Welsh farm supplies Birmingham holiday clubs

Young farmers in Powys, Wales, are harvesting courgettes, cucumbers, tomatoes, and salad leaves from a site that was pasture 18 months ago. Their produce is now supplied to Birmingham city council for distribution to holiday clubs for disadvantaged children.

The project is based at Wern farm near Newtown. The 15-hectare site is divided into three plots, each with a holiday chalet for the grower. Shared facilities include a barn and a diesel generator for backup power.

Our Food Trust, a charity, launched the scheme to increase homegrown food and address Britain's food insecurity. The UK imports about 40% of its food, making it vulnerable to climate and geopolitical supply shocks. Just 0.2% of land in Wales is used for horticulture.

"We have to produce a lot more food for the regional and local market and for our cities," says Duncan Fisher, joint chief executive of Our Food Trust. He states the charity aims to remove barriers for skilled young growers who are often priced out of land and housing.

The charity secured a 95-year lease from Powys county council and helped change local planning rules to allow homes on the farmed land. Council leader Jake Berriman says they wanted to remove planning barriers and were motivated by local concerns over extreme weather patterns.

From Pasture to Production

Farmer Tilly Gomersall operates Cân y Pridd (Song of the Soil) on a 4.9-hectare plot, currently cultivating half a hectare. She describes the hard work of cultivating former pasture, initially done by hand and with a two-wheel tractor.

Her neighbor, 28-year-old Lydia Dibben, was "quite blown away by the opportunity" to rent seven acres with an affordable house. She and her partner Charlie James run a plot called Tir a Nant (Land and Stream).

Supplying the City

The charity also negotiated a supply contract with Birmingham city council. This provides the new farmers with a guaranteed buyer while getting nutritious, sustainably grown food to deprived urban areas.

The farmers have 35 local veg box subscribers and sell at markets, but local sales alone cannot sustain their businesses. "Because of the cost of living crisis, there's a limited amount of people who can afford to buy the veg we produce," says Dibben. Supplying Birmingham allows them to sell large volumes, such as a hundred kilos of courgettes a week.

In a few weeks, the group has supplied Birmingham with large quantities of produce. Gomersall lists "a couple of bathtubs" of salad leaves, 28kg of spring onions, and 18kg of French beans.

Addressing Food System Challenges

Birmingham's food system team, led by Sarah Newton, recognizes the city's dependence on complex international supply chains. "If you're going to feed 1.2 million people, supply chains are the absolute crux of the matter, and we need to strengthen them," she says.

The Welsh produce is sent to the city's holiday activities and food programme. About 1,000 children from low-income families received vegetable boxes this summer. Newton notes that exposure to new vegetables is key, as it can take 10 to 15 tastes for a child to develop a liking.

The project is deliberately small-scale, with one van traveling from Wales to Birmingham weekly. The goal is to prove a direct grower-city relationship can work. Newton suggests a coordinated national approach could align supply and demand for target foods, creating a meaningful shift.

She cites France's projets alimentaires territoriaux (territorial food projects) as an example of national policy connecting local production to public health.

Back at the farm, the growers are planning to expand their cultivated area. Gomersall finds joy in the Birmingham project. "We really enjoy harvesting knowing that kids are going to be eating it and enjoying the flavours of real food," she says.