It might be easier to get in the car, slouch around a supermarket – and even get your food delivered direct – but here we give our first five reasons why shopping for, and eating, food on your doorstep (though not literally of course!) can make a world of difference.
1. Buy fresher food
Cut out the middleman, the bundles of processing and the food miles – and local food tends to be fresher. Reigate farmer Caroline Davies, who hand makes ice-cream at her St Joan’s Farm Dairy, in Leigh, Surrey, uses only milk and cream produced on the farm with the slogan ‘From Cow to Freezer in Under 1 Hour’! “We could easily buy it in, but instead we milk in the morning and turn it into ice-cream by the afternoon,” says Caroline. “Not many ice-cream producers can say that and we feel it makes for a much better product.”
Ruth Lambert, who runs The Larder Farm Shop at The Medicine Garden, in Downside Road, Cobham, agrees. “We buy in stock in smaller quantities so it’s often fresher. The guy who supplies our chickens, for example, only keeps 50 so we have 10 to sell at Christmas. People say it reminds them of what things used to taste like. It’s a lot less ‘fiddled about’ with.”
2. Eat the seasons
While we might have got used to strawberries and asparagus all-year-round, getting back in touch with British food seasons can not only save food miles but money too; out of season fruit and veg is always more expensive. “Shopping for food in season gives you a better idea of your own regional identity,” says Ruth at The Larder. “You can look around you and literally ‘eat the view’!”
3. Pump money into the local economy
It’s said that for every £10 spent in an independent shop, £25 is generated for the local economy, so it pays to buy closer to home. Independent shops tend to invest more in their communities and are more likely to give to local charities and schools. “Shop and eat local produce and support local people,” says Caroline, from St Joan’s. “Don’t support the large multinational companies that pay large bonus to their MDs!”
4. Help the environment
With green beans flown in from Kenya and apples from New Zealand, it’s no wonder the multinationals can clock up a few air miles. According to the National Farmers' Retail & Markets Association (Farma), choosing to buy locally produced foods from a farm shop or farmers’ market, for example, can help reduce the amount of carbon dioxide emissions associated with distribution by up to 99.8 per cent! Buy direct from the farm and you’ll probably buy less unnecessary paper, cardboard and plastic wrapping too.
5. Say no to the clone!
None of us want to live in identikit cities, but multinationals and chains can strip away the unique character of the high street. Joanna Rowlands, who runs Two Many Cooks catering company in Brockham, Surrey, recently set up a café and shop in South Street, Dorking, which sells local, hand-ground coffee and bread from Chalk Hills Bakery among its many locally-sourced products. “Our high street will die out if little individual shops and businesses like ours disappear,” she says. “Every city centre would look the same.”
Read part two of Let's hear it for local
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