A relationship with coffee - part 2

The second part of the sustainable business model.



So where do your coffee come from?

Vanishing bees

Organic box scheme

Fruits & Vegetables Sign

For a few months now we have been searching for an organic vegetable and fruit box to offer to the customers of the shop. There are still issues around it but Monday this will be available. We have been offering an increased range of local produce. Local producers did not seem willing to provide a delivery service to the shop so we turned to our wholesaler and asked him to source a box for us.

It’s a bittersweet step; we will be offering an organic box but some of the produce , although organic, will be from far away. This is a bit sad that pears in the organic box are coming from Argentina but it’s a stepping stone at the moment until we can establish demand and see if we can win the local producers over to see that it is worth investing in.

We tried the contents out last week and in the box were the following :

potatoes
carrots
onions
1 small swede
1 broccoli
1 cauliflower
1 lettuce
2 courgettes
1 sweet potato
1 lettuce
4 bananas
4 pears
4 apples
2 oranges
4 plums
6 tomatoes
1/2 cucumber
1 beetroot

It was tasty but needed to be kept cool as it does not keep as well as the usual vegetables and fruit.

A few people who order from a national scheme have shown an interest and will be testing it out.

Fair trade

Behind every cup of coffee or bar of chocolate, sesame seed and banana....lives a family.
We can take our foodsupply chain for granted if we do not know where our food comes from. The above video clip shows the principles behind fair trade relating to coffee, the second biggest crop after oil.

We have all heard of fair trade, but what does it mean?
The video clip is about 8 mins long.

Innovative ideas

This post connects to yesterday's post about engaging with the negative and is an example of how Shidulai in Bangladesh has looked at the equation of global warming, what the difficulties are likely to be in the future through flooding and what can be done now to prepare and to engage with the situation instead of accepting that this is the way it is and that change is not possible.

If you watch the video by Green TV to the end, the last words provide the same sentiment as those I voiced yesterday, just in a different situation.

What Shidulai realized is that the rivers are not barriers to communication but can become channels of communication. In the same way Global warming is not just a negative that leads to extinction, if we engage with it we can harness the resources presented to ensure survival.

Tomorrow' s post will explore the changes in attitude that a business can implement to effect solutions and include the proposals within our business plan to test these out on a small scale.

The answers are out there if we engage with them.

On a serious note

Just when you think that the subject might become serious and you are about to get depressed....then this comes in. Enjoy.
Serious message but you get to have a laugh too......

Check out this video: Grocery Store Wars



Add to My Profile | More Videos

We still have not exchanged contracts on our sale and purchase and am feeling the pressure in limbo. Maybe today.

The Farmer and the Bishop

To Guardian reports on unfair practices from Supermarkets in their dealings with Farmers and states that the reason Farmers are not speaking out is because they do not want to upset their relationships with food retailers.

Supermarkets are guilty of "invisible and pernicious practices" that threaten the livelihood of farmers, the Church of England warned yesterday.

I find that incredibly sad and at the same time, I can entirely empathise with their feeling of ' not wanting to bite the hand that feeds you'.

The report, Fair Trade Begins at Home, highlighted instances where farmers had suffered in the supermarket's pursuit for cheap produce.

In my work supporting families in crisis I listened out not only for what was being said but what was not being said. When you take the time to listen to the silences, the spaces in between the words, you could sometimes feel the fear. Often in their situation it was the fear of having their children taken into care, others were unable to speak up because their partners abused them in a variety of ways and speaking up would put their lives in danger. It makes me believe that farmers are alone with pressure from all sides, the government legislation, the supermarket's purchasing power, financial hardship, pressure from banks......quite a lot to be pushed about. How can we the consumer throw a lifeline! If you are a farmer, please feel free to leave an anonymous comment.


The UK has a free market economy and as such we should be able to spend our money in ways that reflect our values and beliefs. I am not sure what the article evokes in you but as consumer it makes me uncomfortable.....

An inconvenient shopping experience

Farmer's Market


To be encouraged to go to a Farmer's Market is likely to be difficult. There are obstacles and there are always going to be obstacles, and in all honesty it probably is a lot more convenient to go to the supermarket: I know this for a variety of reasons and yet I am passionate about overcoming the obstacles because to me it matters.

Its too far !

I realised today that Farmers and I have things in common : they produce in the privacy of their land and I write in the privacy of my home, and both of us like to remain private and not make a fuss.

I do not speak often about why it is difficult but I have a disability which limits the energy I have available and the obstacles that are most difficult relate to mobility : I cannot drive easily and I cannot walk far. So, in practice a supermarket with a disabled car parking space and battery operated shopping trolleys does a lot to make shopping for food convenient. So why on earth would I want to undertake a journey of 15 miles each way to go and purchase food, as well as growing vegetables in my garden. The reason is that I notice the difference and the benefits I personally have from locally produced food. I do no longer have the luxury to be able to eat just anything, I have developed allergies and food sensitivities and local food does not contain many of the preservatives that activate these allergies within me. Food traceability is important to me : at the Farmer's market I can talk to the producer directly and ask them what they feed their animals on for instance because indirectly, whatever goodness they receive so do I. What I get from talking to producers is their pride in what they do and between us there is an understanding about the difficulties each one of us faces. Mine is getting here to the farmers market, theirs is being visible and accountable for what they produce. Both are uncomfortable new states of being and make the initial contact clumsy, but when you take the courage to ask the farmer about the product, and you can get him talking about it, you get a glimmer of the pride, the enthousiasm which is lacking when you get your apples or beef from the supermarket. Their strength is to produce the quality but sales training bypassed many of them.( Sorry chaps!) At some level I empathise with that. Yet when you engage with the farmer about his product, you get straightforward answers. He can tell you exactly how long the meat has been hanging, where in his pasture he animals grazed, how long the cheese took to mature, what they use to press the apples, whether the bread is made with fresh yeast, with locally produced wheat etc.

It costs more!

In many cases it just looks that way. Its an argument between quality and quantity. There is a reason why champagne was expensive....it was rare, had an exclusivity about it but when sparkling wine came along, did we want to pay for champagne ( I think not). It is the same with locally produced beef. When you go initially, you may be shocked at the price but it is a realistic price at which the farmer can make a living and grow his product to the standard as consumer we would like it to be. Surprisingly, I have noticed that I need less of protein in weight from a farmers market than from a supermarket, and so the price becomes immaterial. I also know that when I have beef from a particular farmer at the market I do not suffer agonizing bellyache, as where I do when it comes from the supermarket; to me in any event, there are very real, practical reasons for buying fresh, locally, traceable, sustainable food. ( I am still working on reducing my dependency on animal protein but having less of it is my starting point)

They have limited availability?

Granted, we cannot eat strawberries in January from the farmers market locally and cabbages and apples may become a tad boring over the season. Again, if I buy my apples at the supermarket I get a few varieties that I can get all year around and that is a shame but convenient. There is food succession even in apple varieties.....you can get them from August to January but you have to look, and they have odd shapes, they can be smaller or larger than you are used to, but the taste is...spectacular and not bland. Through making a menu over a period of 12 months, and looking at it again, I realised that in practice the types of food I was eating were very limited. If you do not know what it is, just like when I introduce something new to the children, they look, they smell and some may not even have a go at trying it. I am forcing myself to try some new foods at least once.

Its too cold to go to the Farmer's Market in winter

Sure. It is a lot easier and more convenient to get the supermarket to deliver. Initially unable to leave the house, I liked the idea of a personal shopper doing it all for me and getting it delivered to my house. After a while I started to resent having peppers that looked a little past their best and products changed for other brands( as they were not available and conveniently more expensive). I did have the choice to send them back but in reality that was a lot of hassle. What I gained in convenience, I lost in my ability to choose what I wanted. Going to the farmers market enables me to ask the producer......hmmmm do you do basil? When he tells me that it is not the season I can only take his word for it ( and I feel stupid because I should have known that). I grumble mildly but notice my surprise when in August he calls me and says, Anne, if you want Basil, it will be here next week.

When I started using butter instead of margerine, my children asked why and I said I trusted cows more than scientists. ( no offence meant!) In reality, I trust the farmer more than the supermarket but I suspect that the farmer has no idea what I think unless I go out there to meet him in the rain, with a small bag, an umbrella and my walking stick and ask him embarrassing questions as to what I can do with a neck of lamb and why he does not have Basil.
The farmer tells me that he had no idea.....he trusted the supermarkets to tell him what the consumer demanded and he did his best to grow the stuff only to be told that when it was ready, the consumer demanded a lower price and they had bought it in Spain.

It reminds me about how children cruelly tell tales about eachother and how convenient it can be when there is no direct communication.

When it rains, and I stumble to the car, drive 15 miles, grab my stick and bag, walk the 50 yards from the nearest parking space and grumble about the wet weather, the numb fingers and how awful it is going to be to stand there, slowly opening my purse and counting coins, slowly and clumsily,handing them over for an item that is going to be heavy, that is going to make my arms ache, and returning home will mean I need to rest for 1 hour in bed, I can see entirely that I would be mad to go to a Farmers Market and instead it would make a lot more sense to go to the supermarket where it is warm, I can park and the trolley awaits me. What choice would you make?

When I am at the Farmers Market I have to do a scary thing, I have to become visible, I have to talk, I have to ask questions, I visibly struggle with my shopping, with cold hands, with dripping hair and yet the benefits are immense.......

It is inconvenient but I promise to keep trying because it matters.

So instead of taking on the logo ' every little helps' mine is ' every little change matters'.

Farmer Preservation Society

Let's Have a Beer!

There is ofcourse no such thing (I googled for it and drew a blank).
Should there be I wonder, there are a variety of other preservation societies :

The British Brown Hare Preservation Society
There is a Farm Machinery Preservation Society

but no society for the preservation of farmers.
There is also the Cloud Appreciation Society with stunning photos.

I am hoping that my little gesture tonight will spark off some debates in our village.
After a mellow autumnal day, where the leaves gently fell down and the sky looked rather stunning with stars we decided to waddle down to our local pub. They have a roaring fire going with a seat and it is always free as the heat really is unbearable to most but for me, it is just about right. The pub is where it all happens in our village; if you want an electrician, a plumber, your garden mowed...best place to find the man is in the pub. Its a local hub of activity and a good place for eccentrics.

Before we left I had the following conversation with the landlord:

Say, what is the price of a pint of beer these days?

Well that depends on what kind you have.

Average then, what would the average price be?

( At this point my DH looks at me with suspicion, as he knows full well that I do not drink beer and am allergic to yeast so beer would be a bad thing to have, however he remains silent, the look was enough).

About £ 2.40.

Well then, I would like to buy a pint of beer for a farmer who feels a bit down in the mouth.

That would be any one of them then said the landlord.

You choose, give him a pint with my compliments to cheer him up.

You should have seen the faces of both landlord and DH. Stunned. That alone was worth the gesture. I have not asked who this will be, I need not know, I am happy to hopefully have started at least the Farmers Appreciation Society.

I am hopeful that there are other good natured consumers out there who will venture to do the same. If you do, I can assure you that you will be stared at and will stun the landlord into silence.

I cannot wait to hear what happened when the farmer actually got his pint!

Members of the Farmers Appreciation Society will know who they are ;

membership fee -a donation of the price of a pint at your local.
no committee meetings nor officers
Members know who they are......but keep it secret.
Spread the word.......

And listen out for farmers in the pub who are stunned that people are buying them a drink.

Local Food Shop

Farmers Market

Shopping locally online is about to become a reality in the UK thanks to LocalFoodShop.

Farmers markets work as well as websites to enable the consumer to find you but require an awful lot of inconvenience and social media knowhow : as a consumer you need to know where they are, when they are at the market and thus falling into your usual shopping patterns is far too easy.

What does LocalFoodShop do?

As a consumer you can put in your postcode details and it will bring up participating foodproducers in your area with links to their website. This means that you can go and check them out if you want to with the ability to order online from them. Good, local food delivered to your door at the click of a button.

What does it do for farmers and food producers?

It enables them through social media to turn virtual consumers into real ones, without having to meet them. It means that local producers can make customers aware of what is available, in season and the true cost. The actual cost of registering as a producer and having real e- commerce possibilities is surprisingly low cost.

I have no experience with this service but will give it a go. It makes the prospect of reducing my diet to 100 miles radius a reality. It also meets with my personal values of supporting locally produced food, growing our own and putting money back into the local community.

Producers and consumers alike, go and check it out.

From a downshifting point of view, the handy distance calculator will also give you an indication as to how far your food travels, i.e. 6 miles is my nearest food producer. You also get to know what your area is rich in producing.

All this without having to leave your home? That scores highly on my list. Now how about spreading the word to your favourite food producer; currently word of mouth is still the best way to spread the message. I am of to get some cheese.

ROOTING FOR FARMERS

A blog award in support of farmers worldwide:





Rooting is the process of putting forth roots and beginning to grow

I have received a few blogging awards recently and I would like to sow a blogger

award into the world, one that is given to bloggers who are using social media to unite, inspire and sustain local farmers and farming.

The rules to show your support:

Tag your post if possible with ‘rooting for farmers’ and lets raise the moral of farmers in the community.


The rules are :

1. Write a post about what farming, farmers and local food mean to you.
2. Nominate three bloggers who epitomise "Rooting for farmers "


3 .Link back to the person who nominated you, and link back to this post


4. When you receive the award, you may display the "Rooting for farmers" button on your blog by pasting the HTML Code listed below on your blog.


So here goes:

My nominations go to
Heather from around the world in 80 megabytes

Neil from the Gastrocast
http://gastrocasttv.com//blog/

Farmer Jake

and a special award and thanks to Mark from The Green Fingered Photographer:
who generously gave his permission to use the pig picture.

HTML Code For The Button

<a href="http://downshiftingpath.blogspot.com/2007/10/rooting
-for-farmers.html">
<img src="http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e169/sockknittingmama
/SupportForFarmers-1.jpg" border="0" height="60%" width="60%" />
</a>



rooting for farmers