Village turns against supermarket, grows its own food.

April 16, 2008

An entire village turns against supermarkets and grows its own food

Posted: 2008/04/15

Sourcehttp://www.mathaba.net/rss/?x=588924

Villagers of Martin, Hants, who have shunned supermarkets to grow their own meat and vegetables.

by Luke Salkeld

(Daily Mail)

It was a sitcom that inspired many a household to live off the land.

And although it might not attract the likes of Margo and Jerry to move

to the area, an entire village is trying its hand at the Good Life.

In a bid to become less dependent on supermarkets, the residents of

Martin are working together to become as self-sufficient as possible.

The Hampshire village is now home to hundreds of real life versions of

the characters played by Felicity Kendall and Richard Briers, who lived

off the land in the 1970s BBC comedy.

They work on a rota system and raise their own chickens and pigs and

grow potatoes, garlic, onions, chillis and green vegetables on eight

acres of rented land.

Of the 164 families who live in Martin, 101 have signed up as members

of Future Farms for an annual Â£2 fee, although the produce can be sold

to anyone who wants to buy it.

The "community allotment" sells 45 types of vegetables and 100 chickens

a week, and is run by a committee which includes a radiologist, a

computer programmer and a former probation officer.

Nick Snelgar, 58, who came up with idea in 2003, said the project was gradually "weaning" villagers off of supermarkets.

He said: "I like to think of it as a large allotment in which there are lots of Barbaras and Toms working away.

"There are also Margos as well, but everyone can get involved.

"The nearest supermarket is six miles away. Of course people still have

to go there for things like loo roll and deodorant and fruit you can't

grow in Britain.

"So we aren't boycotting supermarkets entirely but we are gradually

weaning people off them and as a result are reducing our carbon

footprint by not using carrier bags and packaging."

Mr Snelgar, a horticulturalist, said the VAT-registered co-operative

had grown so much that last year it had a turnover of Â£27,000 - most of

which was ploughed back into the scheme.

He said: "We began with vegetables and we found that all the skills we needed were here in the village.

"After the vegetables we introduced chickens and then pigs and we learned inch by inch.

"We have other producers whose goods we sell and they include a sheep farmer and someone who has honey.

"It has been a fantastically interesting experience and we now have four plots of land covering eight acres.

"There are 164 families in the village and they include about 300

adults and 100 children, so there are about 400 creatures to feed.'

Every Saturday the community comes together with their produce which is sold at the village hall.

Mr Snelgar added: "The most popular thing we sell is carrots.

"People love the smell of fresh carrots, and we pull them out of the ground the day before we sell them.

"We don't yet do dairy, but we hope to include that in the future and we also intend to grow raspberries and strawberries.

"We set the prices by working out how much the food costs to produce. We then add 20 per cent.

"Our pork sausages, for example, are sometimes cheaper than sausages

you buy in the supermarkets. We break even and all money gets ploughed

back in.

"When we started some people thought it would fail and we'd never last,

but as the years have gone by more and more people have become involved.

"It is also a talking point in the village and it's great to see people

walking to the village hall on a Saturday morning talking to each

other. It has created a sense of belonging."

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