Winston Churchill Travelling Fellowship 2006
Frances Rowe
RECONNECTION
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY AND LESSONS LEARNED
Fresh look at the UK – and the North East
Thanks to my Fellowship, I have been able to go on a journey - literally, professionally and personally. That journey allowed me to see from a different perspective and to apply what I learned to local food development in the North East of England.
I looked into a variety of reconnections, from farmers’ markets and community supported agriculture, to co-operatives, retailers, distributors and processors. I saw many examples of reconnection, operating at a variety of different scales. I met researchers, policy-makers and practitioners, talked to farmers, community activists and chefs.
For a while after I returned, I felt overwhelmed by the density and richness of local food activity that I had found in the States, an impression made more forceful by its unexpectedness. Back home, things felt drab by comparison - it all seemed brighter and better there, somehow. Of course, it isn’t!
There are similarities and differences between what I found in the USA, and the region of the UK where I live and work. Through this better understanding, there are pointers to future action. As a result of the journey, I can see more clearly the change that is starting to unfold, and some of the opportunities that are presenting themselves. I hope that this better understanding will provide a basis for further action and learning.
Differences and Similarities
Differences
Policy
In the UK we now have a progressive policy for agriculture that should equip farming for a different kind of long-term future, with sustainability at its heart. This policy has recently been refreshed in the Sustainable Farming and Food Strategy: a Forward Look.
With the publication of the Stern Report and the mainstream political focus brought about by the issue of climate change, this new role for a more sustainable agricultural industry has been clarified and strengthened.
Continued…
The wider policy context within Europe, whereby gradual reform of the Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) is leading to a reduction in subsidies, with support shifted from Pillar 1 of the CAP (price support) to support for rural development (Pillar 2), has provided the critical impetus for change.
By contrast, there was a prevailing view in the States that Federal Agricultural policy, as expressed in the US Farm Bill, lags well behind that of Europe, in terms of its response to the issues of sustainability, food security – ie the ability of a country to feed itself, climate change and rural development generally, including support for smaller farmers.
Farming is political
A major difference therefore is that farming and food seem to be more political in the US in a way in which they are not in the UK. America is the epitome of the free market – and whether or not that is a good thing depends on your political point of view. With no Common Agriculture Policy to cushion life for small farmers in the States, subsidies for producers of major commodities such as corn and soybeans, and only nascent interest (and limited support) for what might be described as “an alternative food system”, US government policy on agriculture was felt to be wanting. However, with the publication in January of the 2007 US Farm Bill, there are signs that a policy shift may be underway.
Non-governmental organisations and campaigns proliferate for the defence of the family farm - to promote food security, to protect the environment and for the food system to deliver greater social justice. Naturally enough in the places I visited, with their broad liberal traditions, this sense of the political was bound to be strong.
State v Federal
The vast geography of America means also that more action is concentrated at the State level. State Governments in the areas I visited were taking action and showing leadership – on organics, on food policy and procurement, on support for sustainable agriculture. However, there were still gaps – and these were largely being filled by community, and private, enterprise.
Farmers’ Markets
Farmers markets felt embedded in the US in a way which they still are not in the UK, and certainly not in the North East of England, although there is growth in markets across the UK.
They seemed to play a greater role in place-making. Martin Orbach, Director of the Abergavenny Food Festival and local food activist, who has studied farmers markets in America, believes that this is because of a general absence of the High Street – they have sprawl as opposed to town centres – that might make the place-making qualities of a vibrant farmers’ market all the more potent a force.
Community Supported Agriculture
The different policy contexts may partly explain why community supported agriculture hasn’t yet caught on in the UK to the extent that it has in the US. In a nutshell, the idea that consumers may want to be, or are even entitled to be, stakeholders in a farm, is still a huge cultural shift for many farmers in this country, where the subsidy regime has removed their connectedness from their customers, marketplace, and wider society. Only now is the price of that disconnection becoming apparent. However, that is now changing and a new future may be over the horizon – if that long term cultural change can be effected.
Universities and networks
The Land Grant system in the United States whereby state sponsored advice to farmers is delivered by Universities under the 1862 Morrill Land Grant College Act has undoubtedly meant that Universities are more involved in the practice of extension and outreach than are their UK counterparts. This is a marked difference and may explain in part why I was impressed by the connectedness of the researchers I met to their wider stakeholder community. They had a can-do, practical approach that seemed miles away from the ivory tower of academia. They were also central to network-building as part of their wider embeddedness in their communities.
Similarities
Community enterprise and vibrancy
The gap left by markets and Government policy means that the energy and ingenuity of community-based organisations are filling that gap with a vengeance. Those organisations that I met were more obviously politically motivated than those in the UK, but their commitment to social justice, and their skills and strategies for addressing needs, were equally strong.
Grappling with the same problems
Finally, although the structures, organisations and individuals I met were different from those back home, we were all grappling essentially, with the same challenges and opportunities. There was equal interest in the challenge of healthier school meals, sourced more locally, on how to improve the quality of food for patients in hospitals, and a general surge of interest in how food is produced and where it is from. Whether or not this new food localism - and the drivers fuelling its growth - will result in a profound change in our food system remains to be seen.
Nevertheless, in policy terms, there are sound reasons for supporting the growth of more regional and local food economies, as part of an overall strategy for more sustainable agriculture, rural communities and wider society.
Lessons learned
- We must develop a more rounded evidence base that can capture the multiple benefits of a more localised food system – to economies, to the health and well-being of consumers, and to places.
- Enterprise, enterprise, enterprise – public policy needs to recognise the role of community and private enterprise, and foster its development to help bring about the long term culture change that is needed in the agricultural community. Grass roots leadership is essential.
- There is still much potential in the North East of England to develop action through the development of networks. There is role for everyone with an interest and support to mobilise action, but much fragmentation with little effective communication and intelligence sharing taking place. A food policy council could be useful and would be worthy of further investigation.
- We need to join up policy agendas and use investment in local and regional food to help to solve some our health problems in the Region, and the UK generally. For example, why not encourage farmers’ markets in our hospitals, and seek to encourage farmers’ markets in socially deprived areas, with the involvement of community leaders? How can we encourage more local fresh produce into hospitals and schools?
- Farmers’ markets in the North East of England are not fulfilling their potential. There is still work to do to help the markets develop their marketing and presentation, and the skills of the businesses that participate in them. An effective farmer’s market network for the Region is long overdue.
- I would like to see our Universities more embedded in the rural North East and to be sharing more interactively and more broadly their knowledge with rural communities and businesses. There is learning to be brought to bear around stakeholder participation in research programmes that would bear rich fruit were it to be developed.
- We should recognise the benefits of new and different strategies for profitable agriculture - for example, CSA offers potential as a new route to market for farmers in a world moving away from subsidy - and support those strategies with investment under the new Rural Development Programme for England.
- The value of the environment in the North East of England does not yet translate into value realised via consumer purchases of Regionally produced food grown in that high quality environment. There is a connection to be made via branding supported by rigorous accreditation, thereby giving the uplands in particular a sustainable way of protecting natural assets beyond the life of public subsidy.
Footnote –from the practical to the personal
I am convinced that it does matter that people know and care about how their food is produced and who it was grown by. It does matter that producers of food have a more direct relationship with their customers, that supply chains are shorter and more transparent. Food is an important component of social justice.
The popularity of local food will continue to grow, but direct markets cannot be an entire substitute for modern retail – supermarkets are where most of us buy most of our food. It has to be admitted that not all large scale retailers are demons, and we may wish to preserve access to our markets for developing countries. An entirely localised food system would rule out much of that. Similarly our farmers need to tap into export markets. These are difficult issues, and they need to be addressed. A valuable concept that was new to me is the idea of Domestic Fair Trade - for all producers, at home as well as abroad.
If we accept that it is time for change then that, of course, implies a change of behaviour on the part of consumers, me included. We need to be reminded that while we all need to eat, we need to eat wisely, to reconsider our insistence on cheap food, to be prepared to pay a little more if it brings the wider outcomes we want for ourselves and for society. An eloquent reminder is to be found in Michael Pollen’s book Omnivores Dilemma, widely recommended to me during my journey.
Michael Pollen is a respected journalist and writer on food, and this book is a clear, passionate, yet highly informative text about why we should eat well, with more regard to how our food is produced, with a better knowledge (not always comfortable) of the true costs of production. This book couldmean that you never eat another McDonalds!
There is also the question of low incomes. Whilst in the States I was made aware of several successful projects to establish local food supply in challenging social environments, but I didn’t have time to visit any. For the affluent and middle class, becoming a concerned foodie is much easier than for those surviving on benefits.
In the end, climate change could make a more localised food system a necessity, rather than a luxury, in which case the globalised food system that feeds most of us will require a radical make-over. Personally, I shall continue to grow food on my allotment and continue to wrestle with the difficult questions of how far I am prepared to go to support a different kind of food system.
Finally, there is one memory that sums up the trip for me - the elderly grower at San Francisco Ferry Plaza Market who placed in my hands three heirloom peaches, perfectly ripe for eating, as if bestowing jewels, gave me a modest history of each variety and imbued my purchase with such meaning that I will never forget it.
RECONNECTION
Introduction
In the beginning
The theme of my Fellowship was reconnection – reconnection between farmers and their customers and marketplace.
The theme was timely: health scares and animal diseases, most notably BSE (Mad Cow Disease) in the 1980’s and 90’s, followed by Foot and Mouth in 2001 (which broke out less than 20 miles from my home in North East England) had focussed consumers’ and government’s attention on the state of agriculture in the UK. What was farming for, and crucially, where should it be going into the future?
Policy change
The result was the setting up of the Policy Commission into Sustainable Farming and Food set up under the Chairmanship of Sir Donald Curry (also from the North East of England – another co-incidence).This was followed by the Government’s Strategy for Sustainable Farming and Food, a challenging and rigorous analysis of what was needed with a roadmap of how to get there over the longer term. The unifying thread and underpinning premise was that farming and wider society had become seriously disconnectedand that re-establishing that connection was essential if farming was to secure a viable future.
Government policy was clear, agriculture needed to develop new markets in response to changes in the Common Agriculture Policy and the gradual withdrawal of subsidies over the next 10 years;it needed to re-connect with customers and become sustainable - environmentally, economically, and socially. Disease scares and animal welfare fiascos had to be eliminated. The industry needed a new vision, new ideas and new blood.
Why America?
Why choose the States to learn more about reconnection? On the face of it this would be a perverse choice of destination. In the land of Wal-mart and McDonalds could there possibly be activities springing out of a new, more localised, food system from which we might learn? There were – and these turned out to be something of an inspiration.
I am indebted to Professor Philip Lowe, Director of the Rural Economy and Land Use Programme, and formerly Professor of Rural Economy, whose stay in Madison on a sabbatical and subsequent enthusiasm on his return sowed the seed of my curiosity.
The idea germinated and grew. My work for One NorthEast (the Regional Development Agency in the North East of England) as manager in charge of its rural development, involved seeking ways of “adding value” to the Region’s agriculture and food industries. We were actively exploring the opportunities for (mainly) rural food producers to develop new products for new markets. We were due to take on new responsibilities for running the forthcoming Rural Development Programme for England, that would focus more strongly on helping the land-based industries adapt to change and embrace new markets. Reconnection was everywhere.
It was also the right time for me to take a break, stand back and go and seek out new ideas and inspiration. My employers were supportive and my application to the Churchill Trust for a Fellowship to visit America was successful. I was introduced by Philip to more people who could help me establish my itinerary.
Health warning
This report comes with a health warning - although I met many researchers, it is not a piece of research. It is not a definitive guide to good practice, although I found much good, even exemplary, practice; the basis of learning to bring back. It is a personal account, but I hope an informed one, that will be interesting to read and give others insights and ideas they may wish to follow up. It may not change policy but I hope it will improve the way policy is delivered, and contribute to the development of a local and Regional food economy in the North East of England.
I have included web-site references in the main body of the text. Selected examples of reconnection are presented throughout the report more as pen-portraits than case studies: I would have needed more time and deeper investigation for them to be counted as such.
Thanks
There are many people whom I would like to thank personally for their help, good humour, enthusiasm and sheer depth of knowledge which they shared with me unreservedly. I should especially like to thank Professor Philip Lowe, Professor Mike Bell and his wife Diane Mayerfeld, John and Dorothy Priske, Ruth Simpson, Brent McGowan, Michelle Miller, John Hendrickson, Steve Stevenson, Suzanne Briggs, Brian Rother, Professor Larry Lev, Professor Jennifer Allen, Professor Clare Hinrichs and Gail Feenstra. This list is by no means exhaustive. There are many other people who gave up their time to talk to me and who were generous in introducing me to others.