FOOD FOR THE REGION

5th & 6th October 2021

A Major Conversation about our Regional Food System, brought to you by Swansea Environmental Forum, Grwp Resilience and 4theRegion.

Hosted over Zoom over two consecutive days, the Regional Food System Conference brought together over 100 people to discuss the issues and opportunities relating to our food system in South West Wales.

REGIONAL FOOD ROUNDTABLE

Prior to the conference, we invited thought-leaders and experts to discuss their perspectives on key issues and opportunities relating to our regional food system, including Patrick Holden from Sustainable Food Trust, Katie Palmer from Food Sense Wales and Jane Powell from Food Society Wales.

View our Food & Farming Playlist here.

EVENT COVERAGE

ARISING ACTIONS & THEMES

Education

• Education surrounding growing food, cooking and food confidence is key for future generations. 
• Growing, producing, cooking and preparation skills are lacking in the curriculum. 
• More education is needed on seasonal eating.
• Every school ought to ensure that every child takes part in growing, harvesting, preparing and eating food.
• Use primary schools as a way to cascade knowledge about food systems across generations.
• Educate people on foragable foods, edible flowers and remove the stigma surrounding food procured yourself.
• Supermarkets should engage with local schools and communities, teaching and supporting local growing groups/educating individuals and communities on how to cook.
• Schools could organise trips to farms and encourage a hands-on approach to learning about the food system.
• The task may be not to change the curriculum, but to support teachers in delivering it. 
• Schemes such as Healthy Schools can help teachers.
• Horticulture and agroecology usually aren’t covered until higher education.
• Tell children and young people the truth about food production and give them power to make decisions.
• Make learning about cooking more creative and fun. Many food-box schemes use interesting methods to educate.
• Remove the stigma of jobs being “low-skilled” in the farming industry.
• Youth groups, scouts and guides can help with education outside of school.
• There are a lot of opportunities for young people within the food sector and education.
• Invest more into education and extra-curricular activities such as producing and growing.

Environment

• The climate emergency is a huge challenge, especially with health and food security.
• Be clear and aware on the impact our global food systems has on climate change
• Reduce the number of animals and animal products being shipped across the world.
• We need to address single use plastic and throwaway waste. The plastic wrap our fruit and vegetables are wrapped in, as well as single use utensils often found in catering and retail.
• We need to do better than recycling, we need to reduce waste of all types.
• Knowing how to correctly store produce is important to reduce food waste.
• We need to think about how our food systems adapt to the effects of climate change like drought, flooding, wildfires etc. 
• Food waste that goes into landfill is a huge contributor to emissions. Food waste needs to be tackled if we are to reduce our emissions.
• Wales’ economy is very reliant on an industry (steel) that is a huge contributor to climate change
• Desperately need the end to battery chicken farming, cruel, not nutritious as a food source and bad for the climate. 
• The issue of ammonia pollution from the poultry industry has a large impact on air quality.
• We have to remind ourselves that humanity is devastating ecological systems and all our local actions should be avoiding anything that might tip this beyond a point of no return
• Address the environmental impact of the food system by changing the way land and seas are managed
• Adoption of more sustainable farming, forestry and fishing practices. 
• Promoting sustainable agricultural and agroecological practices that work with nature to reduce artificial inputs and lead to a reduction in pollution. 

Land & Forestry

• We need to encourage regenerative practises such as food forests and agroecology.
• Mixed farming seems to have little support and monocultures are encouraged.
• 14% of land in Wales is suitable for arable cropping. It has to be examined if we can use land to grow in different ways, using agroecology and urban spaces.
• Land is expensive to buy, and farmers are reluctant to lease for a sufficiently long period.
• Free ranging chickens much prefer to forage in broadleaf woodland than on pasture; if the woodlands are well planned, they can be used for food production too.
• Consider agroforestry and permaculture solutions in strategies for community food resilience. 
• Planting trees to make forests can be beneficial for food. Natural woodlands are also food forests.
• Trees and hedgerows can work harmoniously with farming.
• Look at creative methods of growing, such as vertical farming.
• Increase access to growing spaces for communities.
• New developments should consider community allotments and green space.
• Use empty buildings to create more markets, greengrocers, butchers, etc. Make these affordable to run by reducing business rates.

Health

• There are health implications with pesticide use and soil contamination.
• We need to prioritize soil health, measurement of crop quality and nutrient density
• We need to tackle aggressive advertising and remove processed food as easy choices.
• Reliance on processed food can lead to diet-related health issues. 
• Increased plant production can drive a release of land to support more tree planting or bioenergy crops. These measures imply a shift towards meeting healthy eating guidelines that would also have a positive impact on human health.
• Poor mental health in agriculture is high. We need to increase support for workers in the industry.
• Raise awareness of resources; Many farmers don’t know how to access other markets, grants, etc.
• Remove the term “organic” as a marketing buzzword and replace the labelling to legally contain all the chemicals it contains.
• Bionutrient meters can measure nutrient density in food in real-time prior to purchase.
• If we don’t get diet related disease under control, we risk overwhelming the NHS or having to cut other public services to pay for it. 
• Healthy food requires understanding of what foods and nutrition sustain good health.

General Comments

• Meat and dairy make up only a third of the calories we eat. Yet 85% of UK farmland is used for feeding and rearing livestock. However about 80% of Welsh land is Less Favoured Area and is suitable for growing grass but much more challenging for growing fruit and veg – this is why we have lots of sheep in Wales converting the inedible grass into edible protein.

• It’s important to understand why we make the choices we make. How important is it to eat bananas and avocados? Is it natural to eat food that doesn’t grow in the climate in which you live? The further we get from the source, the producers, the more unaware we are of the impact of our choices— unfair trade, human slavery, inaccurate reporting of pesticide use, etc. At what point is it not worth the convenience?

• Community discussion events as the norm.  Bringing together a full, inclusive cross section of the community – farmers, landowners, suppliers, shop owners and supermarket managers, ordinary people from every sector of the community, activists, everyone – to listen to each other, talk and discuss together, broaden their perspectives, develop mutual understanding and debate what to do about it; share ideas and start to form collectives to make their ideas happen.  

• We should realize the benefit of the natural world, the wonder of encouraging the wellbeing benefits of actually connecting with nature . This is also  all very much about working within communities because we’re all in this together as well, so bartering, swapping, exchanging, sharing ideas, always being open to new ways of doing things, listening to others, and working together. It’s really a big part of the way forward.

• The starting point for addressing the environmental impact of the food system lies in changing the way land and seas are managed, with the adoption of more sustainable farming, forestry and fishing practices. Precision farming, agroecological systems, agroforestry, low-impact silvicultural systems and innovative horticultural systems, are options being looked at to change land use. Promoting sustainable agricultural and agroecological practices that work with nature, will reduce artificial inputs, leading to a reduction in pollution. While the volume of production may also be reduced, profitability for landowners is often improved due to a reduction in costs. 

NEXT STEPS

Thank you to everyone who took the time to attend and contribute to the wide ranging discussion. This is just the start of what we hope will be an ongoing conversation leading to real change involving our regional food system.

We will be updating this page with the full event report and a full Manifesto using ideas, comments and opportunities shared in the event.

There was a consensus that we should keep this conversation going, with a regular regional community-led food system forum through which people can engage meaningfully with decision-makers, producers, retailers, farmers and each other.

If you are a regional organisation that recognises the need to involve communities more in your service design, strategy or policy development, or if we can support your upcoming consultations or community engagement objectives, please get in touch. We welcome the support of regional partners and look forward to hearing how you intend to address the recommendations of this conference.

And if you are someone who would like to stay involved with conversations and activities relating to food and farming in our region, one way you can do this is to reach out to us (email zoe@4theregion.org.uk)

We will also be emailing all conference attendees with future events that we think you will be interested in – and we invite you to keep us posted about your projects and initiatives so that we can share, connect and support!