Farms to Feed Us, a new online resource, is aiming to strengthen the UK’s food system and create a sustainable supply chain for the future by connecting growers, producers and fishers with their local communities.
The Farms to Feed Us UK-wide database is a simple online tool created to enable consumers to identify and source food more directly from producers and grown locally on a small and sustainable scale.
Founded by regenerative agriculture organiser Cathy St Germans, the volunteer-run resource was launched in April during the Covid-19 lockdown. It currently lists more than 200 businesses from the UK’s food and farming network.
Many of the producers on the database exclusively supplied restaurants and have had to completely redesign their business to adapt to the changing situation during the crisis.
Cathy St Germans said: “Farms to Feed Us was born in response to initiatives I was seeing locally and nationally from farmers having to turn their supply chains around overnight. I have put together a small team of volunteers to create a database of new delivery and mail order initiatives, which have come about because of the crisis.
“The database is lo-fi and easily accessible by the elderly and those who do not use social media, so we can all play our part in strengthening the food chain which is flowing from our fields and farms, and support our farmers and fishers through this terrible time.
“We are hoping this supply chain can have some lasting effect once the Covid-19 crisis is over and we will have a new market who we hope will want to maintain their new relationships with small scale farmers, fishers and other independent food suppliers.”
Rosa Medea is Life & Soul Magazine’s Chief. She writes about lifestyle including sustainable and green living.
