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At the Shops - Buying Local

The buying power of large supermarkets has opened us up to many new and exotic tastes from far off lands. Whilst it is fantastic to be be able to cook with ingredients from all over the world to make authentic dishes, we should also celebrate the wonderful food that is produced locally.

Of course if you fancy a papaya or mango it would be difficult to find one grown in England’s climate but should you opt for an apple, look for local varieties rather than those grown in other countries.

‘Buying local’ reduces the distance your food has to travel to reach your shopping bag. Food is traveling further than ever before, often hundreds or even thousands of miles from where it was produced to where it is consumed. This distance is known as food miles(FACT). Excessive food miles require lengthy road haulage and causes pollution which is damaging to the environment.

Locally produced food also helps to reduce packaging which creates unecessary waste that ends up in landfill. Food packaging is used both to protect food in transit and to entice us to buy it. Buying loose fruit and vegetables from a local farm shop, greengrocers or organic box scheme greatly reduces the need for excess packaging. Buying local can also help to boost the local economy as it reinvests the pounds you spend back into your community and creates local jobs.

Buying local often makes it possible to form a relationship between you and your food producer. The ability to speak to the person who produces your food allows you to find out about what concerns you, such as how the vegetables have been grown, or what the animals have been fed with. Fresh local produce is usually cheaper than imported food in supermarkets and of course is fresher, sometimes you may even see it picked directly from the plant!

Local food doesn't lose nutrients through long distance transportation and long periods in storage. Freshly picked fruit and vegetables are better nutritionally, as well as having more taste and you can enjoy eating seasonal food, like strawberries in early summer.

Buying organic food can also help the environment, including the waste problem. Organic farming cuts down on fossil fuels used to manufacture and transport the chemicals used in mainstream agriculture as well as reducing toxicity in the farmed land and surrounding environment. It is important to buy locally grown organic food rather than imported, though. To give an idea of how far food travels, a typical basket of 26 imported organic foods may have traveled the distance of six times around the equator!

The concept of food miles also includes waste, which must be transported from your home to a landfill site. The average household throws away more than three kilograms of food and 14 kilograms of food packaging per week. Buying food with as little packaging as possible and composting waste can also make a difference.