Bwyd Sir Gar Food: Catering and Procurement
Catering and Procurement in Carmarthenshire: innovating how caterers procure food, making local supply chains more resilient and sustainable.
Bwyd Sir Gâr Food is dedicated to building a healthier, more sustainable, and fairer local food system for Carmarthenshire. Established in 2021, the food partnership is committed to strengthening local food networks and creating lasting change.
With one part-time coordinator and additional staff funded by Shared Prosperity, Bwyd Sir Gâr Food is hosted by Social Farms and Gardens. The partnership includes an active steering group with cross-sector membership. As Augusta Lewis, coordinator of Bwyd Sir Gâr Food, explains, “Bwyd Sir Gâr is a collaborative, cross-sector partnership that brings together public sector institutions, private sector partners, and community organisations to take a holistic approach to developing the local food system.”
Food for the public plate
Carmarthenshire is an agricultural community, but also a post-industrial one, facing challenges such as food insecurity. “The food produced here doesn’t always reach the people who live in the county,” says Carwyn Graves, Chair of Bwyd Sir Gâr. “As a food partnership, we are working to reconnect food production with local consumption, especially within public institutions. Our goal is to ensure that as much locally-produced food as possible reaches our children, elderly, and all those who depend on public services for their meals.”
Bremenda Isaf: Strengthening Local Food Production
Bremenda Isaf is a 100-acre lowland farm in the village of Llanarthne nestled in the heart of the Tywi valley that forms part of Carmarthenshire County Council’s rural estate. This public land is now being used as a trial location for an exciting initiative to grow fresh, high-quality and affordable fruit and
“Bremenda Isaf is owned by the County Council, and as a pilot, the Council has decided to establish the farm as a place to experiment with growing food for the community, to keep the food that is grown as close as possible to where it’s then consumed,” Carys Jones, Cabinet Member for Rural Affairs, Community Cohesion, and Planning Policy explains. “The council’s vision is that children and older people can have access to food that is grown locally – and that’s why we’re started with looking at supplying schools and care homes in the county.”
Importance of Public Procurement
“We’re using public land here at Bremenda Isaf to grow for the public plate and support growers with access to machinery and we’re exploring shared processing and aggregation facilities to streamline market access,” continues Augusta Lewis.
“Public procurement is a really powerful way of supporting a fledgling horticulture sector. Here in Carmarthenshire, we are able to use public land and public facilities, to really be able to build confidence and develop those supply chains that will enable more Welsh food to get onto the public plate.”
Carys Jones agrees, adding: “Local food is crucial because through local procurement, we can improve the diet of our population and provide healthier, more sustainable food options.”
Integral part of the food partnership
“The farm is an integral part of the food partnerships activity and delivery,” says Alex Cook, Food Systems Development Manager at Carmarthenshire County Council. “Because we’re here at Bremenda Isaf, we are growing, we are producing food, and we’re providing an opportunity to aggregate that ties really nicely with a lot of our work around menu development in schools and building on years of work up to this point by the partnership and partners.
“The next steps for us here on the farm is to increase the scale of production to a lot more field scale, enable other growers to use the processing unit as an aggregation hub, but also build some infrastructure to allow for more community groups, social prescribing health and well being groups through a new community garden, which will act as a kind of a modern allotment model”
Growing at Bremenda Isaf
Last season, Bremenda Isaf grew a variety of crops including tomatoes, cucumbers, broccoli, brussel sprouts, carrots, fennel, and more. This year, the farm plans to push boundaries with early crops and larger-scale production.
Piers Lunt, Head Grower at Bremenda Isaf believes that by growing veg really well, on what is a relatively small area of land, you can demonstrate what’s possible in an area like the Tywi Valley.
“It’s really important for lots of reasons, obviously getting seasonal, organic, nutritious food onto the public plate, with all the health benefits that come with that,” add Piers. “We’re in the middle of a nature and climate emergency, and anything that we can do to enhance biodiversity on farms is a really welcome thing. And then, over time, we can invite people onto the farm and show them what that biodiversity enhancement looks like.”
Local Food for local businesses
The Warren, a seasonal and organic restaurant in Carmarthen, is a key supporter of the local food movement. Owner Deri Reed also runs Cegin Hedyn, a community project that offers a pay-what-you-can model for local, seasonal organic food.
“Local sourcing is at the heart of our values,” says Deri Reed. “In a global economy, it’s increasingly difficult to find local vegetable growers. Bremenda Isaf is the closest we have, and their scale allows us to rely on them for consistent, fresh produce. Their commitment to sustainable, nature-friendly growing practices keeps money local while offering fantastic flavour and freshness.”
Looking Ahead
As Bwyd Sir Gâr Food continues to grow, the vision is clear: build a resilient, sustainable local food system that serves both the community and the environment. By supporting local food production, increasing supply and working with procurement across the public, private and third sector, the local food partnership is helping to create a future where local, healthy food is accessible to all.
Watch the video that accompanies this case study below.