Consumers buying direct from producers is hardly a new idea, but long due a come-back!
Big things happening where I live. If it really catches on though, expect local/central government to send in the bureaucrats, revenue protection officers and market inspectors: "We've reason to believe that you haven't declared all your carrots!"
Supermarkets? No, thanks
Local food-buying cooperatives, which cut out the middlemen between producers and consumers, are taking the country by storm. But how do they work, and how do you set one up?
The motivations are many: fears about food security; food inflation; the power of supermarkets; the bruised image of capitalism; a lost sense of community ....
Across Britain, food co-ops are sprouting up in school halls, community centres, farm sheds or even your neighbour's front room - anywhere, in fact, where rent is free. "I use the term 'trust trading'," says Dan Dempsey, manager of a project establishing food co-ops in Wales. In essence, he says, it's about a return to traditional routes of trade: reconnecting farmers with communities, and countryside to cities; paying a fair price and avoid markups by middlemen.
The increase in supermarkets and in farm sizes have been mutually supportive. Large scale supermarket buying has increased the tendency to larger farms, with their "increased efficiency" and larger farms have meant less suppliers for smaller shops and increased prices.
Local food co-ops will hit a limit of availability of stock if they carry on increasing. They also tend to be a middle class thing: those who can afford to pay a bit more for organic or fair trade goods.
We have a problem at the moment with our fledgling food co-op as Tesco have recently cut their prices on a lot of goods and they are now considerably cheaper than the wholesale prices of our supplier, Suma. One of the people running the co-op now can't afford the co-op prices!
kenneal wrote:We have a problem at the moment with our fledgling food co-op as Tesco have recently cut their prices on a lot of goods and they are now considerably cheaper than the wholesale prices of our supplier, Suma. One of the people running the co-op now can't afford the co-op prices!
Although not ideal, isn't there still scope for co-ops? Even if it's only buying mainstream food in bulk packs and sharing them out.
Nice piece this morning on Radio 4 Farming Today in a series this week about food security. They bought some chicken tikka masala at Tesco that was labelled 'produced in UK'. Eventually they discovered that the chicken came from Thailand. The dish was just assembled in the UK.
Yes. I'm not responsible for that website. It's got too many bells and whistles for my taste. Here's some more news from Louth, John, with no Java (my html writing is limited to about a dozen tags!).www.transitiontownlouth.org.uk. You might recognize some of the folk in the pictures.
As one reply said this is somewhat of a middle class thing.
And following on from another post: the economic reality just isn't there for these ideas to work in Australia. These figures come from four years ago.
I am a salad grower. If I was to sell at a local farmers markets my operating costs/returns are dreadful in comparison to supermarket operating costs:
Transport: to be competitive I needed to be able to move a pallet of goods for a total transport of cost of $28 dollars, our cost would be well above $100.
Time in pallet transit: supermarket 1/4 hour, mine 3 and 1/2 hrs.
Farmers market stall staffing cost 2 people for av turnover (AvTO) of A$ 1800. Supermarket staffing cost 4 people for AvTO of A$ 85,000.
I recognise this is a simplified presentation of costs. A far more detailed examination reveals that at most steps in the chain we are not viable in small markets. Most small scales farms in Australia lost money over the last five years so the picture looks grim for farmer markets/sales co-ops providing any security for small scale farmers here.
I recognise Peak Oil and CC may make large scale farms a less likely operating mode, however the current operating costs of small scale operations are not viable. Granted differentials listed above, it will be some time before small direct to customer sales models have any viability here. As much as I might wish it otherwise.
I value open honest respectful debate. Agree to disagree is my byword.
I feel that even in a resource constrained world we will STILL have large farms and large distribution systems.
I wouldn't be surprised if food production became very feudal: convicts and the poor toiling in the fields, whilst farmers, agronomists etc will be doing quite well.
Someone who is expert at growing, say, leeks, could well spend his/her time visiting fields, directing & training the riff-raff etc. The leek guru would have a comfy house, whilst the riff-raff would live in sheds and tents.
This also suggest that rural areas might one day become very much more policed than at the moment.
The idea of returning (?) to an idyllic rural idyll, with the home-made wind turbine spinning on the hill whilst you knit shoes in your ever so humble croft is sheer bunkum.
trimnut2 wrote:As one reply said this is somewhat of a middle class thing.
Of course. Let the poor eat junk.
strawman wrote:The idea of returning (?) to an idyllic rural idyll, with the home-made wind turbine spinning on the hill whilst you knit shoes in your ever so humble croft is sheer bunkum.
Huge estates using slave(ish, lets not have an anicent slavery discussion) labour produces lots and lots of food.
Apparently one farm slave could feed 30 urban citizens, something we didnt beat till the 1800's.
DominicJ wrote:Apparently one farm slave could feed 30 urban citizens
I prefer to think of urban citizens feeding themselves from their own gardens or local market gardens.
Or at the very least, taking a good chunk of the strain.
Cities have much to offer countryside dwellers - centres of learning, medicine and science, in exchange for food. This is the way it has been for centuries.
But I see no reason why city dwellers can't provide for themselves to a large extent, food-wise. It certainly happens in Cuba, and I'm sure there's quite a lot of greenspace in our towns and cities which could be turned over to food production, and improved with Terra Preta techniques etc.
Andy Hunt wrote:But I see no reason why city dwellers can't provide for themselves to a large extent, food-wise. It certainly happens in Cuba, and I'm sure there's quite a lot of greenspace in our towns and cities which could be turned over to food production, and improved with Terra Preta techniques etc.
Deep beds with compost would work with the addition of some biochar. There's loads of compostable material in cities and scrap to make the deep beds from.
Andy Hunt wrote:But I see no reason why city dwellers can't provide for themselves to a large extent, food-wise. It certainly happens in Cuba, and I'm sure there's quite a lot of greenspace in our towns and cities which could be turned over to food production, and improved with Terra Preta techniques etc.
Deep beds with compost would work with the addition of some biochar. There's loads of compostable material in cities and scrap to make the deep beds from.
Round my way there are two large patches of derelict land where some old terraces were bulldozed to make way for some new build, for private sale.
Amazingly the new houses haven't yet been started, even though they were supposed to be started last year. And apparently when (if) they do start, they are only going to build one block and sell them first before building the second block. That's if they ever do actually start.
But the thing is, there is a "local strategic partnership led" community group for my neighbourhood to discuss how some of the 'renewal' money should be spent, which I am a member of. I'm kind of plotting that if these houses don't get started within a certain time, I might be able to use this group to get them "temporarily" converted into community allotments.
That's the plan anyway - I'm biding my time with it a bit.
