A Newtown farmer is calling on other food producers in the area to join a project that aims to get more people, including school children, eating locally produced food.
John Phillips, a grower at Broniarth Farm on the outskirts of town, has been supplying potatoes and carrots to food-based social enterprise Cultivate for the past seven years. He is one of several local growers that supply the Food Hub which has already seen schools in the area placing orders to provide children from an early age with healthy, sustainable food.
The Food Hub project also aims to get people to spend in their area by buying local produce while also benefitting the environment.
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John said: “I think it is great to grow local produce for local people. It’s better for the environment and there aren’t many vegetables grown locally, most of it is transported in.
“I am hoping that the Food Hub is able to grow and would encourage more local growers to join the hub.
“At the moment I am happy supplying for local schools, but if the demand increases, I would definitely be interested in growing more produce to meet the demand.”
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Cultivate’s senior manager Richard Edwards said: “Wales produces only a small proportion of all the food we consume, and this is particularly the case for fruit and vegetables.
“Covid, Brexit and the cost-of-living crisis have led to uncertainties on the availability of fresh food and sharp increases in prices.
“The Food Hub is a great way to supply the public sector with local produce, which has beneficial impacts for health, the environment and the local economy.”
This project has been funded through the Welsh Government Rural Communities - Rural Development Programme 2014-2020, which is funded by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development and the Welsh Government to pilot two new procurement food hubs in Carmarthenshire and north Powys.
For more information about the Food Hub and accessing local, fresh food, please contact Cultivate's Nick Burdekin by sending an email to nickb@cultivate.uk.com
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