A new kind of arable farming is creating jobs, addressing food insecurity, and combating climate change in Wales.
While US National Parks are primarily preserved for their scenic, conservation, and recreational value, often encompassing vast expanses of diverse wilderness, in the UK, National Parks must strike a balance between nature’s needs and the needs of people who live in, work in, and visit them. In the serene landscape of Bannau Brycheiniog National Park, a much-loved part of the picturesque Welsh countryside, food and drink consumption has proved to be the single biggest contributor to residential carbon emissions (23 percent). From the energy-intensive processes involved in food production to transportation and waste, the carbon footprint of this rural haven is substantially influenced by food choices. However, one solution lies in a movement that is revolutionizing the way the region approaches food production, land ownership, and climate resilience.
Led by a dynamic group of directors from the region, Our Food 1200 is on a mission to secure 1,200 acres of land, dividing them into three- to ten-acre plots across the Bannau Brycheiniog National Park. The program aims to establish a network of modern, regenerative fruit and vegetable farms geared towards local markets. Not only does the project seek to address food security by ensuring that local food is available and affordable locally, but it also aims to combat biodiversity loss and economic disparity. Work has already begun, with several groups and individuals committing their land to the project.
Bannau Brycheiniog is home to 33,000 people, and much of the landscape is farmland. “To create a vibrant local food economy, we need to grow demand for local food — from residents, from local authorities, and from neighboring cities,” explains Duncan Fisher, founder of Our Food 1200. This locally grown food, he says, needs to be produced using “regenerative principles that fix carbon and do not damage nature with phosphate or nitrate pollution.” The plan will require skilled growers to work the land, and financing, housing, planning, marketing, and technology support for participating small farmers. But all of these inputs will result in a local food system that reduces meat production, leaves space for nature, and feeds the Park community.
Our Food 1200 is a boon for the asset-poor, particularly young individuals, allowing them to access and cultivate land. Through a shared network called Bannau Acres, these farms are able to supply food directly to residents. The horticultural methods used by participating farmers can generate an annual income of £40,000 (or $50,000) from two acre plots, making it much more economically viable than animal farming.
As Fisher notes, key to this plan is regenerative farming, with such practices as crop rotation, reduced tillage, agroforestry, and the use of diverse planting to improve soil structure, enhance biodiversity, and sequester carbon. These methods allow farms to avoid harmful chemicals — particularly important in Bannau Brycheiniog, where current agricultural run-off is creating a surge in algae growth in local rivers.
Many of the farms sell produce directly to local people through weekly deliveries, allowing profits to stay within the local community and cutting out a third party retailer, which means that farmers can reinvest more into their businesses.
Through working with the National Park, Our Food 1200 aims to convert land into community-owned small farms with homes. The current planning system for buildings in Wales makes this challenging, as it aims to “protect” against housing construction outside urban areas. Many farmhouses and workers’ cottages are used as luxury homes and tourist accommodation locally; this, combined with the planning constraints for buildings in rural areas, leaves very few options for those wishing to start small-scale farms. Our Food has commissioned a report showing how dwellings on small-scale farms are essential for the business to operate, using examples from across the UK. Bannau Brycheiniog National Park, which regulates local building work, is now commissioning revised guidance on the basis of this report.
Unaffordable housing and a lack of good jobs is driving young people away from communities in Bannau Brycheiniog. By engaging a new generation of farmers through educational initiatives, Our Food 1200 hopes to improve opportunities for younger people across the region.
This project is centered around the communities and land in Bannau Brycheiniog, but the project’s directors hope that it will inspire others to do similar things in other regions. The National Park has identified the project as one of its Sêr y Bannau (which translates as Stars of the Hills), marking Our Food 1200 as one of the area’s outstanding successes and raising the profile of Our Food 1200 across the country. If similar projects arose internationally, the impact would be immense, helping to combat issues around pollution, carbon emissions, and food supply chains worldwide.
The journey towards a more sustainable future is rooted in the soil of Bannau Brycheiniog, and nourished by the dedication and vision of Our Food 1200 and its farmers.
Looking forward to the future