Leicestershire Local Food Cluster
Growing a Fair and Resilient Food System
We’re looking for farmers interested in building a more resilient and profitable food economy in Leicestershire!
The Allerton Project are undertaking a new project in collaboration with Leicestershire County Council and funded by the Samworth Foundation to embed agricultural perspectives at the heart of food system development across Leicestershire.Through this flagship project, we aim to build an innovative farmer-led cluster across the county to investigate building farm resilience and profitability, shortening local supply chains, and increasing the voice of the farmer in the local food economy.
Leicestershire was the first County to be awarded the Silver Sustainable Food Places award and is now progressing to become the first Gold County in the UK. Through this initial three-year project, Leicestershire County Council are seeking collaboration with farmers to utilise their input to help shape local food policy and procurement and generate a replicable model to be used by councils nationally. Strengthening this foundation is key to building a resilient, inclusive, and truly sustainable food system.
Key foci of the project will be:
- Amplifying the voice of farmers in the regional food economy and helping farmers reach out beyond the farm gate
- Forming a Leicestershire-wide ‘Farm Forward’ cluster to bring like-minded farmers from across the county together
- To identify the blockers to farmers accessing local and public sector supply chains and seek means to overcome them
- Identifying the challenges Leicestershire farmers face in delivering profitable, sustainable and high-welfare food
- Providing peer-to-peer learning and knowledge exchange for more sustainable and profitable farming
- Identifying routes to standards/accreditations which may provide additional routes to market
- Identifying routes to alternative finance/funding with particular reference to ecosystem services and natural capital.
If you’re keen to help change the regional food economy for the better, increase the voice of the farmer in the food system and build a community of peers looking to increase the resilience of their farm business – this project is for you!