FROM CUMBRIA

The AAFNs identified in Cumbria are predominantly farmer/producer based, primarily utilising farm shops, farmers markets or vegetable box schemes to distribute their produce. Both Foot and Mouth and BSE have had a significant effect on agriculture in the region. After the foot-and-mouth crisis, the compensation received was used to rethink business models and may have allowed more local/direct selling to take place.

What does ‘alternative’ mean?
We had identified all the interviewees as belonging to an Alternative Agri-food Network. So we asked what the term ‘alternative’ meant to them. Most interviewees did not associate themselves with the term however, they did believe that they were doing something different to conventional food chains — meaning the supermarket model that dominates our food system. A common theme was reconnection, for example;

• Reconnection between producers, consumers and retailers. This is done via farmers markets, direct sales and farm shops. All of these allow consumers to either meet the farmer or to visit the farm.
  
• The reconnection of the producer (and often consumer) with the natural world, by using production systems such as organic and biodynamic. This also leads to a reconnection with traditional knowledge and skills.
  
• Reconnection was also achieved by building local food systems such as farm shops selling local and regional produce, farmer retail co-operatives from a specific location, farmers markets and box schemes selling regional produce.
  

Interviewees also recognised they were alternative because they were creating something new and different for example, by running initiatives that operate for reasons other than profit and by incorporating scientific knowledge in their production systems.

There was also some ambiguity about how the interviewees define what they do. It’s more than just being organic or local. There was a distrust of some organic producers who were just in it for the price premium. This unease was most apparent when interviewees spoke about organic producers that sold to wholesalers and supermarkets. Only a few thought this was wrong, but most viewed their own businesses as doing something qualitatively different.

New intermediaries have arisen, or have been designed by organic producers, to go beyond the producers’ capacity for direct sales. Such intermediaries develop cooperative marketing skills and knowledges for reaching consumers, while emphasising the origin of food. They also develop professional skills for handling regulations and obtaining grants. They enable closer relations with consumers than in conventional food chains.

How have policies either helped or hindered AAFNs?
All of the interviewees expressed the view that their own efforts, and not any specific policy, had led to the success of their businesses and initiatives. However, because the FAAN project aims to find out how policies may have helped or hindered, interviewees were questioned further. Common themes were:

• The overall amount of paper work and bureaucracy required by official bodies was cited as a burden. But it was not always the same paperwork. For some it’s the single farm payment, or the Soil Association forms, for others it’s hygiene inspections and employment law.
  
• Whilst some initiatives have been given grants, a number found them problematic. These include issues over meeting criteria (geographical boundaries, time scale etc.) and excessive bureaucracy in relation to the amount of money made available.
  
• A few interviewees mentioned specific grants made available under the Rural Development Programme (e.g. Leader), but often they were unaware of which funding stream or organisation had provided it.
  

Success strategies
Reconnection again emerged as a common theme. The development of a trust-based relationship between producer and consumer was important, as was the reconnection to both physical place and community which a more localised food economy brings.

The fact there has been a change in the attitudes of the public to food is seen as important. Consumers are now demanding high-quality food produced in an environmentally friendly manner. The demand for local food is both an environmental move (i.e. the reduction of food miles) and a way to support their local economy.

Public bodies such as Made in Cumbria, Cumbria Organics, Distinctly Cumbrian, CREA, Business Link are all mentioned as providing support by promoting awareness amongst consumers and by giving direct business support and advice.

Interviewees also talked of the way they have re-organised themselves as important. This is done in two ways:

• By adapting their own businesses to changing situations.
  
• By working co-operatively with other producers and retailers, identifying common interests and concerns.
  

FROM MANCHESTER
AAFNs in Manchester take on a very diverse range of forms. They include: profitable business, grassroots initiatives in receipt of small amounts of funding, and official or semi-official bodies in receipt of more substantial funding.

Motivations of the interviewees fall into two general categories:

• The environment and culture of Manchester, for example concerns around social and economic inequality, access to healthy food, improving the immediate environment, food cultivation as a means to health and improving community cohesion.
  
• Broader environmental and social issues including concerns around environmental protection, climate change, peak oil and food security.
  

What does ‘alternative’ mean?
For the interviewees in Manchester (as in Cumbria), there were some reservations about defining themselves as alternative. There was a feeling that this term would define them as separate or alien to the rest of society, when instead they want to change mainstream society and its food systems.
All the interviewees described how they provided something different to the supermarket model For example:

• A voluntary approach to food production and distribution means by their very nature they are not part of the dominant economic system.
  
• The method by which people obtain their food is more social, providing an opportunity for people to meet, share their ideas and have a more positive relationship with their food.
  
• By encouraging people to know where their food has come from and how it is produced provides a link between rural and urban. For some this is an important part of the definition of organic (rather than imported ‘organic’ produce).
  
• They are combining traditional knowledge of food production (learning from the older generation) but also innovating and finding new ways to produce food.
  
• They are encouraging more food not only to be grown within cities but also on a more individual, smaller scale and community based way.
  

Moreover, many (but not all) interviewees described themselves and their initiative as being in direct opposition to supermarkets and the mainstream agriculture and food systems.

Some producers have expanded local markets by combining their supplies through intermediaries selling food to consumers.

How have policies either helped or hindered AAFNs?
Like the rest of the UK, the demand for allotments in Manchester has increased dramatically in recent years. There is a change taking place in how allotments are used; a number are already used for community projects and collective growing. Manchester Council are developing their ideas about how they can increase the number of allotments and also develop new ways to provide people with the resources to grow their own food.

Given the small size of some businesses, the fixed fee set by the Soil Association prevented some interviewees from registering.

A number of the interviewees receive either direct or indirect funding from public bodies, but there are also mixed feelings about the support role of local authorities.

The change in society’s attitudes towards food is being reflected in reports and initiatives by local authorities but there is concern about what this will really deliver.

There is concern that the focus remains on bigger business instead of supporting the smaller scale and more voluntary initiatives.

Local bodies have supported food initiatives that attach themselves to a health agenda. They comprehend the health benefits of making fresh food more accessible, as well as the physical and mental benefits gained through growing food.

For those interviewees involved in small business that are not social enterprises, there has been some funding to help them start up but no further funds.
In Northwest England, regional government policy advocates sustainable public procurement, including support for local food suppliers, at least on paper. However, most knowledgeable interviewees felt that local food could compete only by delivering the lowest price.

Success strategies
When asked about what made their initiatives successful, most interviewees mentioned public attitudes. These include: increased awareness of the link between health and food, the environmental issues surrounding food production and the community and personal benefits that growing food can bring. All of these factors helped provide support and enthusiasm for the initiatives.

It was also thought that years of lobbying by environmental, health and community activists was finally influencing local government, which was starting to support a sustainable food culture as a means to promote health and community cohesion.

Despite these successes, issues of price remain. Many felt that their food initiatives would become really successful only when the general pubic were prepared to pay more for their food, or that imported food became more expensive.