FoodShare Pantry Partners with Slade Organic Farm for Seed to Fork Workshop
Llantwit Major FoodShare Pantry, operated by Glamorgan Voluntary Services (GVS), and Slade Organic Farm teamed up during the May half term to offer a free Seed to Fork Workshop, and even the seemingly relentless drizzle couldn’t dampen spirits!
The workshop enabled four families, who are regular customers at the FoodShare Pantry, to spend a morning at the farm and was funded by the UK Government’s Shared Prosperity Fund, managed by the Vale of Glamorgan Council. Hosted by farm manager, Graeme and chief grower Jamie, the workshop began at the farm’s vegetable growing plot, which produces seasonal organic produce for local people. The enthusiastic visitors were shown how to harvest seeds, how to plant them, how they grow and what you end up with. There were plenty of opportunities for everyone to get their hands dirty and a whole row of artichokes was planted in record timing!
Graeme said, ‘Creating time and space on the farm to share what we do is a really great way of reminding us of why we like farming so much. Having the families here from FoodShare was great fun and lived up to the old adage that 'many hands make light work'. It's really important that as communities we connect to the land around us and small projects like this can help build our collective connection and knowledge about where our food comes from. We're really grateful to the Vale of Glamorgan Council who provided the funding and helped shape the project.’
The farm is renowned for their high quality organic meat and the visit would not have been complete without a trip on the farm’s people trailer to see the animals – pigs, sheep and cows – all happily grazing on pasture, rounded off by an explanation of the lifecycle of the animals and a visit to the farm shop.
Every one of the participants said that the workshop had made them more confident about growing their own food at home and that they would consequently be giving it a go, boosted by the fact that they all got to take home a courgette plant and sunflowers that they had planted themselves.
GVS’s FoodShare Coordinator, Nicola Osgood, said, ‘We were approached by Graeme to see if we wanted to be involved and we jumped at the opportunity! Education around food, where it comes from, the impact it (and therefore we) has on the environment and our bodies is so important for us to be able to make informed choices about what we eat, so it’s something that we are really keen to support in our community. It was amazing to see how engaged all of our customers were with the workshop and how much they took away from the day.’
The FoodShare Pantry in Llantwit Major operates from GVS’s CF61 Centre every Thursday between 12 noon and 2pm and last month launched a second pantry in St Athan at The Gathering Place, running every other Wednesday from 11.30am - 1pm. For £5 customers are able to choose a selection of items, including chilled, frozen, ambient and fresh produce as well as bakery items. The project is run by Glamorgan Voluntary Services and works to improve access to affordable good food in rural communities, whilst helping to prevent food waste.
