A Cambridge community farm's answer to food poverty and climate change

An urban community farm in Cambridge has donated almost 12 tonnes of fresh vegetables since the start of the pandemic to support people experiencing food insecurity.

CoFarm Cambridge, located on a seven-acre field close to the city centre, has also created a community orchard, four acres of wildflower meadows, and a 1,200-tree hedgerow to provide habitats for nature.

Vegetable rows at CoFarm Cambridge. Credit: Jessica Rowbury

Vegetable rows at CoFarm Cambridge. Credit: Jessica Rowbury

The farm is part of a pilot run by start-up charity, CoFarm Foundation, which aims to establish a network of community farms in every local authority in the UK by 2030.

By doing so, it aims to increase access to nutritious food, boost biodiversity, and improve the health and mental wellbeing of communities around the country.

Tackling food poverty

Cambridge is the most unequal city in the UK, and the covid-19 pandemic has put extra strain on the vulnerable.

During the first year of the pandemic, 67% of people using food hubs in Cambridge reported a fall in income, while 35% experienced a reduction in hours and 23% became unemployed.

CoFarm Cambridge has donated all of its produce since it was set up last year to nine food hubs across the city. The total amount of food donated is now at 11.6 tonnes, which carries an equivalent market value of around £52,000.

CoFarm was recognised among the organisations helping the city of Cambridge win a Sustainable Food Places Silver Award in July as a result of its work.

The award, given jointly by the Soil Association, Food Matters, and Sustain, recognises the success of places taking a collaborative, holistic approach to key food issues.

Food poverty: An affordability and accessibility issue

Access to nutritious food is a fundamental human right, but sustainably-produced, nutritious and seasonal food often comes with a 30-50% cost premium.

CoFarm aims to rethink and re-imagine the UK's food systems so that healthy food is available to everyone - and not just a privileged few.

Gavin Shelton, founder of CoFarm Cambridge, said: 'The pandemic has highlighted the importance of having access to healthy, nutritious food without having to pay a substantial premium.

'In addition, food shortages this year and COP26 last month have caused more people to reflect on where our food comes from, and think about the security and environmental impact of our food systems,' he said.

Shelton continued: 'CoFarm aims to put food production at the heart of communities, bringing people together to grow and share nutritious food. I believe this not only tackles challenges at the local level, but makes a positive contribution to greater challenges related to climate change, biodiversity loss, food security and health inequalities.'

A community farm's big plans for community and nature

CoFarm Cambridge was founded in late 2019 by entrepreneur Gavin Shelton.

Work to prepare the land was delayed as a result of the pandemic, and so the first step - installing a rabbit-proof fence - did not happen until May 2020, with the first seedlings being planted in June 2020.

Despite a late start, the farm produced 4.5 tonnes of food in 2020, and in 2021 has produced over seven tonnes of fresh produce (as of the beginning of December).

Artichokes grown at CoFarm Cambridge. Credit: Jessica Rowbury

Artichokes grown at CoFarm Cambridge. Credit: Jessica Rowbury

The charity relies on funding from private donors, government grants and donations from the general public. It has also received trees, seeds and top soil from organisations such as The Woodland Trust and The Conservation Volunteers.

In the near future, an accessible open-plan barn with space for learning, events and pop-up café will be created. This will form part of what will be a bustling seven-acre site that will continue to be cared for, and enjoyed by, the local community.

So impressed by what I saw, smelt, picked, tasted & heard today at @COFARMHQ. What they’ve achieved in just over a year is staggering. SUCH important work, with all that gorgeous fresh, organic produce making its way to the kitchens of the local food insecure community pic.twitter.com/DXqvUhHUiH
— Emma (@EmmaEcoleEarth) October 24, 2021

Putting community at the centre of food production

More than 300 volunteers have been involved in the creation of CoFarm Cambridge.

The project had a thorough community consultation in 2019, with local people contributing to the farm's design and operation.

Since the first seedlings were put in the ground, volunteers have helped sow, weed, tend, and harvest the vegetables planted on the two-acre market garden, as well as create and maintain the wildlife habitats around the farm.

Volunteer Sarah watering plants in one of CoFarm's greenhouses. Credit: Jessica Rowbury

Volunteer Sarah watering plants in one of CoFarm's greenhouses. Credit: Jessica Rowbury

The project site is led by professional horticulturists Pete Wrapson and Dominic Walsh, who have decades of experience in vegetable gardening and landscaping.

To date, more than 55 types of fruits and vegetables have been grown at CoFarm Cambridge, including artichokes, sweetcorn, tomatoes, peas and chillies - as well as more unusual varieties such as oca, ulluco, and cape gooseberry.

A volunteer planting a French bean seedling. Credit: Jessica Rowbury

Before the start of the pandemic this field, located in central Cambridge, had been empty for several years.

The space is now a thriving market garden with numerous habitats for nature.

A bee on a cornflower at CoFarm Cambridge. Credit: Jessica Rowbury

Agroecology: A sustainable food solution?

CoFarm's approach is based on agroecology, a type of sustainable farming that uses ecological processes to ensure food production gives a fair deal to nature, farmers and communities.

Agroecology adapts food production to local natural and social environments using ecological science and local farming knowledge. This approach makes farms more resilient to climate change and disease, according to the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, and will be essential moving forwards to feed more people while mitigating climate change and preventing biodiversity loss.

An explainer of agroecology

CoFarm is working with researchers at Essex University to demonstrate the positive impact the farm is having on the local environment and community.

These benefits - such as mental health improvements and greater social cohesion - are often overlooked when measuring the success of farms. CoFarm is hoping to quantify these forgotten impacts to provide evidence of how agroecology-based farming benefits both people and nature.

At CoFarm I get to interact with so many like-minded people who are all interested in growing food while safeguarding nature. We always have such fun gardening together - whatever the weather - and there is a real bond among the volunteers.
Sarah Miller, a Cambridge resident who has volunteered at CoFarm for the last year

Nature-friendly farming techniques

Part of the farm's efforts to improve biodiversity include the four acres of wildflower meadows that were sowed this year by volunteers in the areas surrounding the market garden.

The meadows contain 39 types of flowers and 17 types of grasses, which will attract many invertebrate species such as hoverflies, ladybirds, bees and butterflies.

CoFarm does not use any chemical pesticides, herbicides or fertilisers, and so attracting these insects is important for natural pest management.

The insects attracted to the farm through the diverse flower species predate on pests such as white fly that consume food crops.

The wildflower meadow planted this year at CoFarm Cambridge. Credit: Jessica Rowbury

Other habitats around the farm have also been established this year to increase biodiversity, such as a heritage orchard containing 117 fruit trees, and a 360-metre hedgerow consisting of more than 1,200 tree saplings.

The orchard and hedgerow contain a diverse range of trees that flower and fruit at different times of the year to attract a greater range of insects and wildlife.

In addition to the numerous benefits they bring to farming, insects provide a vital food source for birds, bats, hedgehogs and other small mammals - the greater variety of insects, the greater variety of wildlife supported.

The combination of wildflowers meadows, community orchard and hedgerow work together to provide essential wildlife corridors that allow movement between important habitats, further restoring and preserving biodiversity.