We need to expand food production in Wales that FEEDS WALES, is PROFITABLE and is SUSTAINABLE.

Most of the food we produce in Wales goes out of Wales and most of the food we eat comes from outside Wales. According to research by the foundational economy unit of the Welsh Government, 90% of the food purchased by the public sector in Wales comes from outside the country. Most of the profits in this system go to the intermediaries and supermarkets.

Welsh agriculture is facing unprecedented challenges: disruption of trade with Europe, possible new competition from cheap US food, the end of subsidies via Europe, a severe recession that puts doubts over a nationally funded subsidy system, and increasingly frequent and severe weather extremes.

On top of all this, farming is being called on to take a leading role in tackling climate change and biodiversity loss, through fixing carbon and restoring nature.

We believe that a vibrant local food economy is part of the solution to this unprecedented array of pressures.

We are asking: what would it take to produce locally one third of the food consumed in Wales?

We would need to build on-line farmers markets with deliveries in every town in Wales, to connect local supply and demand and encourage everyone to use the same platform, so that any Welsh food producer could sell anywhere in Wales.

We would need to promote new farming enterprises all over the country that

• are viable without any subsidies, earning a decent wage for reasonable working hours for all who work on them
• fix carbon in the soil
• restore biodiversity, soil and wildlife
• produce food that local people need and want at affordable prices
• create absorbent soil that reduces flooding
• are accessible even to those who don’t own land or wealth

We are working locally, regionally and nationally to bring about such a vision.

• LOCALLY in Crickhowell

1. We are supporting the creation of a new state-of-the-art sustainable farm that is selling to local markets within 4 months, without subsidies, and is profitable thereafter.
2. We are working with local food producers to launch an on-line farmers market connecting food producers of all sizes to local markets.

• REGIONALLY in Powys & Monmouthshire

1. We are proposing “Our Food Alliances” around the goal of local production of one third of food consumed in the region. This requires a multi-faceted plan to address land availability, finding new entrepreneurs, finance, know-how and developing local food supply chains.

• NATIONALLY in Wales

1. We are proposing to other local food projects across Wales to join together in an alliance to to call powerfully for decisive and immediate national food policy to scale up sustainable food production for local demand, with substantial changes in supply chains and rates of carbon fixing, measurable by the end of 2021. We are proposing a target of one third of food consumed in Wales to be produced in Wales.
2. We are proposing a new website and peer network on how to start a new profitable and sustainable farm business, even if you are not rich and don’t own land.