There is something new emerging Jersey… the collective action to build stronger, healthier communities through a thriving and regenerative rural economy.
Moving into our 4th year, Regen Gathering is an annual two-day festival and food prize which brings together farmers and the wider community to shape a thriving, values-led future. Held on Le Tacheron farm in the heart of Trinity, Jersey, it takes place in a newly established wheat and mixed farm and is led by the people who work with soil and Jerseys community every day.
Inspired by Groundswell and the desire to link soil health, human health, and community, we had the vision to host a gathering for farmers of all scales, new entrants, and supporting food businesses. Four years on, people are ready for this conversation and Regen Gathering continues to grow the movement.
Jersey's unique Rural Economic Framework policy, agricultural heritage, and island geography make it a powerful case study for a future helping to shift the economics of farming and growing.
"I was amazed and inspired by what is happening here... There is a story here that is touching people, the combination of rewarding small-scale, regenerative farming that delivers climate, environmental and social benefits. In all regions of the UK they have made a mess of agricultural policy, whereas here, it is radically different. It is interesting that somehow small islands can lead, because of their very smallness. Jersey could lead the world in this. You could be world beating."
—Patrick Holden, Chief Executive, Sustainable Food Trust
“What strikes me most is how fertile this Jersey is! There is so much collective knowledge and experience to soak-up and I am very grateful for spaces like this to connect and exchange.”
—Attendee
“Farming in Jersey is a reminder to all of us who rush about in the world, what it means to be in a place, to know it, to be a part of it, to commune with it and all it bears.”
—Local farmer
THE VALUES WE ARE CULTIVATING
Working Systemically: Putting farmers at the centre of the change in a highly connected world.
Ensuring accessibility: Open programme approach, to ensure a wide range of voices.
Not a talking shop: Programming people who practice the change, and facilitating collaborations.
Building the local economy: Investing in innovation through the Food System Prize and working with as many local businesses as possible and creating the conditions for rural enterprise to thrive.
Zero waste: Creating comprehensive waste management to design a fully circular event.
Rigour: Building strong academic partnerships.
