The People's Food & Farming Alliance

[thepffa]

The People’s Food & Farming Alliance (PFFA) has been formed, by a small group of volunteers, predominantly, to assist local communities in growing and producing food products to counter any incoming food shortages, and future crop production.

We aim to increase UK citizen involvement in agricultural and horticultural food systems and prepare contingencies for potentials not addressed in the mainstream.

We do this together by: connecting communities with local farmers, offering education, for the public, and possibly accreditation in the future, promoting natural food production.

So, where do we start?
We need to consider the current agricultural landscape within the UK. Many UK farmers are restricted by government rules and funding. DEFRA and the NFU play a large role in the control of agriculture to the extent that farmers hands are tied due to fertiliser production and cost, fodder and logistics.

We want to help you by providing support in these urgent times and making connections with other organisations looking to help farmers and producers across the UK.

https://the-pffa.org/

 

[thepffa]

Do any of you sell your products directly to people in the local community?

 

[delilah]

You're coming at it from the wrong end. All meaningful change is demand driven. You don't need to 'consider the current agricultural landscape', you need to consider the current retail landscape. That's your starting point.

 

[Jackov Altraids]

Can you please confirm you are an entirely separate entity from https://peoplesplanfornature.org/

I was ready to dismiss you as I thought you were the same at first sight.

 

[thepffa]

Can you please confirm you are an entirely separate entity from https://peoplesplanfornature.org/

I was ready to dismiss you as I thought you were the same at first sight.

Completely separate, and I have actually never heard of this group anyway

 

[crashbox]

In France, you will see French produce and foreign produce, identical in appearance, with the French being more expensive. And it sells.

In the UK, many consumers struggle.with their food bill, with little to spare for patriotic buying.

And that's because most of their income is swallowed up by disproportionately expensive housing.

 

[thepffa]

You're coming at it from the wrong end. All meaningful change is demand driven. You don't need to 'consider the current agricultural landscape', you need to consider the current retail landscape. That's your starting point.

Thank you for your feedback and we would like to encourage communities to go directly to farmers for produce and cut out the 'middle man' of conventional retail spaces, do you think this is a viable option in your opinion?

 

[thepffa]

In France, you will see French produce and foreign produce, identical in appearance, with the French being more expensive. And it sells.

In the UK, many consumers struggle.with their food bill, with little to spare for patriotic buying.

And that's because most of their income is swallowed up by disproportionately expensive housing.

Agreed, we hope by cutting out the profit margins added to produce by wholesalers/supermarkets/retailers we can provide another incentive for consumers buying directly from farmers.

 

[soapsud]

Can you please confirm you are an entirely separate entity from https://peoplesplanfornature.org/

I was ready to dismiss you as I thought you were the same at first sight.

Is that like the People's Front of Judea and the Judean People's Front?
My direct sales this coming autumn may make me akin to the Popular People's front

 

[Spencer]

In France, you will see French produce and foreign produce, identical in appearance, with the French being more expensive. And it sells.

In the UK, many consumers struggle.with their food bill, with little to spare for patriotic buying.

And that's because most of their income is swallowed up by disproportionately expensive housing.

It’s all stamped with a Union flag in this Country

 

[DrWazzock]

I used to grow potatoes for direct sales.
Many people said they’d love to help with picking but most were “busy” when I phoned them at harvest time.
What’s the craic?
People help me buy a new harvester etc and profit share, or help just for the “fun” of it or is it Zimbabwe war veterans lite, land appropriation?
I was approached by a lecturer who asked if I could give some students a ride in the tractor as he thought that constituted farming experience. I started at 9 years old greasing and cleaning the tractor, filling it with diesel etc. As long as folk realise it’s not all about sitting in a tractor or doing the plum jobs then I’m interested otherwise I’m not. I can’t afford to actually pay anybody any money and I’m not geared up for employment either.
I am interested in the concept you espouse though. Just be realistic.

 

[DrWazzock]

Even the spuds though need spraying every ten days for blight. And that is a professional technical job. If you don’t do it, you end up with rotten potatoes.
i reality I fear a power or asset grab so I’m extremely wary. “People” can become bolshy.

 

[egbert]

The People’s Food & Farming Alliance (PFFA) has been formed, by a small group of volunteers, predominantly, to assist local communities in growing and producing food products to counter any incoming food shortages, and future crop production.

We aim to increase UK citizen involvement in agricultural and horticultural food systems and prepare contingencies for potentials not addressed in the mainstream.

We do this together by: connecting communities with local farmers, offering education, for the public, and possibly accreditation in the future, promoting natural food production.

So, where do we start?
We need to consider the current agricultural landscape within the UK. Many UK farmers are restricted by government rules and funding. DEFRA and the NFU play a large role in the control of agriculture to the extent that farmers hands are tied due to fertiliser production and cost, fodder and logistics.

We want to help you by providing support in these urgent times and making connections with other organisations looking to help farmers and producers across the UK.

https://the-pffa.org/

It's an almighty big subject to venture into.

There are some pros and cons i can see straight away.

Many of us market direct to the GP, and steering more public at us is always welcome.
I quite like you idea about some form of local accreditation.

some send out a regular newsletter, and do invite GP onto the farm.
It's a bit moot with me and mine, as we've public access everywhere already. Anyone can come and stand beside the crush tomorrow morning, and watch us reading TB tests from 2' away.
But as a rule, those direct selling expect to engage with customers at some level.

Going in the other direction...we're in business, and might be less inclined to encourage/help you/others to start growing your own produce. It'd be an own goal for us.
that said, many are open to suggestion.

will speak later
Good luck

 

[Old Boar]

I can understand @delilah point, but at the moment the consumer is nudged to buy what is available in the major supermarkets, and most buy on price, and have no idea how it is grown, or care. Most dont buy British because its British, but because it competes on price, its quick to cook, easy and fills tummies.
ANYTHING that engages with the end customer, so they understand how it is grown, the work that goes into it, the care we take, would be a good thing. But I think it is a very steep mountain you are facing.

 

[wrenbird]

This Writ large. When it comes to food, majority of people say one thing, always buy British/organic/local etc, but do the opposite. The main factors in their choices is price, cheap as possible, or convenience, deliveroo and similar.

 

[delilah]

Thank you for your feedback and we would like to encourage communities to go directly to farmers for produce and cut out the 'middle man' of conventional retail spaces, do you think this is a viable option in your opinion?

Yes, for the wicker basket brigade direct sales are fab.

It's the other 99% of the population where the challenge lies. You started a spate of threads on all this a few weeks ago:

https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/how-do-you-feel-about-supermarkets.386385/

You kept using the word supermarket, I kept asking you what you meant by supermarket, you didn't reply. Until you've got a grasp on the problem you wont be able to work towards the solution.

 

[thepffa]

I used to grow potatoes for direct sales.
Many people said they’d love to help with picking but most were “busy” when I phoned them at harvest time.
What’s the craic?
People help me buy a new harvester etc and profit share, or help just for the “fun” of it or is it Zimbabwe war veterans lite, land appropriation?
I was approached by a lecturer who asked if I could give some students a ride in the tractor as he thought that constituted farming experience. I started at 9 years old greasing and cleaning the tractor, filling it with diesel etc. As long as folk realise it’s not all about sitting in a tractor or doing the plum jobs then I’m interested otherwise I’m not. I can’t afford to actually pay anybody any money and I’m not geared up for employment either.
I am interested in the concept you espouse though. Just be realistic.

I completely understand that people can be fair weathered but we are finding a growing number of people want to get involved with supporting their local farmers/producers, as I think people are realising that things are getting more dire and farmers, in general, need more support/understanding from the public of some of the pressure put on the agricultural industry.

 

[thepffa]

It's an almighty big subject to venture into.

There are some pros and cons i can see straight away.

Many of us market direct to the GP, and steering more public at us is always welcome.
I quite like you idea about some form of local accreditation.

some send out a regular newsletter, and do invite GP onto the farm.
It's a bit moot with me and mine, as we've public access everywhere already. Anyone can come and stand beside the crush tomorrow morning, and watch us reading TB tests from 2' away.
But as a rule, those direct selling expect to engage with customers at some level.

Going in the other direction...we're in business, and might be less inclined to encourage/help you/others to start growing your own produce. It'd be an own goal for us.
that said, many are open to suggestion.

will speak later
Good luck

This is great to hear so thank you for the feedback! It is good to hear that some farmers are open to engaging with the public who are genuinely interested!

Our idea of local accreditation is something that has come more to light recently as, based on the feedback we are getting, farmers are finding the restrictions and regulations of other accreditations such as RT overwhelming, but struggle to find routes to market without it, which is something we are looking at. Also we are hearing from smaller producers that they feel that having to follow the same rules and guidelines as farms 10x their size is not manageable for them, and we are looking into a gap in the market there.

Also, we completely understand that running a farm is a business and there may be a hesitancy to encourage people to grow their own, however we know that not everyone will have the space to fully support themselves and their family, we want to transfer dependency away from supermarkets/wholesalers and more towards the farmers and themselves.

 

[thepffa]

I can understand @delilah point, but at the moment the consumer is nudged to buy what is available in the major supermarkets, and most buy on price, and have no idea how it is grown, or care. Most dont buy British because its British, but because it competes on price, its quick to cook, easy and fills tummies.
ANYTHING that engages with the end customer, so they understand how it is grown, the work that goes into it, the care we take, would be a good thing. But I think it is a very steep mountain you are facing.

We understand that the task ahead of us may not be easy but it is important! We hope to reconnect people with their food and bring them back into the process of food production, as a lot of the general public truly do not understand the steps it takes for their dinner to reach their plate. A connection we have lost over the years and feel it is vital to bring back.

 

[thepffa]

This Writ large. When it comes to food, majority of people say one thing, always buy British/organic/local etc, but do the opposite. The main factors in their choices is price, cheap as possible, or convenience, deliveroo and similar.

A lot of people are not necessarily in the place to make drastic changes to their buying habits, either due to money, time or other factors, however we plan to start small and educate people on the other options out there. There is also a growing community of people looking to buy directly from their farmers/producers and we want to help facilitate this!