UK Grain Lab
Next event: 5th May 2024
Nottingham, UK
UK Grain Lab provides farmers, millers, plant breeders, bakers, cooks, scientists and academics an opportunity to bake together, eat, drink, learn from each other and talk about the future.
We share stories, skills and strategies inspired by visitors from around the world with a view to advancing a more diverse UK-based grain economy. We work to build an independent network of trade around localised grain, being a central liaison for many regional grain advocacy groups.
Large gatherings host over 350 attendees every two years, and smaller assemblies keep the conversation going in between. Our events include talks, workshops, discussion groups, shared meals and music presented by and for people working with grain.
Topics included innovation in plant breeding, soil and grain diversity, sharing and collaboration; sustainable farming practices; new food production business models and techniques, food security and sovereignty. Our vision is for shorter, healthier, and more diverse supply chains, where the identity of people and place is celebrated and valued.
UK Grain Lab CIC is a registered Community Interest Company. The event is facilitated with generous support of industry partners and supporters.
People behind UK Grain Lab
The U.K. Grain Lab is organised by a team of volunteers and facilitated on a not for profit basis.
Kimberley Bell
Kimberley founded Small Food Bakery in 2014 with the objective to demonstrate that small scale food manufacturing businesses have a crucial role to play in enabling transition to a more resilient, nourishing and equitable food system.
In the kitchen of a former inner city school, the team at Small Food Bakery make breads, pastries preserves and meals from scratch, with no industrial or commodity ingredients.
Having traveled internationally and been inspired by like minded collaborations such as the US Bread Lab, in 2017, Kim curated the first UK Grain Lab in Nottingham to help strengthen the community of bakers, millers, scientists and farmers working to build a prosperous non commodity grain economy in the UK.
Isabel Kelly
Isabel Kelly has worked in the bakery and food industries in the UK, Ireland and Australia for over 15 years. Now spending her time working with pro-active and forward thinking initiatives within the UK, Isabel is passionate about collaboration, and how we can positively influence each other to drive change across small and larger scale food businesses.
Having participated in Dr. Steven Jones’ Grain Gathering in the US, along with many other bakery collaborations, Isabel has worked alongside Kim in the curation and organisation of UK Grain Lab since joining the first gathering in 2017.
With thanks
The idea to create UK Grain Lab was initiated by Steven Jacobs (OF&G) Josiah Meldrum (Hodmedods) and Edward Dicken (Harper Adams) along with Kim, who got their heads together to try to imagine ways to support the growing, milling and baking of a more diverse range of cereals in the UK, with a focus on finding alternatives to faceless commodity markets. Without them, this would not have happened.
Alba Colomo is a Spanish curator based in the UK. Alba was a pillar of support behind the UK Grain Lab 2018 event, instrumental in using her knowledge and passion for social projects to support the fruition of our biggest gathering to date.
