Exploring the challenges facing new entrants, I looked at the model of Share Farming being offered by Stream Farm, and how this can help support a new generation of farmers.
“Sixteen years ago, James and Henrietta Odgers left behind their London lives and found themselves owners of a 250-acre farm in Somerset. But for them, food production wasn’t the sole focus of the operation: “In London our focus was on the regeneration of degraded urban communities, and we always knew that an extension of that thinking would be worked out in a rural context,” James explains. “We wanted to focus in on what’s gone wrong with rural communities, and what would be the best way to encourage them to thrive once again.” Their work in London was based around supporting people to start small businesses (a microfinances business for women from African and Carribean communities), so they decided to apply their expertise in the country, and began exploring what small traditional farming businesses they could establish on their land.”
Excerpt from Sustainable Food Trust, December 2018, words and photographs.