Local Food Markets

The need for food security has never been greater, with Cornwall particularly vulnerable. In 2018, when the ‘beast from the east’ brought supply chains in England to a standstill, Cornwall was at the end of the line for deliveries. Local supermarkets reported delays of 9 days before even basic stock levels were restored- much later than up country. In future, it is not unreasonable to expect further extreme weather events, which could disproportionately affect the people of Cornwall. 

Historically, the Roseland was self-sufficient via its market gardens, and our aim is to return to a system within our community that reduces reliance on supermarkets for consumers and supports our hard-working growers.

It was not that long ago that Cornwall was completely self-sufficient in fruit, but today most of our apples come from New Zealand, meaning we have far fewer orchards. Of the food that is grown in Cornwall, a staggering 70,000 tonnes is left in fields every year and goes to waste. A move toward eating food that is produced locally, regeneratively and is in season, will help to reverse these trends.

Recent studies show that soil from farms that don’t till or use synthetic chemicals and use cover cropping, biodiversity and crop rotation, contain between 32% to 84% more microbial mass (an indicator of healthy soil) than soil from conventional farms. Regenerative farming also has the potential to combat climate change by taking significant amounts of carbon dioxide out of the air through natural processes. 

Following the recent REACT screening of the movie “Hungry for Change”, interest in a Roseland farmers market was identified, however our growers (many who currently only supply to supermarkets or wholesale- out of necessity), need to know there is a long term economically viable market for their produce within our community. Does this exist?

As a starting point, we are asking, our growers, fishers, schools, hospitality businesses, the NHS and Roseland residents if they could kindly participate in this short fact-finding survey (accessible below), so we can identify ‘where we are now’ and to hear to your thoughts. Once the results are in, we shall share the findings.

(Sources: Hungry For Change, Soil Association, Regenerative Food and Farming)

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