On the 21st October, over 50 people from different organisations and local food businesses across East Sussex came together at Longbridge Regenerative to celebrate local produce and build relationships for a local Good Food Economy. LDFP coordinator Nancy supported the event as part of Good Food East Sussex month. Read on to find out more.
Hosted at Longbridge Regenerative, home of the famous Long Man Brewery, the event was a brilliant opportunity for local suppliers to showcase their wares, with a range of different stalls available. This was just a taster of the wider Good Food East Sussex Buyers & Suppliers Directory, which was updated and available for attendees to take away.
There was an opportunity to hear from Duncan Ellis, about the brilliant work being done onsite at Longbridge Regenerative to diversify their activities and take care of the soil health now and into the future. We also heard from Laura from Sussex Grazed about their meat box scheme in support of local conservation grazing, as well as the team from FareShare Sussex and Surrey.
This was rounded off by a delicious lunch provided by local suppliers, and plenty of opportunities for networking and building future connections.
“It was great to contact others with the same interests and passions. All working towards a better food system. It refreshed and reinvigorated my energy towards that. Farming can be isolating and just talking to others fires the imagination – essential to keep your own work feeling new. Connection is important in all things.” Collette, Ashurst Organics
After the success of the inaugural Connecting Buyers and Suppliers event in March, the appetite for building better connections in the local food economy has grown. Given the challenges and issues faced by local farmers, growers and producers in finding local routes to market and connections as part of a wider Good Food Economy, these events form part of the local food infrastructure necessary to support a fairer, more vibrant local food economy.
You can check out the Good Food East Sussex Buyers and Suppliers Directory here: Good-Food-East-Sussex-Supplier-and-Buyer-Directory-28Mar24.pdf