Changing our food system for the better in Wales

Last week I had the pleasure of attending the Welsh Real Food and Farming Conference. This is a gathering of people who want to hear about the latest innovations in organic and regenerative farming and contribute to changing the food system for the better. I was there to fly the flag for those of us who grow some of our own organic food.

Action at a local level

Two speakers really stood out. The first was Derek Walker, the commissioner for Future Generations in Wales, who said food must be central to health plans, and there was a vital need to widen the access to free school meals, which are massively improved with more vegetables. He said much attention is being paid to food as part of the Future Generations five-year report, out in April 2025. Action at local level is critical to the availability of healthy nutritious food.

That’s where I see Garden Organic having a role. We can ensure our members, supporters and partners are aware of how they can connect into local food networks. This is especially true for those of us living in cities, where farmers markets and local veg box schemes are not a prominent feature.

I chatted to several people about the new network we’re building of Garden Organic Growing Partners. These are made up of community gardens, public spaces and in some cases private gardens, where organic growing methods can be on show and freely accessible. The more that people know about how gardening can support biodiversity and put food on plates, even in our towns and cities, the stronger we can make our country’s food system.

Routes to buy food

I also attended a stark presentation by Denise Bentley, founder and CEO of the First Love Foundation. In 2012, Denise set up and ran a food bank in Tower Hamlets until she found that her service was not providing the solutions people needed. She realised the bank was feeding the people most in need of healthy nutritious food with tinned and packaged ultra processed foods.

In it’s place, she set up an advice and advocacy service to ensure that people could have income coming into their homes via benefits or employment, so they could buy their own food. Denise received a visit from Henry Dimbleby when he was writing the National Food Strategy (published in July 2021 but not then adopted by the government). Soon afterwards, she was invited to become a commissioner for the Food, Farming and Countryside Commission to ensure the voice of the most vulnerable – and their relationship to food – was heard.

Farmers and food producers at the Wesh Real Food and Farming Conference all had one thing in common: they wanted their business to enable nature to flourish because that’s the way to produce the healthiest food.

If you know of a local community or public garden that feels the same way, do let us know. Were keen to build our network of Garden Organic Growing Partners so more people can find out how to grow their own food and flowers in harmony with nature.