CWM HARRY LAND TRUST
Food locally grown, food-waste recycled

Why Cwm Harry?

Cwm Harry aims to demonstrate that we can create a sustainable system of food production and food-waste management of benefit to the community and the environment – and so it is involved both with developing the local food-producing economy and the collection of food-waste for processing. The two activities together enable local natural resources to be used and recycled again and again for our benefit and that of future generations.

The local economy

The development of a local food-producing economy is to the advantage of both the consumer and the grower.

• Consumers benefit by receiving fresh local food from a known source. They have a chance to learn about who produces the food, and the skills involved in doing so.
• Growers become reservoirs of husbandry skills – keeping alive once familiar knowledge for their own purposes but also able to pass it on to others.
• In buying locally produced food consumers have an opportunity to re-discover our fundamental connection with the earth: how all our food derives from plant material and how the local landscape and weather conditions affect the nature of what can be grown.
• Regional distinctiveness can re-surface and be appreciated for its character. People start to realise that they belong to place.

As people become more aware of the food which they eat they are likely to better understand the environmental consequences of mainstream food production: the damage to the soil itself and the unsustainable use of petroleum-based fertilisers.

 

 

The carbon footprint of many food items, particularly those which have been imported, is substantial. By buying locally people can reduce their carbon footprint.

• Our transportation systems are based on petroleum and so most food items have a hidden environmental cost – that of ‘food’ miles – the carbon expended to bring food to our doorsteps.
• Locally produced and locally sold food has a comparatively small mileage associated with it, and so has less negative environmental impact.
• If food is sold quickly there is less need for storage and the complex packaging required to keep it fresh; less need for energy-expensive processing.

All of us expend a substantial portion of our income on food. If we choose to buy locally produced food the money which we spend is retained within the local economy and helps local wealth creation. Local growers earn a living for themselves but in turn they will support other local businesses and even create employment.

 

Sustainability

Food-waste is a valuable resource if properly processed. However, many people and businesses in urban areas do not have the facilities to compost food waste. Instead it is disposed of with the rest of the rubbish:

• In the short-term the waste can become very smelly and fly-ridden in the black bag.
• In the longer term it becomes an environmental hazard as it decomposes in the rubbish dump. Here it produces methane. In this situation the methane cannot be efficiently collected. It escapes into the atmosphere where it has been shown to be a significant contributor to the greenhouse effect.

The collection of food-waste allows it to be bulked up and processed in a cost-effective and environmentally beneficial way. The waste can be processed aerobically:

• This produces a nutrient-rich compost which can be returned to the soil in order to increase its fertility. The compost provides nutrients and improves the soil structure.
• The compost reduces the need to use artificial fertilizers in order to maintain crop yields.
• As the compost is returned to the soil more crops are grown: a sustainable cycle of nutrient use is established.

Processed in the absence of air (anaerobically), food-waste provides a ‘green’ source of electricity. i.e. electricity made from a sustainable source. A compost is also produced by this method of treatment, although it is less nutrient rich. A second bi-product is a liquid which is high in nutrients.

By demonstrating that food-waste is a valuable resource and by stimulating the local food economy Cwm Harry is providing a practical example of how it is possible for local communities to reduce their carbon footprint, to practise sustainability and to flourish.