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