“No organics, thanks – we’re British” is even more true in Scotland where we eat less organic food relative to income than other parts of the UK. So putting a 100% organic farm shop and licensed restaurant in a sparsely-populated non-touristy area of Scotland just as the recession got under way was never going to be a smart move. We’ve spent the last four years keeping our nose just above water by finding ways to connect people to the farm and to get over their fear of ‘posh nosh’ without compromising on our organic message. We’re still one of the largest CSAs in the UK with 250 standing orders and on the way to moving the farm into community ownership.
We’ve also been working on the wider context – putting together a co-operative business to business network (Organic Scotland), seeking to influence local and national government policy on organics, and building Nourish Scotland as a focus for work on sustainable food in Scotland. This session will be ‘warts and all’ about what’s worked and what hasn’t – the turkeys, the cash cows and the roadkill.
