guides and toolkits to help you set up or develop a community food enterprise, by Making Local Food Work

Practical Guides and Toolkits

Below are some practical guides and toolkits to help you set up or develop a community food enterprise. Where appropriate they have been grouped per type of enterprise, but all of the resources will have relevant tips and information whatever the type of enterprise you are interested in. If you find any of the links are broken let us know by emailing info@makinglocalfoodwork.co.uk. 

also the section on Community Supported Agriculture has a lot of material..............

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)

A Share in the Harvest: CSA Action Manual - here. 
A Share in the Harvest: Appendices - here.
Evaluating Community Supported Agriculture: The impact of CSA projects - here. 
Community Investment in CSA - here.
Pig Ignorant: A guide to small scale pig-keeping - here. 
DIY Marketing for CSAs - here. 
Community Supported Agriculture: A teaching programme for degree students in agriculture and related subjects - here. 
Finding land to grow food: Community Groups' guide to legal issues - here. 
Removing the barriers: A guide to making growing projects accessible to all - here. 
A range of briefing sheets:

• Different models of CSA
• Capital costs for setting up a vegetable CSA
• Horticultural cropping tool
• Running a review day for your CSA
• CSA for farmers & growers already in production
• Accessing land for your CSA

Plunkett Foundation, The Quadrangle, Woodstock, Oxfordshire OX20 1LH

© Making Local Food Work 2008

The Community Farm at Chew Magna near Bristol

Practical Guides and Toolkits

Below are some practical guides and toolkits to help you set up or develop a community food enterprise. Where appropriate they have been grouped per type of enterprise, but all of the resources will have relevant tips and information whatever the type of enterprise you are interested in. If you find any of the links are broken let us know by emailing info@makinglocalfoodwork.co.uk. 

Initial Advice

Advice and Support for Community Food Enterprises - here. 
Community Food Enterprises: A guide to getting started - here. 
Using the media: A practical guide - here.

Enterprise Support

Make Money, Manage Money - here.
Student Guide: An introduction to community food enterprises - here.  
Trading for Success - here. 
Social Enterprise Toolbox - links to the toolbox in the Enterprise Support pages of the website. 

Legal and Governance

The Simply Suite:

• Simply Start-Up
• Simply Legal
• Simply Governance
• Simply Finance

 From Conflict to Co-operation booklets:

• Conflict
• Communication
• Decisions
• Development
• Committee

Farmers' Markets

Building Successful Farmers' Markets: A guide for market organisers - here.
Stalls that Sell More - here. 
Understanding Your Customers: a guide for local food retailers - here. 
Finding Customers for Local Food: Using customer profiling - here. 
Making Farmers' Markets Work:

• Collaboration
• Community
• Frequency

Funding Tips for Farmers' Markets - here.

Local Food Systems

Exploring the growth of the community food sector through cross-collaboration - here. 
Collaborative Communities: what community food enterprises learnt by working together:

• Setting up a collaborative group
• Effects of collaboration on wider community
• Benefits and challenges
• Seeking outside assistance

Collaborative Communities: background case studies:

• Liverpool Food Alliance
• Transition Penwith
• Manchester Land Army
• Nottingham Local Food Partnership
• Regather LAND Sheffield

Community Shops and Local Food

How to set up a community shop - here. 
How to open a local food shop - here. 
Local Food Guide: A guide to stocking and selling more local food - here.
Grow a grocery: A guide to setting up a wholefood co-operative - here. 
Shopping for a Shop - here. 
Raising Funds - here. 
Designing a store that works - here. 
Benefits of selling local food: Case studies - here.
Planning a Community Event: A guide to promoting your enterprise - here.
Selling and Serving: Becoming a customer-focused, successful enterprise - here. 
Retail Marketing - here. 
Volunteers: A guide to maximising your volunteer resource - here. 
How to reduce your environmental impact - here.

Country Markets & Home-Produced Food

Better Business: A guide for country market producers - here. 
An introduction to selling techniques for country markets - here. 

Food Co-ops and Organic Buying Groups

Food Co-ops Toolkit: A simple start-up guide - here.
How to set up a food co-op in:

• School
• University
• Work

Organic Buying Groups: A guide to setting one up - here.

Farming and Communities

Increasing collaboration between farmers and local communities: Benefits and barriers - here.
Keeping farming local: A guide to creating closer links between farmers and their local networks - here.
Supporting local farmers and local food: A guide for communities to create closer links with local farmers - here.  
Lessons from Fordhall: A guide to setting up and running a community-owned farm - here. 

Mapping Local Food Webs

From Field to Fork: The Value of England's food webs - here. 
From Field to Fork: Individual location reports:

• Birstall
• Darlington
• Faversham
• Haslemere
• Hastings
• Hexham
• Kenilworth
• Knutsford
• Ledbury
• Otley
• Sheffield
• Shrewsbury
• Totnes

Mapping Local Food Webs: A toolkit for your area - here.

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)

A Share in the Harvest: CSA Action Manual - here. 
A Share in the Harvest: Appendices - here.
Evaluating Community Supported Agriculture: The impact of CSA projects - here. 
Community Investment in CSA - here.
Pig Ignorant: A guide to small scale pig-keeping - here. 
DIY Marketing for CSAs - here. 
Community Supported Agriculture: A teaching programme for degree students in agriculture and related subjects - here. 
Finding land to grow food: Community Groups' guide to legal issues - here. 
Removing the barriers: A guide to making growing projects accessible to all - here. 
A range of briefing sheets:

• Different models of CSA
• Capital costs for setting up a vegetable CSA
• Horticultural cropping tool
• Running a review day for your CSA
• CSA for farmers & growers already in production
• Accessing land for your CSA

Distribution and Supply

Food Hubs: Adding value through catering - here.
Food Hubs: Distribution of surplus from allotments - here. 
Supply chain development: A new local and organic food depot for London? - here.
Eat Somerset: Distribution mapping project - here. 
Supplying food access projects: Community food hubs - here. 
Supply chain brokerage: Local food for Cambridge University - here. 
Joining the dots: Collaborative food buying and sustainable distribution for London restaurants - here. 
Local Food Links: The first ten yeras of learning about adding value through catering - here. 
Small Scale Food Hubs: An investigation - here. 
A Growing Trade: Hihghlighting commercial opportunities for community growers - here. 
Growing Manchester Veg People: A practical guide - here.
The Story of Moss Brook Growers - here.
Growing Communities: Manual of monitoring and evaluation - here. 
Financing the community food sector - here.
A Healthy Profit: Simple guide to pricing the food you make and grow - here. 
Good planning for good food: Using planning policy for local and sustainable food - here. 
A student guide to bringing fresh, affordable food into your university - here.