Community Supported Agriculture Local Food for Local People 8 th December /04/2015 Food4Macc Meeting 8 th December 1 Food4MaccDirect

A partnership between farmers and consumers… where the responsibilities, risks and rewards of farming are more evenly shared… than in supermarket-dominated systems. Community Supported Agriculture 08/04/2015 Food4Macc Meeting 8 th December 2 Food4MaccDirect

Consumers consumers benefit from receiving fresh food from a known source the environmental benefits of fewer 'food miles', less packaging and ecologically sensitive farming with improved animal welfare a local economy enhanced by higher employment, more local processing, local consumption and a re-circulation of money through 'local spend‘ spending £1 on local food in a local outlet generates £2.50 in the local economy vs. £1.10 when spent in a supermarket educating people about varieties of food, it's production methods and costs encouraging more sustainable farming and having an influence over the local landscape Farmers a more secure income which improves business planning and increases time to concentrate on farming a higher and fairer return for their products by selling direct to the public increased involvement in the local community; the opportunity to respond directly to consumers' needs, receiving direct feedback receive help with labour and planning initiatives for the future Benefits of Community Supported Agriculture 08/04/2015 Food4Macc Meeting 8 th December 3 Food4MaccDirect

40% of all food is imported & 90%+ of fruit is imported 3000 small and medium-scale farmers have gone out of business over the past decade, with 1 dairy farmer closing in Britain every day 30 pig farmers have gone bust in the past year If current trends continue, by 2025 over 40% of Britons will be obese due partly to increasing availability and promotion of highly processed foods and loss of skills in cooking raw ingredients The food we eat in the UK – growing, producing and importing it – accounts for 30% of the UK’s carbon footprint 4 giant supermarket chains control 80% of food retail and they have resisted legislation to give a fairer deal to farmers for the last 11 years 08/04/2015 Food4Macc Meeting 8 th December 4 A few related facts… Food4MaccDirect

08/04/2015 Food4Macc Meeting 8 th December 5 Local Food for Local People Seasonal Cheshire Veg Bags Artisan Bread and Cakes Fresh Local Meat & Trout Real Cheshire Cheeses Buy great quality produce from trusted local producers Support the local economy and reduce your food miles Become a member to enjoy great value prices & events Our members order their produce in advance by then pick up from our producers in central Macclesfield. Full Membership: £24 per annum per household. Concessions and discounts available. 40 members have joined since we started in April 2011! What is Food4MaccDirect? Food4MaccDirect

Food4MaccDirect aims to make it easier for everyone in Macclesfield to eat tasty, fresh, nutritious and affordable local food, sourced directly from local farmers and producers. This will support the local economy and reconnect us with where our food comes from, moving us away from a global food system, dependent on cheap oil and imports. We are a not for profit Community Enterprise run by a Board of 8 Directors We operate as a membership organisation with 40 members currently buying produce through Food4MaccDirect from 11 producers We formed a Company Limited by Guarantee which started trading in April 2011 Since April we have operated profitably with sales of over £7,000 Since October we have employed 5 part time staff in various roles 08/04/2015 Food4Macc Meeting 8 th December 6 What is Food4MaccDirect? Food4MaccDirect Local Food for Local People

08/04/2015 Food4Macc Meeting 8 th December 7 Food4MaccDirect Seasonal Local Veg Fresh, nutritious seasonal vegetables sourced entirely from Cheshire - weekly Real Bread Choice of large Cheshire Leaven sourdough or Baker’s Choice from our local artisan baker - weekly Proper Cake Selection of delicious homemade cake varieties baked in Macclesfield - weekly Fresh Trout Fresh local whole trout from the spring fed River Dane in Wincle - weekly Cheshire Cheese 3 handmade Cheshire cheeses – Burt’s Blue, Golden Brie and mature Cheshire - monthly Free Range Chicken Large free range chickens various suppliers - monthly Local Lamb Traditionally reared lamb from North Rode – monthly in season Outdoor Reared Pork Dry cured bacon & sausages from Gloucester Old Spots near Congleton - monthly Xmas Turkeys Delicious free range bronze turkeys from Knutsford – available in season Vegetarian Mince Pies Home made vegetarian mince pies from Capesthorne – available in season Local Food

08/04/2015 Food4Macc Meeting 8 th December 8 Food4MaccDirect Local People

08/04/2015 Food4Macc Meeting 8 th December 9 Producers and Farmers Perspective Food4MaccDirect

08/04/2015 Food4Macc Meeting 8 th December 10 Consumers Perspective Food4MaccDirect

1.“Local” means our producers are ideally within 5 miles of Macclesfield, not more than 50 2.A sustainable and environmentally sensitive approach, ideally organic and non-GM 3.We want to understand and improve the nutritional value of the produce 4.Local producers should use local raw materials (eg wheat) where possible 5.Use of fossil fuels (and derivatives) should be kept to a minimum 6.We will support existing and encourage new local producers 7.We will only go into production ourselves if a gap exists and we can successfully fill it 8.Consumers must be able to see how farms and producers operate 9.Anyone can become a member, regardless of income, so we will offer concessions 10.We will build community groups, bringing like-minded people together 11.We will be commercially viable, but non-profit making 12.Our survival will not be wholly dependent on volunteers on an on-going basis 13.Our membership fees and a small margin should cover our costs 14.Prices must be fair to our producers as well as good value to our members 15.We will only act as an intermediary between producer and our members when we can add value 08/04/2015 Food4Macc Meeting 8 th December 11 Food4MaccDirect Our Guiding Principles

We need somewhere to bring together, sort out and store our produce before it gets collected or delivered We hope to have a distribution hub to enable us to do this, working with Cheshire Peaks and Plains Once we have this facility, we should be able to expand the number of drop-off points Other community centres, like pubs and village shops + schools, children’s nurseries etc. Opens up the possibility of providing training in food preparation, baking etc. 08/04/2015 Food4Macc Meeting 8 th December 12 Food4MaccDirect Food4MaccDirect Distribution Hub

Produce Group – Responsible for finding and signing up any new supplier, as well as on-going management of existing suppliers Distribution Group – Responsible for how we get produce to customers, working with the Snow Goose and finding us a distribution hub Commercial Group – Responsible for our financial health and overseeing our finance and admin systems Marketing Group – Responsible for promoting F4MD in conjunction with F4M and managing the website, press etc. Events Group – Responsible for fulfilling our obligations to our members, including “eat local” meals, farm visits, visits to cheese producers, bread making demos etc. 08/04/2015 Food4Macc Meeting 8 th December 13 Food4MaccDirect Food4MaccDirect Groups All groups have a leader and a few members, who can be involved a lot or a little, depending on the time they can give. If you would like to be involved in one of the groups, please ask!

5 Questions: 1.What other local produce would you like? 2.How do we resolve “local” vs. “organic”? 3.What food should we produce ourselves? 4.How can we improve our service to members? 5.How can we get more producers involved? 08/04/2015 Food4Macc Meeting 8 th December 14 Agenda Food4MaccDirect 5 Teams: 10 mins to discuss and then a quick feedback to everyone