Open Food Network UK’s Nick Weir was our man in the field at Lannock Farm in Hertfordshire for Groundswell 2025. What did he get up to and what did he learn?
Groundswell was a wonderful combination of heroic people, inspiring stories of world-changing projects, and thousands of significant connections across the grassroots mycelium. I was very pleased to meet up with lots of growers, farmers, bakers and other producers who are using the OFN platform to sell their produce – either through their own shopfronts or through the shops of other producers and hubs on the platform. We’ll be blogging some of their stories and what they tell us about the benefits of interconnectivity over the coming weeks. It is an honour to be building a better future in the company of so many local heroes.
Nick Weir, Open Food Network UK
Day One
Wednesday 2nd July saw Nick invited to sit down with food activist and Soil Association Ambassador Kay Johnson MBE for a Kitchen Table Conversation at the Soil Association tent, as part of their work to gathering farm to fork stories at Groundswell and beyond. Stay tuned for the recording in due course.
Key highlights included:
- Tuning in to Hannah Gibbs of Sustain, Julia Kirby-Smith of Better Food Traders and Katie Palmer of Food Sense Wales / Synnwyr Bwyd Cymru (all advisors on the Procurement for Good project in which OFN UK is a partner) who spoke about building resilient sustainable food supply networks, alongside Josiah Meldrum of Hodmedod’s and Patrick Holden of the Sustainable Food Trust (pictured from left to right in the photo below).
- Chance to catch up with Transition Network founder (and OFN Ambassador) Rob Hopkins.
- The Serving up Sustainability: Public Sector Journey to Agroecology session with Soil Association and guests including Equlibrium Markets.
- A full house in the Big Top tent to hear Professor Tim Lang delve into food shocks and resilience, drawing on his Just in Case report released earlier this year.
- Small-scale meat models and infrastructure on the menu for a session with Sophie Robinson of Sussex Grazed, Rowan Dumper-Pollard of the Organic Research Centre, and farmers Jo Carter of Swillington Organic Farm, Jen Hunt of Fernhill Farm and Andy Gray of Devon County Agricultural Association.
Day Two
Thursday 3rd July was an even busier day, kicking off with the first of two sessions featuring Open Food Network UK.
Food: The Secret Ingredient in Nature Recovery was first up, with Nick representing OFN UK alongside fellow panel members Ben Marks of The Deer Project, Molly Biddell of Knepp Estate, Sophie Robinson of Sussex Grazed and Hugh van Cutsem of The British Deer Society. Together they explored how conservation grazing and sustainable wild deer management are key ways in which habitats can be restored or protected, while providing high-welfare and high-quality meat. It was a great opportunity to share more about Open Food Network UK’s collaborations with Sussex Grazed and the recently initiated Wild Venison Network.
Then it was time for Nick to head to the Soil Tent to chair Making Public Procurement Workable by Selling through Food Hubs, featuring Abi Mordin of Galloway Food Hub (one of OFN UK’s most active food hubs), Zosia Walczak of Growing Communities, Sustain’s Kiloran O’Leary and Richard Edwards of Cultivate. It shared the work of both Bridging the Gap at Sustain and the Procurement for Good project (in which OFN UK is a delivery partner). Read their excellent write-up of the Groundswell session here and follow the journey on LinkedIn.
A key takeaway from the talk and following Q&A was the importance of pilot projects, strategies to scale them and their potential to involve and inspire different actors along the supply chain. We also discussed the need to move away from industrial language like supply chains – ‘relational networks of supply’ anyone?! By sharing the amazing work the Procurement for Good food hubs are doing, we hope to engage in their local networks of supply and show concrete examples to catering and procurement teams the art of the possible.
Our grateful thanks go to fellow speakers at both sessions and to everyone who made time to catch up in person over the course of a memorable two days. We’re looking forward to next year already!
Want to know more about the Procurement for Good project? Visit the dedicated project website and sign up to the project newsletter to receive updates.
Photos kindly supplied by Richard Edwards, Sophie Robinson and Nick Weir.
Note from Thames Organic Growers
We have been asked to share the below message from Andy Dibben in his capacity as Chair of Thames Organic Growers, relating to comments made during the Making Public Procurement Workable by Selling Through Food Hubs session.
I have been made aware of some comments made at ‘Groundswell’ by a member of ‘Thames Organic Growers’ during a session on public procurement, that involved the ‘OxFarmtoFork’ team.
It appears the comments made were derogatory about the commercial treatment of growers by ‘OxFarmtoFork’. This a deep misrepresentation of the actual views of ‘Thames Organic Growers’ group.
In fact the group’s views on this public procurement project are the complete opposite of those expressed at the session. The grower in question who made the comments is not involved in the project at all and has expressed personal views at no time shared or voiced by ‘Thames Organic Growers’.
Our growers actually involved in ‘OxFarmtoFork’ have only ever voiced positive views on this project and how good the experience has been for them and their businesses
Our group believes that this project is a very positive relationship for both growers and customers involved. It highlights what can be achieved when growers and institutions work intelligently together to develop local supply chains and potentially in the future showcase a model of public procurement that could be effectively copied by other institutions across the country.
I would like to offer a deep sincere apology from the group as a whole that any criticism of the project has been raised in public, I would be happy to discuss further with any interested party and hope no damage to reputation has occurred.
Andy Dibben, Chairman of Thames Organic Growers