A big WELL DONE to so many European farmers trying to start a revolution to fix the very broken and unhealthy Food system. They are not just whinging about selling their Range Rover to pay tax as many people think.
The heart of the problem is our food system and lack of government strategy that has led to:
20% of NHS spend on food related disease
50% of our food is imported
Soil degradation
Farmers are lucky to make 1% return on capital
People power?
38% of farmers are still working after the age of 65, compared to 4% elsewhere
It is incredibly frustrating for farmers to see successive governments completely ignore the above. The last government spent a fortune on the first food strategy since the second world war then ignored the findings.
We all hoped that the new ‘lot’ would revisit the strategy and implement the changes. Instead they have introduced a ‘bitter and twisted’ inheritance tax that will drive more family farmers off the land they love and care for, to be replaced by big corporates focused on short term profit.
Unfortunately the food industry has gone so far in the wrong direction it is difficult to turn it round. Consumers have been persuaded to eat take aways and ready meals that are slowly killing them. Farmers have been subsidised to grow unhealthy food and degrade their soils. And big corporates have quietly taken the lion’s share of everything we spend on food. Hence the 1% return farmers get on their capital. Capital that will will be reduced by 20% inheritance tax when they pass the farm on the the next generation.
What a mess! 
For 24 years BigBarn has been trying to get farmers a greater return on capital by selling direct to the customer instead of through the supermarket where they are lucky to get 15% of the retail price.
I actually started BigBarn when I saw the onions we grew on the Tesco shelf for 85p/kg. We had been paid the usual 12p/kg.
I assumed that if farmers like us offered customers their produce direct at around 40p/kg for our onions we would nearly quadruple our income and consumers would get 50% off.
Unfortunately it is not that simple and we stopped growing onions 10 years ago.
Asparagus planting team
It is however very exciting to see the large margin between our growing cost and supermarket selling cost. We simply need to provide consumers with a better alternative to the supermarkets!
Unfortunately ‘better’ means healthier, less choice, and sometimes more expensive and not what people want unless they understand why.
To discover, why, we have set up our first Community Food park where local people, the school, farmers and food business come together to taste, trade, communicate and celebrate seasonal foods, and in the process build a sustainable, healthy, inclusive, enlightened, foodie community.
Sustainable: local food production, less food miles, mixed agroecology farming, local jobs, economy
Healthy: people buying and cooking fresh ingredients, better soil
Inclusive: community events, volunteering, food delivery
Enlightened: courses (food growing, cooking), communication
Frank’s farm Courtyard
Foodie community: celebrating the seasonal foods and events (asparagus day, cider making…)
We want the Food Park concept to be duplicated all over the UK using our BigBarn Local Food Map, farm networks and sharing knowledge. All helping to increase farm, incomes, diversity, soil regeneration, food security, food knowledge, health, and wellbeing.
To make the park work and encourage local food production we encourage customers to visit and provide feedback. We even want customers to grow food at home to sell at the park, called Crop for the Shop.
Please come and visit Frank’s Farm, more here, named after my great grandfather Frank who bought the farm 100 years ago when all farms grew food for local people and were an important asset to the community.
Happy team
So far we have a sourdough baker, butcher, cafe, bistro, farm shop, Deli, flower farm, chocolatier, cows, poly tunnel, and asparagus bed.
Next year we plan to open a PYO fresh fruit & veg, mushroom farm, cheesery, distillery, local beer & wine shop, cookery school and be running regular courses including: veg growing, cheese, cake & sausage making, willow weaving, distilling, cider & beer +++.
By 2030 we hope to be zero carbon with everything we sell produced on the farm, by local farms or even customer’s gardens. Perhaps Avocado, orange & lemon poly tunnels, vineyard, automatic milking machine and milk vending….
Or please follow our progress via the website or socials, you could even help set one up in your area.