Last summer I had the privilege to attend the One Planet Food summit on the Falkland estate in Fife. While at this event, a group of us were looking at the process of wheat from plough to plate. An area that is unfair to farmers and consumers alike. We’ve been working over the past year to develop a scheme (similar to a CSA model) where people pre-invest in a farmer and receive a steady flow of high quality, local, organic, stone ground flour and/or bread. There is still a lot to figure out but I’ll include a wee advert for the scheme and the description below;
Edinburgh City Bread Group Advert from WeeFlee Productions on Vimeo.
We want to see a food system that is fair to the farmer, fair to the baker and fair to the consumer.
We're developing a pilot project that:
- Will develop a community business where people invest on a yearly basis.
- This community-owned business will form a relationship with a farmer and purchase and
own milling machinery.
- The Milling machinery will be housed on the farmers farm and be overseen by the farmer.
- The community business will purchase flour from the farmer 'post mill' paying the farmer a
wage that follows a 'domestic fairly traded' model.
- A distribution system will be developed that will see the flour taken to local bakeries
throughout Edinburgh which will in turn become distribution hubs for members of the
community business.
- The cost savings will be made through the milling and distribution ultimately making the
- bread affordable for lower income families.
What's in it for the farmer, baker and consumer ?
Bakers;
- By joining the scheme, the baker will;
- have a new client base
- forge stronger links with their customers existing / new
- be able to rely on pre-purchased orders
- be paid a competitive price
- have a marketing tool by being part of local community project / local fairly traded scheme
- have the opportunity to communicate directly with farmers and consumers
- be building and protecting a local bread system in the longer-term that is resilient to adverse weather conditions, fuel shortages, price rises /. economic instability.
Farmers will have;
- a guaranteed market
- the safe-guard of yearly pre-investment
- better connection with bakers and consumers and their needs
- the opportunity & incentive to diversify
- a fair price through this domestic fairly trade model
- reduced risk from access to a localised supply-chain of wheat/bread
shared risks with consumers
Consumers will;
- have access to good local organic bread at an affordable price
- benefit from the health implications : access to a more nutritious loaf, slow baked bread is easier to
- digest especially for those with gluten intolerance. (More information available)
- be supporting a local farmer, the local economy and a fairly trade model
- be re-linking consumer to farmer, plough to plate, with opportunities to engage with the farmer whoproduces your food.
great tasting bread !
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