Since 2007, we’ve been working with communities, farmers, health providers, activists and policymakers to challenge and subvert the industrial food system, a system which fuels the crises of climate change, biodiversity loss, and economic inequity.
We establish and nurture initiatives and enterprises that tackle some of the most pressing issues in food and farming – at every level of this complex system. And our next step – buying a farm on the edge of Greater Manchester – will help us go further in building a food system that values the growers and producers of our food, respects and restores the land and puts the health and well-being of our communities centre stage.
We are part of the global movement for Food Sovereignty, a call to action that began with small farmers in the Global South, rejecting corporate dominance of farming and asserting the rights of all people to define and control their own ecological food systems. We know a better, fairer food system is possible...and we can prove it!
Over the past 13 years we’ve established and nurtured a wide range of interrelated projects and enterprises that
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Practice and promote sustainable land use
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Make local organic food production a viable livelihood
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Acknowledge the true value of food and those producing it
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Increase availability of sustainable food, ensuring its access becomes a right and not just a privilege
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Seek to change policy both through advocacy and practical examples
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Help build a stronger, more unified voice for the sustainable food movement
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Incubate and support innovative and co-operative models of enterprise
Our vision in action
Our interrelated projects and initiatives model the kind of fair, responsible, ecologically restorative food system we want to see:
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Veg Box People and Veg People, co-operative enterprises providing affordable organic produce to homes and businesses across Greater Manchester, and - just as importantly - secure, empowered livelihoods for their workers.
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Woodbank Community Food Hub, a thriving urban horticulture hub in Stockport blending community growing projects, commercial organic veg production and new farmer training.
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Grow, Cook and Eat, an innovative social prescribing programme supporting people to take greater control of their health and wellbeing, in partnership with Stockport GPs.
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Training programmes in organic growing through the Commercial Growers Course and our farmer incubation programme FarmStart.
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Volunteering opportunities in organic food production - a route into growing or just a change of scene!
In 2021, we will be raising funds for the next stage in our vision – buying a farm on the edge of the city to scale up our work and create a farming blueprint for the future.
Our Framework
We’re a small team with a big impact. We have a clear vision, and a framework of guiding principles that steers our work:
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Informed and Strategic - We empower people to make informed and scientifically grounded decisions. We seek to change policy in the arenas in which can demonstrate viable alternatives and will have the greatest social impact.
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Democratic and Co-operative - We practice and promote meaningful democracy through the way we work and live, providing an example of community ownership, co-operation and collaborative working.
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Enterprising and Constructive - We work to strengthen urban and rural communities and create sustainable food economies. We generate meaningful livelihoods by providing training and establishing and incubating innovative enterprises.
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Ecological - With the urgent need to address climate change we focus on pioneering, practising and promoting agro-ecological land-use and sustainable food systems.
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Radical - We focus on solutions that address problems at their root cause, by supporting others to do the same, we act as a catalyst for social change.
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Equitable and Just - We challenge social, economic and ecological inequality both locally and globally. We support communities to create their own solutions, and stand in solidarity with food sovereignty and social change movements globally.
Meet the people making it happen.
