The second annual convening of the Farming the Future grant pool is taking place on the 5th May 2020.
Farming the Future is a collaborative grant-pool made up of a network of funders and participants of the Food and Farming Movement. Its aim is to use strategic philanthropy, to foster an efficient culture of collaboration, in order to make the big shift to a regenerative food system.
Due to the current Coronavirus situation, our annual convening has been forced online but we have been able to adapt our work and we feel that having this conversation is important to not only achieve the ambitions of all involved but to present a sense of solidarity in these challenging times.
Last year, we met in Hampstead where our convening was the catalyst for 12 collaboratives who successfully received philanthropic support for a wide range of projects. We have engaged with the feedback provided by those attendees and believe that we have made this year stronger. Additionally, new Partners and Advisory Board Members have joined the fund and we are growing in capacity, networks, and resources.
We will join remotely to discuss how the fund can respond to the current climate, instil resilience using long-term thinking, and fortify the wider Food and Farming Movement.
The Five Themes
This year, we structured our convening (and the means to apply for funding) using five themes;
Economics (i.e., supply chains, economic democracy, metrics)
Education, Skills, and Capacity Building (i.e. farmer-to-farmer knowledge, digital platforms, incubator farms)
Food Justice (i.e., food poverty, food waste, racial and gender equality)
Land (i.e., access to land, land justice, community ownership)
Policy and Deregulation (i.e., Agriculture Bill, COP26, GM deregulation)
These calls will be recorded as the knowledge shared during the conversation will be disseminated with those who are unable to participate in the breakout sessions.
We will share the developments of the day with the rest of our network shortly after. Please get in touch if you would be interested in joining the forum where the conversations will be taking place post convening.