Buying local is really, really important for a local area, impacting massively on the local economy and jobs, and subsequently on people’s mental and physical health and as far as improving life expectancy.
For further information on the benefits of buying local (and seasonal!) see HERE
Buying local
- keeps more money in the local area and money is worth so much more (find out more here)
- it is better for the environment as it has travelled less distance (find out more here)
- supports local businesses and helps to secure and generate employment
- and usually it has more nutrients as it is fresher so is better for you
If more people ask for local food and where the ingredients are from when they buy in shops, cafes and restaurants, the more the proprietors will listen and start to use local food. We should be proud of our local food!
In light of the many recent scandals and investigations into what is in our food and where it comes from, as well as people getting fed up of multi-national corporations dictating what we should eat and what we should pay for it, there is now real interest food provenance – where food is from. As a result, local food is also becoming quite fashionable and people are drawn to farmers’ markets and produce made by small independent ‘cottage industry’ businesses. Therefore, ride on that wave and take advantage of the interest and publicity to generate more interest locally about food that is local to you. If you’d like to read more about the link between local and global food production see this report.
Some Incredible ideas to explore local food at community events
Incredible Edible Bishop Auckland are keen to get people thinking about the food they eat and came up with some innovative ways to get people talking…
Children’s workshops:
- Making crazy hair herb pots
- Exploring where our fruit and veg comes from – like a higher or lower game…. For example is the apple from nearer or further away than the grapes. Using a world map to highlight the distance visually.
- Seed and veg matching
Plant the seed and eat the cake:
- Planting beetroot, leek and courgette seeds
- With samples of matching cake (beetroot and chocolate brownie, courgette cake)
- Recipe and seed care cards (beetroot and chocolate brownie, courgette and walnut cake, leek and potato soup)
What is local food?
Does this seem a silly question to ask? Well no not really. We feel it is always a good start to define what local food is to you, as it means different things to different people. We define local food as food and drink that is, or has been, made from ingredients that have been grown or reared from a clearly defined area from your location. A 30 miles radius is a common distance, but this sometimes has to be different depending on location and the amount available land to grow/ rear animals eg coastal towns or large conurbations.
It is also really important to be clear that local food is food that is grown or reared, not just ‘sourced’. You can source food from other businesses that are within you local food area, but the big question is, where did they get it from? And some also think that buying local is buying from your local supermarket chain!
We have been focussing on food, but this can and should also apply to drink. However, it isn’t always as easy as food. Let’s take real ale as an example. There aren’t many ingredients in real ale, and one of the main ones are hops, which aren’t widely grown in the UK. So where you can it is worth using things like Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA)’s locALE criteria as a guide – see here
Local food criteria
Have a search around to see if you can find if there is a local food network or food partnership in your area and whether or not they have a local food criteria. If not, you might want to make a start and create your own, then other groups or initiatives in your area might want to use the same set of criteria. There are lots of criteria out there that can be used as a starting point, so have a read through a few of them, take the bits that are most important to you and create your own. Here is an example of local food criteria from Middlesbrough.
The economy of local food
Remember, believe in the power of small actions – the more people who spend a bit more on local produce means so much to these small businesses. And if everybody just spent a bit each week, that will equate to millions of pounds in the local economy. For example, if all residents in Middlesbrough (about 135,000 people) each spent just £1 on local food each week, that would be over £7million to the local food economy each year. And if those local businesses used local suppliers, then that £7million could be worth 400% more. Pretty impressive isn’t it?
Easier for everyone
Sometimes it isn’t easy to buy local food, so the more we can do to make it more convenient, then it makes it much easier for everyone to do their bit.
For some ideas you could take to your local businesses to encourage them to be more Incredible, see our How businesses can get involved with local food in the Going deeper section
