Free information day on Community Supported Agriculture and Care Farming (From Smallholder)

Free information day on Community Supported Agriculture and Care Farming

1:27pm Wednesday 27th April 2011 in News

FREE EVENT: Care Farming and Community Supported Agriculture LOCATION: Top Barn Farm, Holt, Worcestershire, WR6 6NH DATE: Wednesday 4 May 2011 TIME: 10.00am-4.00pm The Soil Association is holding an information day for Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) schemes to find out about the work of care farms and how they can be developed within a CSA structure. The event is being held in collaboration with Care Farming West Midlands which has been active for over 18 months in establishing a network of care farms across West Mercia. Care farming provides local, social and healthcare services to people across a wide range of needs, such as those recovering from mental health problems or substance misuse, people with a learning disability, and young people excluded or at risk of exclusion from school.

The upcoming day provides an opportunity for existing and developing CSAs to learn more about care farming and how the model could work for them. The day will take place at Top Barn Farm, a mixed 650 acre family farm and well established care farm. There are four social enterprise projects on the farm at different stages of development, which will allow visitors to understand the processes involved in every stage of setting up a care farm.

Speaking about the event, Amanda Daniel, CSA marketing and information co-ordinator said: “We're delighted to be working with Care Farming West Midlands and to be able to introduce care farming to the network of over 60 CSAs in the UK. This approach allows a wider sector of the community to get involved in food and farming and to reap the therapeutic benefits of working on the land. The focus of CSA is on growing vegetables and other produce but also on growing community, so there is a natural synergy between CSA and care farming.”

Commenting on the work of care farms and CSAs, Jon Dover, founder of Care Farming Advocacy said: “Getting involved with community focussed food production can provide new meaning and significant health benefits for some of the most vulnerable people in society, whilst at the same time assisting the economic sustainability of small scale farming. By combining CSAs with care farming, there is huge potential for delivering improved social and environmental outcomes at reduced cost on a national scale.”

The event is free and includes lunch but booking is essential as places are limited. Please contact Charlotte Muspratt for details: cmuspratt@soilassociation.org