Why buy Local Produce?

By buying locally sourced produce, everyone, not just farmers and landowners, can contribute to ensuring that a well-managed countryside benefits wildlife and the environment.

There are lots of good reasons to buy locally produced goods including:

It supports your local economy

  • Buying local produce can directly support local businesses, sustain local employment and keep money in the local economy by cutting out the middleman.
  • Small scale producers are often struggling to compete with large supermarket chains
  • Personal contact with a local producer can give you a real understanding of how something is grown or processed

It reduces food miles

  • ‘Food miles’ is the distance food has travelled from where it is produced to where it is purchased, and then onto where it is consumed.
  • Food distribution by road freight is the fastest growing transport sector and is a major contributor to air pollution – it takes 68 calories of air fuel to transport one calorie of carrot into Northern Ireland!
  • 13% of the UK’s total fuel consumption goes on packaging and transporting food

Environmental Benefits

  • Local food production ensures that local land is put to good use.
  • Local land is maintained to a high standard, which in turn increases environmental quality and attracts visitors to the countryside.

Reducing packaging

  • Vast quantities of packaging are used to protect produce when it is being transported around the country and even the world
  • Local produce generally has a minimal amount of packaging which cuts down on the use of valuable natural resources

Health Benefits

  • Local food comes with the re-assurance that local food is ‘good-home produced’ food that has not adversely harmed the environment
  • Local food gives an assurance of where the food comes from and how it is produced
  • Local food is fresh, nutritious food