Wells Food Festival

Normally I write about current issues facing the farming industry.  However this week I want to write about the Wells Food Festival, which is now in its third year – it is free and takes place on Sunday, October 11 in the middle of the city.

The theme of this year’s event is Eat the Landscape which will be the subject of a public debate taking place on the day.  The aim is to enable visitors to recognise the connection between their food choices, wildlife and the landscape, as well as producers.  

The public needs to recognise they are contributing to the quality of the world around them by the food choices they make.   

In the last five years, an increasing number of restaurants and pubs have started displaying the provenance of their produce and naming their suppliers.  So this is important to consumers.  

The debate will explore the merits of specialist and artisan producers and the intensive farming methods that many farmers have adopted in order to survive. 

The argument runs like this.  Before the rise and rise of supermarkets, relatively short supply chains between field and fork meant many farmers had a direct connection with consumers. 

Today, the increasing scale of agricultural production, combined with complex supply chains, means that many consumers and producers have lost touch with where their food comes from. In turn this leads to producer issues being forgotten or misunderstood by consumers.  

The predominant trend towards large scale intensive farms with food processed and packaged many miles away is leading to increasing numbers of consumers no longer appreciating where their food comes from, or the importance that farming plays in the countryside supporting rural communities, wildlife and the wider landscape. 

Here in Somerset a significant number of producers have bucked this trend - 92 of whom will be displaying their wares at this year’s Wells Food Festival. By their approach to growing, processing and marketing high quality, added value products they continue a long tradition of connecting directly with their customers.  

This is now seen by many to be a diversification rather than what farmers used to habitually do before the supply chain became so complicated resulting in most farmers being forced down the “production only” route.

Those farmers who have embraced this form of diversification have not only shortened the supply chain enabling them to extract profit that would otherwise be lost to the middle men, but they often make a significant contribution to the wider rural economy, not least tourism.  

It is also important to recognise that many such producers show younger people there is a future for them in our industry although the view that every farmer could make a living in this manner needs to be balanced against the economic reality of producing enough food to feed an ever expanding UK and world population.

Anyhow, whatever your view on this debate there will be sure to be some amazing local food on offer so why not just come along and enjoy yourself.


James Stephen MRICS FAAV
Partner
Rural Practice Chartered Surveyor, Wells
T: 01749 683381
E: james.stephen@carterjonas.co.uk

Great produce at the great Wells Food Festival

With many commodity prices on the slide farmers are feeling the pinch and yet the food and drink industry represents a very important part of our economy in the south west. Therefore it is important that both sectors recognise the importance of each other and work together for mutual benefit.

In this context any event which promotes the importance of food, its connection to local producers and the community within which the food is produced and consumed must be a good thing.

Therefore it is great news that after last year’s successful inaugural event, the second Wells Food Festival is scheduled to take place on Sunday 12th October. The event aims to celebrate the best of Somerset’s local produce featuring over 50 stalls manned by artisan food producers.

But the event goes further than just celebrating food itself; education and broadening people’s horizons is also important. For instance, one of the great successes of last year was the invitation which was extended by TV chef Valentina Harris to 10 pupils from the Blue School in Wells who, having helped with the Great Somerset Lunch 2013, were invited to the Universita dei Sapori, a state-of-the-art cookery school in Perugia, Italy. In return, this year the Food Festival organisers have invited 10 students from Perugia to come to Wells to help prepare a superb Italian Sunday lunch using Somerset produce.

In addition to the Italian lunch, chef Tom Hunt will be hosting the Forgotten Feast’s Autumn Banquet where the emphasis will be on using produce that may be rejected by the picky buyers of supermarkets and other retail outlets. In so doing he will try to open everyone’s eyes to the wastefulness of some of our current practices by producing a delicious seasonal feast prepared from the abundance of Somerset’s autumn produce, much of which is forgotten, unused or otherwise going to waste.

The festival will include a whole host of other events including kids activities, a vintage tea party, food related talks and walks plus foodie quizzes and other competitions. There will even be a tent in which you can try your hand at a radio controlled ploughing competition!

So there should be something for everyone and in my view the more people who come to appreciate the importance of food and its connection with the farmers who produce it and the landscape which has been created by farming practices over the centuries, the better.

For more information about this event or to purchase a ticket for one of the lunches go to www.wellsfoodfestival.co.uk.  

James Stephen MRICS FAAV
Partner
Rural Practice Chartered Surveyor, Wells
T: 01749 683381
E: james.stephen@carterjonas.co.uk

Wells Food Festival

The inaugural Wells Food Festival certainly brought a buzz to Wells last Sunday with the market place packed with stalls and visitors tasting and purchasing the various artisan foods on offer. But of particular interest to me was the debate which was held at the Bishop’s Barn entitled “Milk Matters” and if the turnout is anything to go by the general consensus is that it does.

Over 100 people packed in to the Barn to listen to the debate which was preceded by a blind tasting of 6 different samples of milk which varied from UHT and pasteurised supermarket milk to unpasteurised Guernsey milk. Everyone had an opportunity to taste and vote for their favourite milk and in the end it was the pasteurised Jersey milk from Ivy House Farm, Beckington near Frome which was voted the audience’s favourite. This was fitting because Geoff Bowles of Ivy House Farm, stood in at the last minute for one of the panellists who was unable to attend the debate.

The debate itself was interesting, chaired by environmentalist Chris Banes with dairy farming panellists, in addition to Geoff Bowles, including Ruth Kimber from Charlton Musgrove, David Cotton from West Bradley, Judith Freene from Pilton and Steve Hook from Sussex.

Each panellist told the audience about their experiences in dairy farming including the opportunities and challenges they face in their own businesses. David Cotton, a 4th generation dairy farmer explained about milk production from the perspective of a mainstream dairy farmer, where he regards himself as the primary producer, selling his milk to a processor who will then process the milk to bring it to the market, whether that be liquid milk, butter, cream or cheese.

Ruth Kimber, similarly sells most of their milk to Wyke Farms who turn it in to farmhouse cheese, while the other panellists explained how they have taken the processing and marketing of their milk in to their own hands so as to take advantage of niche markets, bringing them closer to the customer and thereby gaining premium prices for their milk products.

Judith Freene of Brown Cow Organics explained how she moved in to yoghurt production in response to the slump in organic milk price some years ago, which alongside their other products has proved a great success. Geoff Bowles also explained his story of how, when his farm was cut in half by a new road in 1983, his family decided to process their own milk in order to survive, initially driving to London to sell milk in premium outlets and subsequently supplying customers direct and via a wide range of small retail outlets.

Similarly Steve Hook, who is featured in a documentary film about his farm, called the Moo Man, explained how he decided to sell raw, unpasteurised organic milk to the public and how he has tapped in to a niche market where he is able to command a price of up to £2/pint, as compared to the lowest price I could find on the Tesco website which was 25p/pint.

This perhaps explains the dilemma many dairy farmers find themselves in; they either have to find a niche market which usually involves processing their own milk and selling their product direct to the customer or through outlets where they can achieve a premium price or, as in the case of David Cotton and the vast majority of dairy farmers, they have to become as efficient as they possibly can to survive the highly competitive retail market dominated by the supermarkets.

Herein lies the crux of the problem facing many dairy farmers; do they go niche or remain primary producers of a commodity. Either way it is hard work, often requiring significant investment with loans which will have to be paid off by the next generation. This is why many dairy farmers, especially those without successors, continue to leave the industry; there are currently less than 15,000 left in the UK, a number which has halved over the last 15 years.

Accordingly, what came over very clearly to me was that there is one concern which cuts across niche and commodity producers alike and that is the need to attract the next generation in to dairy farming, whether that be to take on the family farm or to work for others as a herdsmen or other skilled workers. But in all instances the financial viability of the dairy business is the key in order to be able to pay such staff a competitive wage to enable them to live in the countryside which is valued by so many and which has been shaped by dairy farmers over the centuries.

James Stephen MRICS FAAV
Partner
Rural Practice Chartered Surveyor, Wells
T: 01749 683381
E: james.stephen@carterjonas.co.uk