The BBC Food and Farming Awards 2026: The Food Producers
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What is the purpose of the BBC Food & Farming Awards and who are the judges?
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Tänäänkin Suomessa on tuhansia rahoittamisen arvoisia yrityksiä. Nyt niillä on varaa kasvaa. Me OP-pohjalassa avasimme juuri 100 miljoonien kasvurahoituksen. Lue lisää O.fi kautta kasvurahoitus. Yrityslailla myöntää osuuspankki tai OP-yrityspankki OJ.
Kun yrityksesi kasvaa ulos neliöistä, haluatko, että vuokranantajasi on epävarma vai varma? Vuokraat toimitilat varmalta toimitilat.varma.fi
Welcome to the food programme. This week we're on the road, the we being me and chef, broadcaster TV star and chief executive of Slow Food Northern Ireland, Paula McIntyre, who is also this year chair of the BBC's Food and Farming Awards judges. Together, Paula and I have been judging the food producer category, and today we announce the short list. Ours that we've whittled down from a long list of twelve, and all the others in every category, and you can now find all the short lists at bbc.co.uk slash food awards. Our three food producers are scattered widely all over the UK. Breuter gold rapeseed oil in Limavadi, up near the north west coast of Northern Ireland. Dunn Flashadder Cottage Croft on the Isle of Skye in the Hebrides, and the Fresh Flower Company in Devon.
That's been a lot of time on the road. Though in fact I got ill and didn't make that first visit to Devon. But producer Sam Grist was there with Paula holding the microphone and holding everything else together.
What you want.
Is
A slight singing from the stone.
Andrew Gillespie founded and runs the Fresh Flower Company.
Hear that every now and again, disposed touch.
And his wheat comes almost entirely from four farms run on organic principles, all of them growing several varieties of wheat. The biggest selection of wheats is grown by Fred Price at Gothelny Farm near Bridgewater in Somerset, which is where Paula and Sam went first, near the end of the summer's record breaking heat and drought, and Both farmer Fred and Miller Baker Pasta Maker Andrew are part of the Southwest Grain Network, a chain of farmers, millers, chefs and producers working outside the global commodity market.
You've had the harvest here relatively early.
Yeah, I mean, yeah, it's crazy to s to think that we're stood here on what is it, the fourth of August or something. Um, we wouldn't be thinking of starting usually until now. We're completely done, the combine's wrapped up for the for for for next year in the shed already. I think right now if you're in any way connected with the land there is there's a lot of changes happening and you can't escape them and we're we're having to think very differently about our cropping, about our rotation, about when we do things, how we do things. Um and it's super helpful actually having a supply chain behind us that actually appreciates that those challenges and can work with the impacts on the product. Um it gives us, you know, s I what I would call as a kind of
Pe people like Andrew are the enablers, you know, the South West Grain Network is creating the enabling conditions for a much healthier, resilient relationship with a farmer. Um enables us to buffer these seasons where yield is impacted, quality is impacted by the weather conditions.
So we grow wheat and we grow it for um lots of bakeries in the South West Grain Network. And we grow it without agrochemicals. So we don't have herbicides to control weeds, we don't have fungicides to control disease, we don't have insecticides to control pests. And in though in that context, modern varieties aren't really appropriate. And and so for two reasons, we're growing populations which are basically incredibly genetically diverse crops, which contrast with a modern variety which is genetically uniform. And under these circumstances, circumstances, these different populations will outperform modern varieties on our farm. And they also embody a kind of a decision for us to advocate for a different kind of seed system, one that doesn't like result in a kind of concentration of power and control in fewer and fewer hands.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the purpose of the BBC Food & Farming Awards and who are the judges?
0:00–6:44
2
Who are the three food‑producer finalists and where are they located?
6:44–11:09
3
How does the Fresh Flower Company source its wheat and why do they avoid agro‑chemicals?
11:09–16:59
4
What challenges do Southwest Grain Network farmers face with climate change and crop rotation?
16:59–23:10
5
How is rapeseed oil produced at Breuter Gold without herbicides or glyphosate?
23:10–28:16
6
What is crofting and how does it shape the farming practices on the Isle of Skye?
28:16–33:47
7
When and where will the award ceremony take place and who will attend?
33:47–39:13
8
What are the key takeaways about sustainable food production from this episode?
39:13–44:01