Edinburgh Community Bread Scheme
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We are looking for 200 households / Edinburgh residents to sign up to paying for a year's worth of bread up front. With this 'bond' we will be able to ensure a local farmer that his fields of organic wheat and spelt will be bought. The open market gives very little opportunity for farmers to begin to explore organic cultivation particularly on a small scale, which is where most producers start. Economies of scale in the food industry make it extremely difficult for farmers to enter into organic production. We want to provide them this opportunity by cutting the 'middle-men' out. This will also allow us to have 100% local organic wheat at an affordable price.
The Community Bread scheme shortens the supply chain and offers local farmers a local fair-trade deal. The longer term vision is to have a large number of members linked to a network of bakeries linked to half a dozen local wheat farmers.
We are still in the very early stages of setting this project up, which we hope will be a community enterprise where profits can come back into other community projects. It will take time but what we are trying to achieve is proof of concept at this stage. We would love to hear from anyone who can spare some time on this project especially if you have a background in business or social enterprise. We also need keen and enthusiastic people to go out and spread the word about this innovative idea !
Please also see Edinburgh City Bread video.
