Photo by MAH Photographs
Dear Friends of The Farm
I must start with a huge Thank You to everyone who has offered us their support over the last month or so. Our recent call for help has been picked up by more people than we could have imagined. We have been overwhelmed by the outpouring of support we’ve received from customers and volunteers, friends and supporters of all kinds. As a result, our delivery numbers have started to bounce back, we’ve had incredibly generous one off donations, more people are making regular donations, and we’ve secured important grant funding.
We’re not out of the woods just yet, but we’ve found the stability that was required to reflect on what’s happened and to plan for the future.
There’s no doubt that this will continue to be a tough period for organisations like ours. As belts tighten, it is hard to go up against the mainstream ‘industrialised’ food system which uses the intense treatment of people and the land to force food prices down and profits up – albeit at the expense of the environment and people’s health.
On the flip side, organisations like us must look at it as an opportunity to remind everyone of the value that we create. Whether as organic farms, looking after the environment far better than our industrialised counterparts, community organisations working with local people to improve their lives, or as local food businesses, providing better food choices and market for the farmers - organisations like ours bring long term value that must last beyond this short term economic crisis.
Remember...
"As a not-for-profit, Community Benefit Society, all of our decisions are made against the value which they bring to all of our communities: from the microbes in our soil to the birds in the hedges to our members and the people caring for our land, our habitats and growing our crops, to those buying, packing and delivering our boxes. We are creating environmental and social value that this world is not set up to measure or favour."
Over the last 12 years The Community Farm has learnt that 15 acres is not just an empty piece of land, or just a farm for food production. It is the opportunity for a shared resource; for people and wildlife, with the ability to bring people together, create community and bridge divides, leaving people better skilled, more confident and able to make change in their own communities. To continue to do this, we need funding beyond the surplus that our food and farming operations can create, especially whilst small scale, agroecological food and farming remains secondary to the mainstream.
Since our call for help, we’ve been changing to secure our future: we have brought together our existing wellbeing programme and secured funding from the West of England Combined Authority to run this until March. We’re busy looking for a key funder to take us beyond that, and other ways to generate funding and donations. I’m so thankful to all our staff and volunteers for how they have responded during this time, flexibly changing hours and positively looking to the future. As sales show signs of growth, and with a funding plan in place, we’re busy making plans for 2023.
We will keep working to shout louder than the supermarkets about the value we create and why what we do matters. Thank you again to all who continue to support us. To you, we ask the same as before. If you believe in what we are doing, please continue to support us in whatever way you can. Buy a veg box, add a few extra items to your order, make a regular donation. Shout about us!
And please come and join us for our Harvest Event: it would be lovely to see as many of you there as possible to say ‘Thank You’ face to face, and celebrate what we have created here.
With sincere thanks,
Kim Brooks
Managing Director
