Graeme Demianyk reports on a Westcountry community farming project that aims to increase both local food production and consumption

IN THE rolling South Hams countryside something is building. On strips of farmland ordinary people have been growing their own fruit and vegetables for more than five years.

There's nothing new in that – but with a web of nine farms and smallholdings covering around 400 acres, this is more significant than just pottering around on allotments.

Dr Christian Taylor is one of the founders of the South Devon Community Supported Farming (CSF) group, a voluntary not-for-profit organisation with aspirations to teach the region to grow that go as far as creating its own local food brand.

The name – Community Supported Farming – might seem intimidating. But the concept is simple.

In short, anyone who is interested in producing his or her own food can join a budding network of farmers, smallholders, teachers and families. So far, more than 50 people have signed up and membership is likely to grow, thanks to an injection of funding.

Collectively they decide what is grown on the rented farm land, share the harvest between them and host events that are designed to educate and inspire. Mushroom foraging and bug hunts are among the most colourful.

Together, members of the group plant crops, and weed and harvest them. The overarching aim is to help reconnect communities in South Devon to the land and farms that surround them.

It is, technically, a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) scheme of a type which for nearly 25 years has been popular in the United States.

Now, with people increasingly interested in food provenance, and with fears over food security growing, CSAs are mushrooming across the UK.

It works in many ways, according to the Soil Association. Invariably, community members purchase "shares" by way of a membership fee. They also pay for the fruit and vegetables they take each week. The community also has a say in running the land – what it grows, who gets involved, whether it wants to rent more land.

Where the South Devon project differs from schemes upcountry is in the scale of its ambitions.

It wants to set up small groups across the region which can share knowledge and funding between each other. Eventually, these clusters are to develop into fully-fledged CSAs in their own right.

The project has been titled the Neighbourhood Farm Network, and its coverage stretches from Great Prideaux Farm, near Plymouth, to the village of Cornworthy by the River Dart and a number of farms closer to Totnes.

Dr Taylor explained: "CSF is a recognised Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) scheme for South Devon.

"What is unique about CSF, however, is that it is working to develop more than one CSA scheme across a network of sites called the Neighbourhood Farm Network.

"Apart from running community events to help increase the diversity and abundance of local food production on the farm, the aim is to benefit the local community around each site with a range of other activities such as educational, events and courses related to sustainability, agriculture, training and wildlife conservation."

Reaching out is key. It aims to host one school class visit a week at one of its sites. It is also working with Westcountry agencies to encourage refugees in the region how to produce vegetables, herbs, livestock and poultry.

To increase this work, one of its pilot projects has been awarded much-needed funding.

Its Rural Arts In Science Education (RAISE) scheme has been selected as one of three winners of the Food Standard Agency's Dame Sheila McKechnie Award.

This means it will receive £15,000 over the next three years.

It will start by developing skills among its membership such as building and installing polytunnels, pig pens and chicken coops.

It will then move towards increasing the amount of land available for food production. This could include schools, gardens, allotments, farms, smallholdings and parks.

One of the by-products will be to take residence at local farmers' markets, where surplus produce would be sold under the brand name Grown Down The Lane.

CSF has already developed and run a pilot skills training curriculum at one farm, and it is hoping the funding will help to roll the concept out across the remaining sites.

Dr Taylor said: "RAISE courses enable families to learn how they can live together with lower impacts on the planet and its ecosystems.

"We all have a duty to reduce our carbon emissions, and by coming on a RAISE course you can find out how practical and affordable this can be.

"All our courses are geared towards the DIY beginner and are set to be affordable – using recycled or re-used components whenever possible."

www.devoncsf.co.uk www.raise-education.co.uk