Growing Communities Farmers Market

This will be fascinating. Steve is a mine of information about raw milk and all its benefits.

This is terrible news. Please contact the councillors in the next few days if you can. This farm and its phenomenal products are so valued, far beyond the area where it’s based.

The Wealden District Council planning officer has recommended APPROVAL for the planning application to build 180 houses on land that we rent and have farmed organically for the last 20 years. This loss of grazing land will severely impact the viability of our business.

The councillors on the Wealden District Council South Planning Committee will ultimately decide whether to approve or refuse the application, when the committee meets on Thursday 11th April - next week!

Many of you objected to the planning application - we thank you so much for your support through this challenging period. The action you can take now is to lobby the councillors before the committee meeting next week - let them know why our farm producing raw milk, which is needed for so many health reasons, should not be impacted upon by a housing development on organic grassland. Also cite the case reference number: WD/2023/1684/MAO
View the councillors’ contact details below, and make your voices heard!

A reminder to be respectful and polite in your emails to the councillors, we want the councillors on our side!

CONSERVATIVE PARTY COUNCILLORS
Geoffrey Draper
Business email: [email protected]
Daniel Upton
Business email: [email protected]

LIBERAL DEMOCRATS PARTY COUNCILLORS
Gavin Blake-Coggins (Chair of Wealden South Planning Committee)
Business email: [email protected]
Mark Fairweather
Business email: [email protected]
Neil Cleaver
Business email: [email protected]
Glynn White
Business email: [email protected]

GREEN PARTY COUNCILLORS
Cornelie Usborne (Vice Chair of Wealden South Planning Committee)
Business email: [email protected]
Alison Wilson
Business email: [email protected]
Martyn Everitt
Business email: [email protected]

INDEPENDENT COUNCILLORS
Stephen Shing
Business email: [email protected]
Kevin Benton
Business email: [email protected]
David White
Business email: [email protected]

We’re recruiting three urban growing trainees ⤵️💚

Lots to enjoy this month 💚

And just like that those late summer veggies are a distant memory!

If you value the delicious raw milk, butter, yoghurt and other high-welfare dairy that Hook & Son bring to the market every week, please write to Hailsham Town Council to protect a significant parcel of organic land that they rent. Biodiversity, local jobs and livelihoods depend on it.

Our farm is under serious threat from proposed housing developments, which would see us lose 40 acres of our best grazing land. This is not land we own ourselves, but rent from the landowner. Without this land we would be forced to reduce our herd size and Hook & Son will no longer be viable.

We encourage as many of our customers as possible to object to the development.
It is shameful that Hailsham Town Council have not objected to this development – without you, our customers, we are alone in this fight.

Please write to the Wealden District Council to object to the proposed development before Friday 11th August. You can view the proposal on the Wealden District Council website.

Here is the link to the Wealden website where you can comment on/object to the proposal: https://planning.wealden.gov.uk/plancomment.aspx?recno=162594

Alternatively, email [email protected] with the subject line: 'For the attention of Mrs C Turner'. You will need to quote the case reference number: WD/2023/1684/MAO.
You will also need to cite a reason for objecting, which can include:

• The 40 acres of grazing land is integral to the farm's viability
• Farms should not be fragmented
• Farmland producing food for local people should not be fragmented and lost, but protected from development
• How would the 'statutory biodiversity gain' be achieved on existing organic farmland with the biodiversity that it already provides?
• The food our farm produces is important to you for different reasons
• Hook & Son is the main raw milk producer in the UK
• Hook & Son employ 20 full-time and 6 part-time staff, with those jobs now at stake
• It is the last dairy farm in Hailsham
• It organically farms land on the Pevensey Levels, which is a Site of Specific Scientific Interest
• It is an award-winning farm for its produce, and featured in The Moo Man, a documentary which was showcased by the United Nations in 2014 in the UN 'Year of the Family Farm' as well as featuring in the 2013 Sundance Film Festival

Quick - book for Sunday’s farm trip before the last places get snapped up. It’ll be a brilliant, fun and inspiring day.

Join us to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the farmers' market - 20 years of connecting Londoners with local organic farmers producing delicious food using nature-friendly methods.

🎂 Snacks, cake and fun at the market on Saturday 13 May.

🪱 Future of Food talk with regenerative farming expert Marina O'Connell on Wednesday 17 May.

🥕 Coach trip to Kent to visit Ripple Farm Organics - will you hear a turtle dove? Sunday 16 July

https://growingcommunities.org/blog/2023/04/farmers-market-celebrates-20-years-good-food

📣 Announcement
Due to weather issues the “Savour the Season” Autumnal food demo & workshop has been postponed to next Saturday, the 12th, 11-1 pm followed by an hour Q&A

👩🏻‍🍳 Join me whilst I whip up three easy dishes showcasing autumnal ingredients from various vendors

Regenerative and agroecological farming have a lot to offer.

Why the reintroduction of bisons to the UK will turbo-charge the restoration of nature – Philip Lymbery “You ready?” said an excited official before gently pulling back steel gates to reveal a somewhat bemused bison.

THE BUSINESS OF SAVING OUR PLANET On Friday 16th September our wonderful Patron, Deborah Meaden joined me on stage with presenter and journalist, Matt Stadlen to discuss how kindness and compassion were prerequisites of a nature-friendly future.

Plenty of deliciousness at the market tomorrow, Sat 4 June.

Plus Anthony at Niko B Chocolates has been working his kitchen magic and will have a new treat, chocolate and hazelnut flapjacks! Ooh yeah. 😍😋😀

Did you know we send out weekly emails for our market along with stories from the farmers, seasonal recipe ideas, good food jobs and other local news and events?

One of this week's recipes is tangy and crunchy Indonesian greens with peanut sauce. It would work with kale, spring greens, spinach, chard, beet leaves or kohlrabi tops. Or try it with a mixture.

There's a fantastic spread of fresh, seasonal greens at our market every Saturday 10am-2.30pm. You can find most of the other ingredients across the road at the unpackaged shop Jarr Market, next to the White Hart pub.

If you're not on our mailing list yet and would like to subscribe, sign up here: http://eepurl.com/duZRbj

Wishing you a happy and healthy 2022!
The market will be closed on Saturday 1 January.
It will reopen on Saturday 8 January at 10am so you can restock your fridge and restore your body with fresh, organic food straight from our local farmers and producers.

Check out our main page Growing Communities for all the latest news about our farmers' market, vegbox scheme, efforts to avert the climate crisis and everything else we do.

And... more fantastic news!
William Rooney of is taking all the waste coffee grounds from our cafe at the farmers' market and mixing it with wood chip to use as a growing medium for his extraordinary Essex-grown shiitake mushrooms!

Top news for !
have started selling their Sussex-made pasteurised and yoghurts in glass jars. AND… you can take them back for refilling.
This is about as small-scale and low-impact as dairy can be. 🐄 🥛
It’s also very delicious 😋
Find some at our farmers’ market in this Saturday.

Fresh baked and delicious

All unpacked and already selling!
Come and get it

Riot of welcome colour, total freshness and awesome flavours at the market today.
We’re open till 2.30pm

Lush summer produce at the market.
See you there!
Open 10am till 2.30pm every Saturday.

We're part of the solution
And, when you choose to shop organically, so are you.
Today is It's a day to celebrate the incredible work done by organic farmers to increase biodiversity on their land.
Sarah and Martin at Ripple Farm have spotted rare turtle doves, swallows and a red kite playing on the thermals above their cultivated ground, Organic farms are home to hundreds of bee and other insect species.
Biodiversity remains the answer to several sustainable development challenges. From nature-based solutions to climate, health issues, food and water security, and sustainable livelihoods, biodiversity is the foundation upon which we can build back better."
Buying from a veg bag scheme or farmers' market and supporting organic farmers is part of the solution too.