Farmerama

‘Cereal’ Episode 6: Grain futures (re-release)

We are the bread system. If you eat bread – or any grains – you are part of it. >> This series was first released in Nov/Dec 2019. We are re-releasing it now 6 years later as we are digging back in to document the collective impact of the series and to celebrate the work of those continuing to build the new grains movement. As part of this project we are collecting voice notes from anyone who listened, inviting you to share a bit of how Cereal impacted you and whether the series sparked any change or action, big or small - maybe it made you think differently about something, or maybe you completely changed career - we want to hear both and all stories! The voice notes will form part of a new Farmerama episode and digital soundmap. We are collecting these stories now, so if you would like to send your story our way, then you can send us an audio message on: WhatsApp +447466301300, or via our instagram messages. Please let us know who you are, where you are based and then whatever part of your story you would like to share. We are excited to hear from you! >> So how can we all get involved, and what can we do to usher in the new grains movement to build joy, nutrition and resilience in all of our communities? In this final episode, we explore what a more efficient, nutritious, regenerative and joyful bread system might look like. We hear some of the ways people are coming together and building networks to strengthen the movement in the UK and further afield. It’s clear that in this beautifully complex, entangled system, even just a conversation can spark much wider change. This is a story of hope and a blueprint that has the potential to cause reverberations far beyond bread. It turns out that bread is political – and you, too, can take a stand for the world you want to live in. This might be our final episode of Cereal, but it isn’t the end – it’s just the beginning! Join the new grains movement. Talk to your local bakers, seek out local millers, thank your farmers, be open-minded, be curious. A huge thank you to everyone who’s contributed to Cereal. As well as the voices you hear in this episode, many more conversations have helped to shape the series. Thanks to Andrew Whitley (Scotland the Bread), Kim Bell (Small Food Bakery and UK Grain Lab), Mark Lea (Greenacres Farm), Fred Price (Gothelney Farmer), Steven Jacobs (Organic Farmers & Growers), Ben MacKinnon (E5 Bakehouse), Anne Parry (Felin Ganol), Rupert Dunn (Torth y Tir), Josiah Meldrum (Hodmedods), Tomaso Ferrando (University of Antwerp) and Fintan Keenan. Thanks also to the Lost Revellers and everyone who came to the Nottingham Cereal launch harvest party and lent their voices to make the Flour Ambassador's Pledge. This series was made possible thanks to the generosity of the Roddick Foundation. Please listen, share, review and subscribe, and support the farmers instigating change. All six episodes can be found on Soundcloud and all podcasting platforms. And if you’d like to support Farmerama, visit patreon.com/farmerama. Cereal is produced and edited by Katie Revell, with support from Abby Rose and Jo Barratt. Suzie MacCarthy and Hanna Söderlund also worked on the series. Our theme music is by Owen Barratt. Voices: Andrew Whitley, co-founder of the Real Bread Campaign, and Scotland the Bread Kimberley Bell, founder Small Food Bakery, Nottingham Steven Jacobs, Business Development Manager, Organic Farmers and Growers Ben MacKinnon, founder E5 Bakehouse, London Anne Parry, Felin Ganol Watermill, Wales, and Welsh Grain Forum Rupert Dunn, Torth y Tir Community-Supported Peasant Bakery, Wales Josiah Meldrum, co-founder Hodmedods Mark Lea, Greenacres Farm, Shropshire Fred Price, Gothelney Farm, Somerset Tomaso Ferrando, Bread as a Commons Fintan Keenan, farmer, miller and engineer, Denmark/Ireland

‘Cereal’ Episode 5: The best thing since sliced bread? Unsliced bread (re-release)

>> This series was first released in Nov/Dec 2019. We are re-releasing it now 6 years later as we are digging back in to document the collective impact of the series and to celebrate the work of those continuing to build the new grains movement. As part of this project we are collecting voice notes from anyone who listened, inviting you to share a bit of how Cereal impacted you and whether the series sparked any change or action, big or small - maybe it made you think differently about something, or maybe you completely changed career - we want to hear both and all stories! The voice notes will form part of a new Farmerama episode and digital soundmap. We are collecting these stories now, so if you would like to send your story our way, then you can send us an audio message on: WhatsApp +447466301300, or via our instagram messages. Please let us know who you are, where you are based and then whatever part of your story you would like to share. We are excited to hear from you! >> The UK is the fifth largest economy and has some of the cheapest bread in the world - is that something to be proud of, or is it a convenient outcome of a system that prioritises shareholder profit, fobs off economically deprived people with poor quality food, and throws away a third of what it produces? It’s so ingrained in us that cheap food is better for everyone, but in this episode we ask you to stop and really think - are we supporting a system that is efficient for lining the pockets of a few, whilst impoverishing everyone else? What if the real cost is our collective health, and the health of the planet? Bread is not just money, bread is nourishment, deliciousness, companionship, connectedness, pride, politics. In this episode we hear from bakers up and down the UK who are redefining the value of bread. Bakers who are making a stand for their communities and the planet. Bakers from some of the most economically deprived areas who are bringing meaning, intention and joy to their baking. Bakers who are being recognised for their craft and sharing the benefits with their local communities. This is about food networks, not food chains -- this is about reaching true efficiency that takes into account the whole system (health, environment, waste, community, joy), not just the financial balance sheet. The radical changes that bread has undergone are revealing of much wider truths about our relationships with food, to farmers, with the land, the environment, and with each other. If you eat food, you have a stake in this story. Voices: Chris MacCormack, Govanhill bread man Theo Laffargue, Riverside Bakery, Stirling, Scotland Ben MacKinnon, E5 Bakehouse, London Catriona Milligan, High Rise Bakers,The Gorbals, Glasgow Rupert Dunn, Torth y Tir, Wales Kimberley Bell, Small Food Bakery, Nottingham

‘Cereal’ Episode 4: The miller is missing (re-release)

>> This series was first released in Nov/Dec 2019. We are re-releasing it now 6 years later as we are digging back in to document the collective impact of the series and to celebrate the work of those continuing to build the new grains movement. As part of this project we are collecting voice notes from anyone who listened, inviting you to share a bit of how Cereal impacted you and whether the series sparked any change or action, big or small - maybe it made you think differently about something, or maybe you completely changed career - we want to hear both and all stories! The voice notes will form part of a new Farmerama episode and digital soundmap. We are collecting these stories now, so if you would like to send your story our way, then you can send us an audio message on: WhatsApp +447466301300, or via our instagram messages. Please let us know who you are, where you are based and then whatever part of your story you would like to share. We are excited to hear from you! >> Last year the majority of wheat grown in the UK went to feed animals. And of the wheat that did become flour in our homes and bakeries, most of that flour had to have nutrients added back into it - by law - because it was almost nutritionless by the time it came out of the mill. In episode 4 we ask how did the milling process lead us to producing flour with almost no nutritional value? And why would the majority of the wheat grown in the UK go to animal feed? We meet millers around the UK who are doing things differently, providing flour with terroir, flour that is fresh and filled with nutrition, using locally grown heritage varieties that are benefiting people and planet. The radical changes that bread has undergone are revealing of much wider truths about our relationships with food, to farmers, with the land, the environment, and with each other. If you eat food, you have a stake in this story.

'Cereal', Episode 3: Farms produce food (re-release)

>> This series was first released in Nov/Dec 2019. We are re-releasing it now 6 years later as we are digging back in to document the collective impact of the series and to celebrate the work of those continuing to build the new grains movement. As part of this project we are collecting voice notes from anyone who listened, inviting you to share a bit of how Cereal impacted you and whether the series sparked any change or action, big or small - maybe it made you think differently about something, or maybe you completely changed career - we want to hear both and all stories! The voice notes will form part of a new Farmerama episode and digital soundmap. We are collecting these stories now, so if you would like to send your story our way, then you can send us an audio message on: WhatsApp +447466301300, or via our instagram messages. Please let us know who you are, where you are based and then whatever part of your story you would like to share. We are excited to hear from you! >> Intensive chemical (or conventional) farming systems can be incredibly efficient in perfect conditions, but in a global climate emergency this method of farming is out of date. We hear how soil health, biodiversity and regenerative farming are enabling farmers to move to a new system of farming that is nutritious for humans and the land. What is the experience of farmers growing the wheat, that’s ground to flour, that makes our bread? We explore why farmers are moving away from intensive chemical systems to more ecological approaches, why farmers are reclaiming their autonomy, detaching themselves from exploitative commodity markets, re-building connections with seed breeders, millers, bakers, and consumers – and once again finding reasons to celebrate diversity and distinctiveness. The radical changes that bread has undergone are revealing of much wider truths about our relationships with food, to farmers, with the land, the environment, and with each other. If you eat food, you have a stake in this story.

'Cereal', Episode 2: Nature hates uniformity (re-release)

>> This series was first released in Nov/Dec 2019. We are re-releasing it now 6 years later as we are digging back in to document the collective impact of the series and to celebrate the work of those continuing to build the new grains movement. As part of this project we are collecting voice notes from anyone who listened, inviting you to share a bit of how Cereal impacted you and whether the series sparked any change or action, big or small - maybe it made you think differently about something, or maybe you completely changed career - we want to hear both and all stories! The voice notes will form part of a new Farmerama episode and digital soundmap. We are collecting these stories now, so if you would like to send your story our way, then you can send us an audio message on: WhatsApp +447466301300, or via our instagram messages. Please let us know who you are, where you are based and then whatever part of your story you would like to share. We are excited to hear from you! >> Today, wheat covers an estimated 218 million hectares of the planet – more than any other food crop. The quality of a loaf starts with the wheat. Most bread we eat today is made using modern varieties of wheat that were bred for yield at the expense of everything else. These seeds produce a monoculture of plants that can yield a lot in a good year, but are reliant on chemical inputs and extremely vulnerable in the face of climatic extremes. Most shockingly international legislation dictates that trading any wheat seeds that don’t fit the modern wheat breeding criteria is essentially illegal. We hear from a top scientist about new findings showing we need to dramatically rethink the seeds we sow if we want to feed the planet in years to come, re-focusing on diversity and quality. And there’s real hope – stories of people all over the UK who are finding ways around these oppressive laws, building up a seedbank that supports diversity, low-input ecological farming and nutritious grains to feed people. This is just the beginning. The radical changes that bread has undergone are revealing of wider truths about our relationships with food, to farmers, with the land, the environment, and with each other. This if the second episode in a 6 part series, Cereal, uncovering the hidden truths behind our bread and the people who are building a new grains movement. Cereal is written and produced by Katie Revell and made possible by the generous support of the Roddick Foundation. Featured in this episode: Andrew Whitley, Bread Matters, Chairman of Scotland the Bread, currently based at Bowhouse Fife Rupert Dunn, Torth y Tir, community supported peasant bakery, Wales John Letts, Heritage Harvest Martin Wolfe, Wakelyn’s Agroforestry (previously Professor of Plant Pathology at Cambridge) Mark Lea, Green Acres Farm, Shropshire Kimberley Bell, Small Food Bakery, Nottingham Josiah Meldrum, Hodmedods