Upper Ballaird Farm Co-op: Film and Food event
Upper Ballaird Farm Co-op used their 2024 Seed Grant to host a Film and Food event on their farm for their community. Read on to find out more about the event.
“We focus on growing local and sustainable produce using agroecological practices, supporting and enhancing biodiversity. We do not use pesticides, herbicides or artificial fertilisers. We support climate mitigation in our growing practice. Community, land-workers and the environment are at the heart of everything we do here. We grow and sell vegetables and flowers. Our farm is operating under a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) model. We are a workers’ co-operative and social enterprise who aim; to support the health and well-being of our community and environment through food, flowers, and outdoor services, produced and sold by empowered workers with regenerative livelihoods.”
“We worked closely with several groups/businesses/organisations to deliver this event. We worked with Fodder + Farm who provided the food for the event. Propagate, who allowed us to show their film for a small donation. The Buchlyvie Eco Group, who supported/advertised the event and volunteered their time to help on the day. The Monster Radish group in Aberfoyle also promoted the event, and they ran similar events.”
“The focus of the event was to highlight the impact of our current food system and share the alternatives available in our area. We held a discussion after the film where people could ask questions and discuss more sustainable and fair food systems.”
“The film screening and talk highlighted the impact of conventional farming on the climate and offered alternative ways of supporting local farmers and producers. 50 people attended our event and we engaged with more people if we consider other organisations we worked with, so closer to 60. We had a great turn out to the event, almost all attendees stayed for the discussion with many people commenting or asking questions. There was a great feeling of interest and change, people want to engage with their food system and local growers and have an appetite for a more sustainable and fair food system.”
“The event ran smoothly. This was not the first time we ran an event like this, so it went well. We would normally face the challenge of meeting costs for such an event and be able to offer it at an accessible price, however this was overcome with the support from FEL and NET Zero Scotland.”
“There was a great feeling of interest and change, people want to engage with their food system and local growers and have an appetite for a more sustainable and fair food system. As local growers with a focus on changing the food system, this is exciting!”
Follow the link if you’d like to learn more about Upper Balliard Farm Co-op and the work they do.
