East Midlands farmers set a fine example
East Midlands businesses were in the spotlight today as key partners gathered in Blidworth, Nottinghamshire to launch the 'Think Farming and Food' Action plan for the region.
Key regional organisations and local business champions toured farming co-operative Fresh Growers Ltd of Bilsthorpe and Haywood Oaks Produce, Robert Thomas Farms in Blidworth to see how diversifying and working in partnership across the supply chain have made the businesses a success.
The action plan will turn the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs' Strategy for Sustainable Farming and Food into a reality for the East Midlands through a number of projects such as promoting Local Business Champions, a "one stop shop" rural business support initiative, a food chain group, a pilot for a regional food mall, and promoting rural energy creation and conservation amongst a host of other creative projects.
Local champions that attended the launch to show their support
included:
- Rick Bestwick, who started his game meat enterprise with a #65 chest freezer, and is now the largest wild game processor in Europe. In the last two years he has been awarded two separate Defra Processing & Marketing Grants totalling nearly #800,000 to expand his business;
- Pam Smith, who runs a small family nursery with her husband in Sibsey near Boston in Lincolnshire, which specialises in bedding plants and patio plants. She is the new chair of EMRAF, Non-Executive Director of Business Link Lincolnshire and Rutland and Council member of the Lincolnshire and Rutland LLSC.
- David Rose, founder of Farmshop.net based in Bingham who has recently set up Farmshop Special meals using funding from Defra's Rural Enterprise Scheme and ;
- Glynne Smith, the recently appointed manager of the new Regional Food Group, Middle England Fine Foods, which has been set up to support and market fine food producers in the region and is one of 25 projects within the delivery plan.
Graham Norbury, Rural Director Government Office for the East Midlands and Chairman of the Regional Implementation Group responsible for developing the plan says:
" The publication of the 'Think Farming & Food' Regional Action Plan is the result of input from a wide and varied partnership of industry and regional stakeholders. We will now be working hard with all our partners to make the projects outlined in the Action Plan a reality."
Jack Ward, regional director of NFU East Midlands says:
"Many of the projects set out in the Plan pick up on a number of current themes in the industry, eg collaboration, public procurement, regional food promotion, alternative cropping and involvement in the food chain.
"We've completed the easy part of the process - writing the strategy
- the real challenge lies in making it all happen. We can not do this alone; it will require an innovative and strong partnership between the farming industry and a range of other organisations."
Government Office for the East Midlands (GOEM), East Midlands Development Agency (emda), Defra's East Midlands Rural Development Service (RDS), the Countryside Agency (CA) and the National Farmers Union (NFU) along with other EMRAF members and regional stakeholders will be involved in developing and implementing the action plan in the region.
