Scotland’s first community farm could become a reality by the end of the summer. A share issue is well under way as a farming couple at Lamancha, south of Edinburgh, seek to pass ownership of their 130 acre organic farm to the community. It’s a brave attempt to re-connect city dwellers to the countryside and give them a stake in how their food is produced.
5 year old Maya
The Youngest Shareholder
Over the past six years, Pete Ritchie and Heather Anderson have built up an organic farming business at Whitmuir Farm and opened it up to the public. They rear pigs, cows, sheep, hens and turkeys and grow vegetables and fruit. Over £120,000 worth of produce is sold through the farm shop every year and 35 jobs have been created on the farm and in the shop, restaurant and art gallery.
Some 70,000 people visit Whitmuir every year. There are over 50 organised tours or short courses for schools, colleges and community groups. The farm is on a north-facing hillside with panoramic views of Edinburgh. A walkway takes you round the farm fields, orchards, woodlands and wildlife ponds.
“We want Whitmuir to become a national resource on sustainable food and farming,” says Heather Anderson. There are plans for a “green classroom” and field kitchen, a nature trail, a zero-carbon trail around the farm’s hydro scheme, it’s solar panels and wind turbine and there will be short courses, student placements and talks on subjects such as land use, GM, bio-fuel, food justice and farming methods.
Since the launch of the community share-holding scheme in March, over 90 shareholders have bought shares and nearly £200,000 has been raised. Children as young as 5 can buy shares, valued at £50 each, in the new “Community Benefit Society” which has been formed to take ownership of the farm. A class of Edinburgh primary school pupils were among the first shareholders.
A target figure of £600,000 starting capital has been set to buy the land and invest in the various projects. The Andersons will continue to own the farmhouse and the farm shop and the existing staff will continue to run the farm day by day. But shareholders will be encouraged to help with basic tasks and to get their hands dirty.
This is, afterall, an exercise in returning people to the land. It is only in the last few generations that those of us who live in the cities have lost touch with the countryside. We tend to forget where food comes from, how it is grown, what the different seasons bring, how much work and risk is involved in rearing animals or taking care of the soil. The Whitmuir project is intended, literally, to remind us of our roots.