Farm Visits with Diverse Communities

Throughout the summer of 2024, Barleybird worked in partnership with farmer Richard Wrinch and the Suffolk & Essex Coast & Heaths National Landscape team, as part of the Landscapes for All programme. Community groups from the Ipswich and Colchester area were invited to Richard’s beautiful farm on the Suffolk coast near Shotley, where they learned about food and farming in the UK, both past and present, as well as spending some much appreciated time in nature.

Richard gave a tour of the fields of cereal and vegetable crops, and also the woodland, meadow areas and reservoirs to show how his conservation management was benefitting wildlife and creating precious water resources. One group arrived just after the onion harvest, and enthusiastically took up his offer to do some onion gleaning! Gaina from Barleybird explained which crops we traditionally grow in the UK, including those most commonly grown on Suffolk coast due to the climate, topography and soil types. The wider global food and farming system was discussed too, and how we can all try to eat more sustainably and healthily.

A delicious lunch cooked from Hodmedod’s UK grown pulses and grains fed (pun intended!) into a discussion about the use of these of ingredients in their own favourite dishes, and which UK grown pulses could potentially be used in cuisines from around the world. We discovered that some members of the groups were from farming backgrounds or were accomplished chefs, so able to share their knowledge of growing crops such as Teff in Ethiopia, or cooking dishes with nakhod (chick peas) from Afghanistan.

Thank you to Richard, National Landscapes and the wonderful people from Refugee and Migrant Action (RAMA), Bangladeshi Women’s Association, Suffolk Refugee Support for their warmth and enthusiasm. We are looking forward to continuing our work with diverse communities in the near future.