英国的谷物，脉搏和种子公司Hodmedod正在努力促进agroecologyin British farming and diversify consumers’ diets.
“Hodmedod exists to drive change in the food system,” co-founder and director Josiah Meldrum tells Food Tank, “[and] to provide a missing link to allow farmers to transform what they’re doing, and to allow eaters…to directly understand the impact of their choices and what they’re eating.”
Founded in 2012 by Meldrum, Nick Saltmarsh, and William Hudson, Hodmedod began as part of the Norwich Resilient Food Project, which examined ways to make the city of Norwich’s food system more self-sufficient.
Hodmedod首先向当地农民分发种子，鼓励他们种植英国的蛋白质作物，例如Fava Bean和Peas，“创造了更持续的（和）较低的投入的弹性旋转，” Meldrum说。
According to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)，平均而言，人均全球脉搏消耗量平均要比推荐的水平低得多。
植物性蛋白质来源，脉冲是packed with饮食纤维，矿物质和必需氨基酸。并作为固氮作物， 他们有个网络阳性影响on the climate by drawing nitrous oxide, a highly potent greenhouse gas, from the air and using it to improve soil fertility. This process also reduces the need for chemical fertilizers in farming. But theFAO findsthatpulse consumption tends to decline with economic growth, and higher-income households increasingly turn to animal-based proteins.
Following their success in Norwich, Hodmedod is looking to increase the production and consumption of pulses across Britain.
They connect with farmers already practicingagroecologyandagroforestry, and gradually buid a network of producers trialing indigenous pulse varieties, such as black badger beans, and introducing new crops, like lentils, to British farming.
As the company branched out, they decided they did not want to only partner with certified organic farmers. “By just working with organic farmers we would be limiting our reach and limiting the potential for change, so we do work with quite a number of farmers…who are on what we think of as an agroecological journey,” says Meldrum.
George Young, also known asfarminggeorge，正在将埃塞克斯郡的Fobbing Farm转换为有机和建立agroforestryon the land to support biodiversity. He works with Hodmedod to grow lentils, buckwheat, linseed, hemp, beans, and heritage cereals.
Hodmedod通过为这些利基作物提供市场来帮助Young，以便他可以吸引消费者。Young解释说，该公司帮助他符合食品安全标准，并协助打包，加工和营销。Young告诉Food Tank：“这不是我作为农民的工作，那是零售商的工作，这正是Hodmedod对我来说。”w88优德老虎机平台
Through this partnership, Hodmedod works to transform Young’s crops into a variety of products designed to help consumers eat more pulses. These include roasted pea and bean snacks, pulse flours, and canned British fava bean dahl.
Meldrum认为，Hodmedod可以通过产生“更高的价值销售……激励这种变化过程”来促进英国农业生态学的过渡。他告诉食品坦克，霍多莫德（w88优德老虎机平台Hodmedod）的客户愿意“购买和支持该过程……这不仅仅是农民的肩膀。”
但是Meldrum强调，该公司不想垄断英国谷物和脉搏市场。梅尔德鲁姆告诉《食品坦克》：“我们总是鼓励人们从南美的有机公平贸易合作社购买藜麦，以支持那些原始生产商，而我们只是另一种选择。”w88优德老虎机平台
“The food system is so opaque,” he says, “we are selling food crops that are largely commodified globally, and so are anonymized as part of that process.”
Advocating for greater transparency in food production is also important, Meldrum explains. That is why Hodmedod’s labels include the name and location of the farmer who grew each product. “It helps people to make a decision.”
照片由Farminggeorge提供
