, it needs a massive change, and models exist from other countries that are doing a brilliant job.
01:28:36.000 --> 01:28:46.000 Daphne Du Cros: But it's that sort of again, that corporatization and that corporate ownership of those you know of Sodexo, of. You know all of the companies that do that.
01:28:46.000 --> 01:28:52.000 Daphne Du Cros: The notion of dynamic procurement is more locally sourced.
01:28:52.000 --> 01:28:57.000 Daphne Du Cros: Food coming into those systems. Even if it's just a percentage of the contract.
01:28:57.000 --> 01:29:03.000 Daphne Du Cros: What I'm finding through a bit of side research that I'm doing is that whilst we want to pay our farmers this.
01:29:03.000 --> 01:29:14.000 Daphne Du Cros: Those organizations want to pay this, they want to pay bottom dollar wholesale prices. And so if we want um, a system that works for.
01:29:09.000 --> 01:29:10.000 Sandra Reeve: Yeah.
01:29:14.000 --> 01:29:34.000 Daphne Du Cros: Horticultural producers and farmers. We need to find a place where it's that, and that's very, very difficult. And so, unless we change the system to one where those farmers and their produce are valued, and we essentially subsidize small horticultural producers alongside bigger producers. It's a big gap.
01:29:34.000 --> 01:29:39.000 Daphne Du Cros: Um. I don't think anybody has the the answer to that yet.
01:29:39.000 --> 01:29:40.000 Daphne Du Cros: Um.
01:29:40.000 --> 01:29:44.000 Daphne Du Cros: No council has extra money to bang around.
01:29:44.000 --> 01:29:47.000 Daphne Du Cros: To pay for what's right.
01:29:47.000 --> 01:29:48.000 Sandra Reeve: No.
01:29:48.000 --> 01:29:50.000 Daphne Du Cros: So that's that's a tricky space.
01:29:50.000 --> 01:29:51.000 Sandra Reeve: Yep.
01:29:50.000 --> 01:29:52.000 Daphne Du Cros: Um. I think.
01:29:53.000 --> 01:29:54.000 Daphne Du Cros: Yeah.
01:29:54.000 --> 01:29:54.000 Daphne Du Cros: That's.
01:29:55.000 --> 01:29:57.000 Daphne Du Cros: That's 1 to put.
01:29:55.000 --> 01:29:58.000 Sandra Reeve: Thank you very much. That's really helpful.
01:29:58.000 --> 01:30:02.000 Daphne Du Cros: Yeah, it's it's I wish you luck on that one. We are working hard on it, too.
01:30:02.000 --> 01:30:03.000 Sandra Reeve: Thank you.
01:30:03.000 --> 01:30:04.000 Sandra Reeve: Thanks again for the talk.
01:30:05.000 --> 01:30:12.000 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration: Definitely. It's been a wonderful session. Thank you so much for your time and your expertise. We've been really grateful.
01:30:12.000 --> 01:30:19.000 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration: For um those regular members we now having a 2 week break, so we will not be back until the 8th of January.
01:30:20.000 --> 01:30:30.000 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration: And the discussion there is going to be very internalized, if you will, because there is a government request for how we best going to help.
01:30:30.000 --> 01:30:38.000 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration: Communities fund their climate action. And I thought, this is really something that we all ought to be interested in, where we are going to get some money.
01:30:38.000 --> 01:30:42.000 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration: Um. If we can make the right suggestions to government and.
01:30:42.000 --> 01:30:52.000 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration: The discussion is on the 8th of January, and the answer has to be into the government by the 13.th So I hope that those of you who are coming will come prepared to.
01:30:52.000 --> 01:30:57.000 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration: Put up the solutions, put up the questions, have the discussion, and make a decision.
01:30:57.000 --> 01:30:58.000 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration: Of course.
01:30:58.000 --> 01:31:00.000 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration: And then Andrew will write it.
01:31:00.000 --> 01:31:01.000 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration: So.
01:31:01.000 --> 01:31:02.000 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration: Um.
01:31:02.000 --> 01:31:07.000 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration: And thank you all for your time. I think today has been a wonderful session, definitely, really tremendous. So.
01:31:06.000 --> 01:31:08.000 Andrew Maliphant: Yeah, yeah.
01:31:07.000 --> 01:31:10.000 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration: I'm afraid you're gonna get asked back.
01:31:10.000 --> 01:31:12.000 Daphne Du Cros: Well.
01:31:11.000 --> 01:31:12.000 Andrew Maliphant: Oh, yeah.
01:31:12.000 --> 01:31:24.000 Daphne Du Cros: Happy to chat anytime. I will now go rescue my 3 year old from Bluey. He's been watching for a while, but thank you all so much for having me. It's it's been really, really nice.
01:31:13.000 --> 01:31:14.000 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration: And.
01:31:24.000 --> 01:31:25.000 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration: Well, great.
01:31:24.000 --> 01:31:25.000 Daphne Du Cros: Very welcoming.
01:31:25.000 --> 01:31:31.000 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration: Wish everyone a very merry Christmas and happy festive season, and we'll see you all in 2025. Take care.
01:31:31.000 --> 01:31:32.000 Cllr Stuart Withington Gt Dunmow, Essex: Okay. Thanks.
01:31:31.000 --> 01:31:36.000 Andrew Maliphant: I'll be up. I'll be up at the 3 times in Bishop Castle in the New Year.
01:31:33.000 --> 01:31:34.000 Cllr Stuart Withington Gt Dunmow, Essex: All right.
01:31:35.000 --> 01:31:36.000 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration: Yes.
01:31:35.000 --> 01:31:37.000 Daphne Du Cros: Looking forward to it.
01:31:36.000 --> 01:31:39.000 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration: Take care. Wal, bye-bye.
