Welsh Veg in Schools

Where: Cardiff, Vale of Glamorgan, Bridgend, Monmouthshire, Carmarthenshire, Powys

What: School food pilot supplying organic veg to schools through six local authority catering services. The pilot covers the price difference between Soil Association wholesale organic prices and prices the Local Authority would normally pay for their non-organic veg. This is currently estimated to be around 50%.

Demonstrating:

• The power of farmers working to a shared growing plan with the wholesaler and Local Authorities.
• Where support is required for farmers. Setting a new Supplier Standard for local, organic fruit and veg into public sector food.
• New entrant opportunities in organic horticulture. 

Which of the six approaches this pilot uses:

• Public sector food procurement
• Ethical supply chains
• Horticulture strategy

Story: Two years ago, Food Sense Wales partnered with wholesaler Castell Howell and other partners, including Cardiff Council and the Cardiff & Vale University Health Board to deliver the Courgette Pilot. The wholesaler was willing to take the initiative to get more local agroecological veg into the school meals that they were supplying. So they started by buying agroecological courgettes from one farmer over the summer holidays for supply into the school holiday Food and Fun programme in Cardiff.

In 2023, with the support of the Welsh Government’s Backing Local Firms Fund, this procurement project developed into the first phase of Welsh Veg in Schools, working with three growers across three local authority areas and supported by co-ordinators from the local food partnerships in Cardiff, Carmarthenshire and Monmouthshire.  The project has also received support from Monmouthshire County Council through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.

In the Spring of 2024, Food Sense Wales was awarded additional funding from Bridging the Gap to further scale up the work and leverage an even wider network of expertise and support. With Bridging the Gap funding the pilot supports the supply of a range of vegetables from eight organic Welsh farmers into schools across six local authorities.

By working together, the farmers are able to plan their planting to meet the needs of the school menus. The guaranteed income and support of the pilot has allowed the growers to plant more, and in some cases, new crops. 

Project partners:

• Food Sense Wales
• Castell Howell
• Farming Connect Horticulture: Lantra
• Sustainable Food Partnerships
• DTA Wales

Meet the Growers

There are some fantastic growers on the Welsh Veg in Schools project. Here’s some more information on some of the producers taking part.

Langtons Farm:

Langtons Farm is run by Katherine and David Langton who supply local Organic veg boxes to the east side of the Bannau Brycheiniog from their market garden in Crickhowell. They have recently expanded their Organic vegetable production to also include their farm near Cardigan which will grow many fruits and vegetables for their veg boxes, wholesale, and to supply into Welsh schools.

Alfie Dan:

Marie and Barnsey started Alfie Dan’s Market Garden in 2021 on one acre of land.  By today, they have three acres where they grow veg and fruit and sell to the local community in veg boxes and through an honesty stall. They also visit local farmers’ markets to promote fresh and local, organic produce.

Blas Gwent:

Blas Gwent is a 9 acre start-up business located between Cardiff and Newport that’s run by Jono Hughes, Holly Tomlinson and Mariesa Denobo. Blas Gwent aims to become a community owned workers’ co-operative focused on teaching and training ecological vegetable farming, whilst also supporting the development of peri-urban market gardening in south Wales.

“We feel that school procurement has the potential to kickstart a revival of traditional mixed farming in Wales, and to develop a healthy relationship to food for the youngest generation. The Welsh Veg in Schools project has tremendous potential to support ecological restoration, public health and healthy employment opportunities. We are grateful to be part of this collaboration.”

Bonvilston Edge:

Emma and Geraint used to work in business and technology and started to grow vegetables during the Covid pandemic. The business has since evolved with 70 apple and pear trees, 80 cherry trees and 4 bee hives.  They also grow a wide range of vegetables and are starting to specialise in onions, courgettes, butternut squash and cauliflower. They supply locally, and grow sustainably and organically, and have a plan to be organically certified in two years.

Underwood Farm:

Underwood Farm is run by Kate & Calum and employs two additional members of staff. Situated in the Pembrokeshire national park, the farm grows a diverse range of mixed vegetables which it sells to local restaurants, cafes and shops, specialising in mixed leaves. The farm also runs a box scheme to households in the area.

Next steps: Expansion. Creating a Welsh Veg in School entity and attracting investment to expand the production base, bring in new growers, and expand the market by bringing in more Local Authorities.