Seasons Greetings from the CSA Network UK

Latest news from the CSA Network UK

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Seasons Greetings from the CSA Network UK

Dear Members and supporters, I am sad to say that after three and a half years as coordinator I am moving on to pastures new. I have really enjoyed meeting and working with you all and I hope CSA movement continues to go from strength to strength. I will still be involved in the sustainable food sector in one way or another, so hopefully will see some of you again. We are now recruiting a new part-time coordinator, details are here, please get your applications in by 6 January 2019. Photo credit The Oak Tree Low Carbon Farm.

NEW BOARD MEMBERS

We are very pleased to welcome several new members on to our board of directors. They are Page Dykstra, Charlotte Steel and Dr Jasmine Black - you can find out more about them here. Ben Raskin is our new Chair and Page is our new secretary. In order to meet our funding requirements we are still looking for a couple of additional members - one with a finance background and accountancy qualifications, and one with a background in fundraising and marketing. If you fit the bill or know anyone who does please get in touch with us at csanetworkuk@gmail.com. Our board meetings are held once a month via Zoom conference call and then we have two face-to-face meetings a year. All travel and other expenses are paid. The next face-to-face meeting is on 13 Feb 2019 in Bristol.

PEER-TO-PEER MENTORING

If your CSA needs advice or support with any aspect of running your project please get in touch to see if you could benefit from our mentoring programme. Recent requests have related to exit strategies and crop planning. We also have mentors who can advise on social media and marketing or business planning. We will match you up with a mentor and you can either visit them or they can come to you. We cover the mentors fees and travel expenses. Mentoring is just £25 for members and £50 for non members. But we will be reviewing these fees so apply soon to benefit from the bargain prices. Recent feedback we received was "We had a great visit to Stroud last month. Mark was fabulous. We are now brimming with ideas."

AMEND THE AG BILL

The UK is facing a pivotal moment for the future of agriculture and each of us can help to make sure that local food systems like CSAs are supported in the new policies by contacting your MP now. As a result of Brexit, the UK is creating its own agricultural policy in the form of the proposed Agriculture Bill. This is a once in a generation opportunity to influence what we want British agriculture to look like for the next 50 to 100 years.

The proposed Bill moves away from the EU system of subsidies for farmers based solely on land area and instead provides financial incentives for improving the environment. While this is an improvement, unfortunately the Bill makes no reference to agroecological practices or local food.
As CSA Network members and supporters interested in promoting sustainable and resilient food systems that are linked to the local community, its important that we make sure our vision for the future is incorporated into the new agricultural policy. Two amendments to the Agriculture Bill, one supporting agroecology and the other to support local food, have been proposed. Find out more here

URGENCI CONFERENCE

I've recently returned from Thessaloniki (Greece) from the 7th Urgenci International CSA network meeting with over 300 delegates representing over 2 million CSA members from all over the world. It was great being in a room with CSAs from all over the world and discussing issues such as food justice, solidarity economy and advocacy. I also met up with many other CSA Networks from the US, Canada and the rest of Europe who are, like us, supporting their member farms through start up advice, peer to peer mentoring, and promotion. However one key difference was the membership rates! Some Networks are fully funded by their members, with individual CSA members paying towards the cost of the Network subscriptions. We have been considering whether it is possible to increase our membership fees, so we are not so grant reliant and would be interested in hearing your views.

The Landworkers's Alliance have teamed up with Bristol artist Rosanna Morris to create a beautiful 2019 Calendar as a fundraiser. The calendar contains 13 unique lino prints of agricultural scenes, as well as twelve quirky historical anecdotes that give an overview of the creation of our contemporary food system. Some of the calendar’s images are based on the LWA’s incredibly influential film ‘In Our Hands’. Its subject matter, artwork and text give the calendar a rustic authenticity that roots it firmly in the social movement that gave birth to it.
Order yours here