Since our journey began in 2020, Northern Food and Farming (NFF) has been driven by creating a fair, sustainable, and resilient food system tailored to the unique needs of the North of England. What started as the inaugural Northern Real Farming Conference has evolved into something much larger via strategic visioning and bringing together those working towards our common mission.
In 2023, we undertook a deep participatory process with over 100 stakeholders to ask a difficult question: how can we move beyond an annual event to catalyse year-round, systemic change? The answer was the birth of NFF as a permanent collaboration, grounded in a collective five-year strategy.
A Major Milestone: Securing Our Future
We are pleased to announce that Northern Food and Farming has been awarded funding by the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation to support its work into 2029.
What This Funding Will Enable
This investment allows us to move forward with three interdependent workstreams that will serve to boost the transition to a resilient, healthy and fair food and farming system in the North.
- We’re supporting action through strategic coordination.
Over the next 3 years we will connect partners, facilitate working groups focussed on priority action areas, and ensure our collective impact is greater than the sum of its parts. - We’re establishing three new Farm Learning Hubs
Collaborative environments where we pilot practical solutions, host peer-to-peer knowledge exchange events, and identify the real-world barriers to change. The hubs will be geographically and thematically diverse across the North. More details here. - We’ll be amplifying the stories of Northern producers
We will share resources and lived-experience learning across the region, making the transition to resilient farming and food systems visible and influencing the wider narrative of what is possible in the North.
This funding is a massive vote of confidence in our regional movement. It provides the “core architecture” we need to transition from a shared vision into tangible, place-based action across our six priority areas—from protecting Northern seed diversity to expanding regional processing and building appropriate pathways to training.
Charlotte Bickler, Programme Coordinator and Co-Director of UK Grain Lab and Collaboration group member
get involved
As we look toward 2029 and beyond, our focus remains on breaking down the structural inequalities that have historically left Northern practitioners underserved.
NFF is a collective of organisations based in the North which includes a wide range of partners with varied interests and expertise – this network of networks provides a strong foundation for a coordinated, efficient and urgent approach to change. Whichever area of agroecological transition you are working in, NFF provides a space to come together and collaborate with like-minded organisations and individuals to share resources and inspiration.
- JOIN OUR COLLABORATION GROUP.
Do you represent an organisation working in the North of England on any aspects of the NFF strategy? If so, you might be interested in joining our collaboration group. Email Ellen@lessuk.org - SHARE YOUR EXPERTISE AND EXPERIENCE
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