Aims & objectives

The Food Group is working to strengthen the resilience of Totnes and the surrounding district in the area of food.

We aim to work closely with the farming and business community to develop a relocalised food infrastructure as well as encouraging individual and community action to grow our own food.

We are currently agreeing our group's aims and objectives which will be posted here soon

Overiew

The Food Group holds a general meeting once every 6 weeks or so to share progress, and to plan joint action and events. The next meeting will probably be held in March, for more information view our calendar.

You can read a qualitative study of TTT's Food Group which has recently been made by aLp Pir entitled 'In Search of a Resilient Food System' and read a dialogue between the author and Noni (who was until recently one of the co-facilitators of the Food Group). E-mail us with your own contribution tot he debate

If one project in particular interests you (see below) please feel free to contact them directly. If you would like to get involved but are not sure which project would interest you, or would simply like to the get the latest news on what's going on, please read our latest newsletter and/or contact us. You can also subscribe to the bulletin for a monthly update about all TTT activities. 

 Please visit our website often to see all the latest news & updates from  this group or our projects. We are also building a set of resources that we hope will be of use to people who are interested in food issues. If you have anything to add to this section please do let us know.

Contact

Contact us at food.totnes@transitionnetwork.org

Meetings

We are proud to have been chosen for a pilot mapping exercise by the Campaign for the Protection of Rural England's nationwide 'Mapping Local Food Webs Project'. This work is now well underway, building very effectively on the efforts we have already made in researching our Guide to Local Food (see below). A small group of volunteers are now working on a report which will be published as part of a Nationwide intiative.

On 18th May we met to discuss the important issue, 'Can Totnes feed itself?'. Nick Weir from Stroud met with a small group of local business people and activists in the afternoon and strong interest was generated in developing some of his ideas locally. Read more about community allotments, food hubs (see also below) and the new Totnes Pound Loan scheme. An important part of the meeting featured in-depth discussion in small groups, a summary of which you can read here. To find out more about how to get involved in this and other projects, please come to our next Food group meeting on 9th June at TTT.

Details of all our meetings are available on our group's meetings & events page and on the main TTT calendar. Write-ups and minutes from previous meetings can be found in the relevant event item on the calendar.

Current Food Group Projects

Our Garden Share Project has generated tremendous media interest lately. The Project matches keen, enthousiastic and committed gardeners and local garden owners who want to see their gardens being used more productively. The gardener and garden owner enter into an agreement about times, arrangements, security and the sharing of garden produce. we operate in partnership with Community Supported Farming.

Many people locally are keen to get even more involved in producing thier own food or connecting with those who do. In Summer 2008 we held a number of meetings for those interested in exploring the setting up of a  Community Supported Agriculture Scheme. . Read the report of our most recent meeting here. You can also read a summary of people's interest locally here.

These meetings also led to the formation of the Healthy Futures Project in partnership with the TTT Health and Wellbeing Group.

One of our major projects is the publication of the Totnes Guide to Local Food. The Food Guide was launched on 27th June 2008. Get your copy free at a number of venues around the town, from TTT Office or download a copy of the cover here and the inside pages here. for more information about our research click here.

 Our latest project, stimulated by Nick Weir's visit in May, is our plan to establish a local Food Hub. Read more about this ground-breaking new initiative which promises to forge real link between local food producers and consumers in a way that brings real benefits to the local economy and ensures local food is truly affordable to all.

A new idea we hope to discuss at our next meeting on 16th September is the Delibus

The Sustainable Fish Project is a restaurant-led initiative that aims to improve the sustainability of fisheries by creating buyer driven pressure for change.

Our Nut Tree Planting is increasing the number of edible nut trees in the town and training tree guardians. Read

The Seedy Sisters hold regular seed and plant swap events, you can find these on the TTT events calendar usually in Spring and Autumn.

All events, meetings and training that relate to the Food group or our projects can be seen in our group's meetings & events section and on the main TTT calendar.

There are many other active food-related groups in and around the town. Find out more about some of them here:

Vegswap

The Allotments Association

Totnes and Kingsbridge Branch of the Beekeeping Association