Carmarthenshire Food Network is working towards a sustainable, resilient, healthy, diverse, and accessible local food system for the county fit for the challenges of the 21st century. Our aim is to bring people and organisations together from across the county to celebrate, and strengthen, local food heritage and a renewed food culture that is good for people, our environment, and the local economy.
The key principles of the network are to connect individuals to share skills, experience, knowledge, and resources to provide support for one another.
Our vision
- To work towards alleviating food poverty through access to nutritious fresh food for all, with the skills and knowledge to empower healthier lifestyles.
- To enable communities to come together to grow, cook and share nutritious food.
- To promote regenerative food growing practices that preserve and enhance eco-systems, encourage nature recovery, and higher animal welfare standards.
- To protect the climate by reducing food miles, food waste and encouraging composting and recycling.
- To increase prosperity in the county through supporting those working in food supply, processing and distribution (including new entrants) to connect with markets.
We will support one another to foster:
- The eating of more fresh and seasonal produce for health
- Delicious food preparation through developing and sharing cooking skills
- Knowledge and understanding of where food comes from, and how it is produced
- A partnership approach based on values of respect and care, with the shared aim of collaborating towards a healthier, sustainable food system for future generations
How do we work?
We are committed to working with individuals and grassroots organisations to develop the county’s food system. We take a co-productive approach with our members, residents, community food service customers, town and county counsellors and our steering group shaping the direction of our work. This ensures that we can operate in way that is responsive to the unique characteristics of Carmarthenshire to develop a healthy food system that supports the health and wellbeing of residents, facilitates nature recovery and supports the local economy. If you would like to add your voice, please fill out our survey.
Our members have worked to outline our mission further in a Food Charter.
Our Cluster Groups
Our network is loosely formed of four cluster groups:
Community Growers
including community gardens and growing projects, home gardeners, small-scale producers, gardening clubs, allotments, orchards and schools.
Community Food Providers
including foodbanks, pantries, social supermarkets, hot food and soup kitchens, surplus redistribution, community cook-freeze projects, community fridges and community shops.
Private Sector
including field-scale growers and farmers committed to agro-ecological land management practices and professional chefs using local ingredients, local food distributors and farmers markets.
Wider Support
Services and organisations that support those experiencing food poverty.
We regularly hold cluster group and whole network meetings, for members as well as interested organisations and individuals.
Our Steering Group
Our steering group is made up of a representative from each cluster. In addition, we have other stakeholders in the group including Carmarthenshire County Council, Hywel Dda, Public Health Wales and Carmarthenshire Association of Voluntary Services (CAVS).
Our current steering group:
Alex Nicholas (CAVS)
Gwyneth Ayers (Corporate Policy and Partnership, Carmarthenshire County Council)
- Laura Thomas (Health Improvement Team, Hywel Dda)
- Caroline Nichols (Public Health Wales)
- Marie Turke (Community Growing cluster)
- Alex Cook (Private Sector cluster)
- Sue Smith (Wider Community Support cluster)
- Miriam Jones (Community Food Providers cluster)
