Creating resilient and sustainable local food supply chains

There are many great examples of local food networks in the Stroud Valleys, but they remain relatively small scale, serving a minority who are passionate about local high quality ethical food and prepared to pay more and make more effort to buy. Many producers are also passionate and highly skilled, but their business models can be reliant on low financial rewards, long hours and supported by volunteer efforts.

1. What models are genuinely scalable and sustainable?
2. How do we move sustainable local production into the mainstream, accessible to those on lower incomes and with less time?
3. What are the key barriers to going to scale and how do we overcome them?
4. Would it be more realistic (even if less glamorous) to make existing mainstream production and supply chains better?

Joining us will be:

- Greg Pilley: Greg’s background is in ecology and is the Managing Director of Stroud Brewery. Greg worked with the Soil Association local food team for 5 years principally as project Co-ordinator for the Cultivating Communities project which promoted and supported the development of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). He is a founding member of Stroud Community Agriculture Ltd, a Community Co-operative which runs its own farm business, a Director of Stroud Common Wealth (supports social enterprise and community based asset management), and runs his own business – Stroud Brewery.

- Nick Weir: Nick's main focus at the moment is helping to roll out the Open Food Network in the UK. He has worked successfully with grassroots local community groups, national and local government and with large national charities such as the National Trust. As a volunteer he was a founding member of Stroud Community Agriculture, Stroudco Food Hub and Stroud Home Education Network.

- Molly Scott Cato: Molly Scott Cato is a British Green Party politician, academic, environmental and community activist, and green economist. She served as an MEP for the South West of England from 2014 to 2020. From 2012, until her election as an MEP, she was Professor of Strategy and Sustainability at the University of Roehampton. She speaks for the Green Party on finance and the EU and is known for her work in the field of cooperative studies. She also sat on the European Parliament's Agriculture and Rural Affairs committee between 2014 and 2020 and was previously a member of the core group of Stroud Community Agriculture.

- Ashley Dickenson: Born and raised in Stroud, Ashley's background is in farming, his father farmed in Slad and opened a farm shop in Stancombe. Growing and selling the produce from the land, including 8 acres of mixed vegetables and potatoes, 32 acres of corn. Richard is also a keen beekeeper and now holds around 400 hives, producing between 6-10 tonnes of honey a year.