Shop Local

When Covid arrived in 2019 two things happened; online shopping went bananas and large
supermarket shelves were empty but sandwiched between these two changes were the small, local
providers such as the farm shops who because much of their produce was local, were able to help
out our local community, now it is our turn to help them.
We are fortunate to live in a rural area with a strong farming presence and within a 10 mile radius of
Yelvertoft we have a number of local outlets offering a range of eggs, meat, fresh veg and other
foods literally produced on our doorstep. The benefits of reducing the field-to-fork journey are
enormous;
– there is no questionable provenance, these farmers are not huge businesses, their livelihood
depends on the welfare of their animals
– the food travels the absolute minimum number of miles, reducing carbon emissions
– where fruit and veg are grown locally they are seasonal; so they are probably not swathed in
plastic ultimately destined for landfill, or irradiated/packed in gases to ensure long life, this
generally means better flavour and fresher produce
But not everything can be produced locally, and there are several local outlets who provide refills for
many everyday products helping to reduce plastic usage.
Wouldn’t it be brilliant if we could reduce food miles, reduce waste, reduce packaging and support
the local economy. Local authority research shows that for every £1 spent locally 63p stays in the
local economy. Spend that £1 with a large company and only 40p reaches the local economy.
It may cost a bit more but even if 10% of a family food budget is spent locally, as that well known
giant supermarket says “Every little helps”.