Krakow City Farm

Promoter organisation: Krakow City Farm, Social Enterprise producing healthy, chemically uncontaminated food locally for locals, Ensuring sustainable food production*

Country: Krakow City, Poland

Describe the context, aims, the problems that good practice solves, target group addressed of the good practice.

What:

Europe leads the charge in many aspects of sustainable food production.

On-the-ground practices are:

  • Agro-ecology: This holistic approach promotes practices that mimic natural ecosystems, such as crop diversification, cover cropping, and integrated pest management.
  • Organic farming: This method avoids synthetic chemicals and focuses on building soil health and biodiversity, although its large-scale feasibility is still debated.
  • Short supply chains: Connecting farmers directly to consumers reduces food miles, carbon emissions, and food waste. Examples include farmers’ markets, community-supported agriculture (CSA), and online platforms.
  • Soil health management: Practices like cover cropping, reducing tillage, and composting build organic matter, improving soil health and carbon sequestration.

Krakow City Farm responds to all those requirements,

The Farm was created on the outskirts of the city by the group of social activists and experts in agriculture and permaculture during Pandemic period. They grow vegetables for Locals with their own hands, using compost.

To get started the project, Farm cofounders was facing economic investment in land rent, and new tools. 

The found was collected by social founding via online campaign directly from citizens.

How:

  • The farm is for locals and base on local cooperations.
  • The fertiliser is supplied by a company that processes the city of Krakow’s urban bio-waste.
  • The farm introduce social farming and barter.
  • The Farm clients are welcome to cooperate and contribute working on the farm once a week as volunteers or exchanging their work on crop.
  • The Crop is is distribiuted into the Bags for clients.
  • The Bags with vegetables are delivered every week, but the contents are not dependent on the customer, but on a natural cycle. 
  • The clients can bay the products ordering a The single Bag  or paying an annual subscription.
  • The cost of the transport is related to transport distance.
  • For the logistics and transportation the farm involve , volunteers, own resources and personal pick up of products are welcome.

When: Since 2020

Why it is relevant: Pease describe SUSTAINABILITY (in environmental context), EFFICIENCY (in social/financial context), TRANSFERABILITY and INNOVATION aspects.

This example of a simple green business model is a direct response on fighting the climate change trou local On-the-ground practices and ensuring sustainable food production:

  • Growing without chemical fertilisers or plant protection products.
  • Respect for the land, plants and people. 
  • Decent fertilisation and a fair wage. 
  • Biodiversity protection and lots of experimentation with permaculture. 
  • Collaboration with other farmers on the basis of exchanging goods and information from the rural ‘cloud’:). 
  • The creation of local groups, bringing together small farmers, supplying not only to the local market, but to school and kindergarten canteens.
  • Short supply chains The harvest is sold directly at the local organic market (Parsley Market) in Krakow, to the Wawel Food Co-operative and to nearby consumers, thus minimising the negative impact of transport on the environment.

The innovation aspect emerge in local community around the food production and sharing awareness about slow food approach, Organic farming, Agro-ecology.

Target Groups: Citizens of Krakow, Households, schools, restaurants

RESULTS OF THE GOOD PRACTICE

Results obtained at local, regional, national or international level, changes – IMPACT on target groups.

The Krakow City Farm is not only a source of vegetables, but an example of how to change the food market on a small scale and thus fight climate change.

This is small scale initiative involves 20 -30 project participants.

The farm supplying 20-30 residents with fresh vegetables every week. 

Some clients are regular customers who have taken out a subscription, i.e. 20 Bags per season. 

The Bags contain the seasonal vegetables, including lettuce, arugula, kale, spinach, carrots, courgettes and beetroot.

http://krakowskafarmamiejska.org/

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