❤ LOVE LOCAL ❤ ON LOCAL Last Word
FOODLOVER INVESTIGATES THE IMPORTANCE OF WEST COUNTRY PRODUCERS TO THE LOCAL ECONOMY
What does the term ‘local food community’ mean to you and why is yours special to you?
The food industry is a tri part symbiotic relationship between consumers, distributors and food producers. Buying local simply means keeping the involvement of the distribution element to a minimum, and this together with minimal packaging and low food miles has been some of the core principles of my working life in the health food industry for the last 38 years.
What inspires you to support your local producers?
The ideal would be for consumers to buy direct from the producers but this isn’t practical for the majority of people in today’s busy world so retailers are needed. Whether it’s stalls at farmers’ markets or local independent stores, getting product to consumers quickly and effi ciently is vital and if this is done locally then every £ spent has a better chance of staying in the locality - being re-used in another local business and so reused locally again and again.
What are your thoughts on the convenience offered by local producers? Producers and retailers must fi nd a way to put their products and services directly in front of consumers but other than that I do not believe ’convenience’ is anything to aspire to. Convenient and cheap are often the mantras of the multiples. Good nutrition and good value should be the mantras when buying local.
48 | THE WEST COUNTRY FOODLOVER
Is buying local becoming more affordable?
Buying locally produced food is affordable. Every time I check fresh fruit and veg is cheaper in independent stores and farmers’ markets than in the multiples. But good food is more important than cheap food and quality, ethics and care for the local environment should be more important to the consumer than convenience.
How will growth in support for local producers benefi t the local economy? By buying more locally the recipient business or person will hopefully spend some of that money on employing local people who can then spend more locally.
Peter Jenkins, Managing Director of Ceres Natural Foods of Yeovil and of
www.healthfoodsuk.com
How can FOODLOVERS get involved with their food communities? What’s important is education. Showing FOODLOVERs that local food production is vital to the local economy and to the health and wellbeing of their family. Good health and nutrition is not achieved by always buying the cheapest product or those stuffed with preservatives to allow it to keep ‘fresh’ as it’s transported across the world. But don’t just restrict yourselves to food shopping – join your local LETS (Local Exchange Trading System) group, barter goods and services with your neighbours and 100% of the worth stays local. Ceres Foods has been supporting the LETS movement for decades and offers Yeovil members the ability to pay for some of their shopping with LETS currency.
Do you feel it’s important that the next generation learn about traceability and food culture? Why? We need to be able to trust the food we eat. Integrity, ethics and care for the environment by all food handlers within the food chain can be enhanced and proved with traceability/certifi cation systems. Making these systems visible and transparent allows consumers to understand the benefi ts of quality over price; in my opinion the next generation will require all of that and possibly more.
Last word: I remember the ‘bread wars’ of the late 1970s. Mainstream bakers scrambled to sell their products at the lowest price, bigger fi rms sought to get advantage by selling at less than cost, then went bust. I was just starting out back then, but we bought quality locally milled fl our, handmade our breads and charged double everyone else’s prices, even putting prices up during the worst of it. I survived this and two further slumps and did it by focusing on our customers and giving the best possible quality and service.
That’s my message to local food producers – if you sell on price you’re competing with the whole world, if you sell on quality then you’re probably unique. Keep the integrity and the quality of what you do no matter what because that’s what will be required of you if you are to have any kind of future.
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