Collaborating for Food and Farming and the Oxford Real Farming Conference part 2

On a chilly early January day I headed out early to catch the train to Oxford. I studied for my masters degree in Oxford, so I'm always happy to be back in the city and on that morning I was there for the Oxford Real Farming Conference. The city was quiet post Christmas, the students had not yet returned for term and the cold weather had kept all but the hardiest of tourists away. 

First stop was the registration venue, a place to collect your lanyard and programme and catch your breath before planning which sessions you plan to attend over the Thursday and Friday.

As you move around the city, glimpsing the green lanyards of the people passing, you get a real sense of belonging to something that grows each year and of a shared space and conversation. It was wonderful to catch up with friends and colleagues and hear the speakers discussing such a wide range of topics from misinformation to cultured meat. One of my favourite was about customs and rituals and how many of us have lost our connection with the land and ways that we might engage again. Lots of food for thought and some inspiration for Good Food Bucks as well.

As I mentioned in my previous blog, in November the Good Food Bucks Steering Group spent half a day at Waddesdon Manor planning for 2025. We decided that our 2025 priorities should include Access, Celebrate and Collaborate but what does Collaborate look like for the Food Partnership? Who should be involved? Who is missing from the table? These are the questions we are currently grappling with and the conference helped to answer some of those questions.

Oxford Real Farming Conference and Celebrating Food and Farming

In November Good Food Bucks met to plan our Food Partnership work for 2025, identifying three priorities for the year ahead - Access, Celebrate and Collaborate. Specifically, we want to showcase the great food that the county grows and produces, highlight those working hard to improve the quality of food in our schools and hospitals, investigate the importance of food within different communities and share the best local recipes and organisations.

What better way to start 2025 and to celebrate food and farming than at the Oxford Real Farming Conference. ORFC began in 2010 with a few people in a room in Oxford and now welcomes over 1800 delegates each January at venues across Oxford. Its a place for farmers, growers, policymakers, activists and researchers to share progressive ideas about food and farming systems.

The themes for this years conference include Farm Practice, Food and Farm Policy, Justice Strand, Landworkers Alliance and La Via Campesina, Listening to the Land and Youth. I'm looking forwards to catching up with friends and colleagues and listening to the wide variety of speakers including a fellow Churchill Fellow Helen Woodcock and JC Niala, Vicki Hird and Jonty Brunyee, who have all previously spoken at OxCAN Sustainable Food and Farming events.

I shall be writing a follow up blog post on the conference later this month. Hope to see some of you there.