The Shropshire Good Food Trail is returning with a dynamic new programme for 2025 – and local councillors are warmly invited to take part in this initiative highlighting how food and farming and local food are key to building a fairer, greener, and more resilient food system across the county.
This year’s Trail was launched in style at the Ludlow Green Festival on Sunday 13 July, bringing together farmers, food producers, schools, communities and councillors in a joyful celebration of local food and shared values. The event is proudly supported by Sustain: The Alliance for Better Food and Farming and the Bertha Foundation, recognising the Trail as a model to showcase place-based solutions to climate and food system challenges.
The Shropshire Good Food Trail itself will run from 21 July to 31 August, featuring over 135 venues celebrating the people and businesses that Grow, Make, Sell, Serve and Share the county’s most sustainable and regenerative food –an area where Shropshire is showing great leadership. Visitors and tourists alike can expect food and farming experiences, producer showcases, seasonal tastings, farm visits, food hubs, community projects, and more – highlighting the talent and passion of Shropshire’s ‘Good Food Movement’..
The launch began with an official welcome by Mayor Di Lyle, followed by the unveiling of the Shropshire Good Food Trail by Daphne Du Cros from the Shropshire Good Food Partnership.
This included an arts performance involving a symbolic procession from the Market Square to the Teme riverbank at Ludlow weir, featuring ‘the Goddess of the Wye.’ a beautiful 12ft puppet, accompanied by her ceremonialist Lady Wye where a moving ceremony – honouring the vital role of the River Teme and its valleys in supporting the landscapes, ecosystems, soil and farms that feed the people of Shropshire.
Highlights of this year’s trail include:
– Fireside Chats with farmers, food leaders and young voices
Markets – Importance of Markets in the Food System
The role of Regen Farming in Shropshire & beyond
Permaculture for Diverse and Resilient Food Systems
Community Gardens – Bringing Us Together Telford & Wrekin
Market Gardens & Food as Medicine
Share – Why we need to look at food surplus
Markets – Helping to build local resilience.
– Land Matching Events to support new entrants into agroecological farming
– Food Trail Film Series in collaboration with Flatpack Films and The Rural Remix:
– “The Seeds of Vandana Shiva” – SpArC Theatre, Bishop’s Castle, 14th August, and at Babbinswood Farm on August 31st.
Cllr Engagement Opportunities:
– Champion local trail venues in your ward or parish
– Share the Trail with your networks and residents
– Support the Shropshire Good Food Charter locally, which underpins the Shropshire Good Food Partnership’s mission to use sustainably-produced food to be a lever for change: to improve our local economy, public health and as a way to regenerate our landscapes.
– Engage with SGFP on the role of food strategies in your communities and at the County-level to make Shropshire a leader in food system resilience, linking public health, biodiversity, thriving High Streets, sustainable food and climate systems.
Councillors are invited to enjoy the Shropshire Good Food Trail and to attend the closing ceremony at Babbinswood Farm, Oswestry, on August 31st. This is an opportunity to see first-hand the grassroots initiatives already taking root in our market towns and parishes – and to lend your voice to a collective vision for a healthier more resilient Shropshire.
For more information or to RSVP for the closing ceremony, please contact:
Emma Cantillion – emma@shropshiregoodfood.org
Daphne du Cros – daphne@shropshiregoodfood.org
Visit: www.shropshiregoodfoodtrail.org to download your map and view food Trail events
and www.Shropshiregoodfood.org to learn more about the work we do at the Shropshire Good Food Partnership, and join as a member by signing your pledge to the Good Food Charter.
Instagram/Facebook: @shropshiregoodfood
Let’s celebrate what makes Shropshire special – and work together to protect and grow it. Local food, local enterprise, and local leadership matter more than ever.
