Local Food Producers, Produce More Value in Your Pound

You may or may not of heard of the effect and research around how spending your money at local shops and businesses can impact your area in a positive way, but there is now lots out there to show how important it is. Some of you may be familiar with the work of Rob Hopkins and the transition network, he's has written various books, conducted research, and been a lead campaigner in how we transition from a wasteful linear economy, that relies on globalised supply chains and exploitation of people and natural resources, to one that as defined in the wikipedia article the circular economy, as " a model of resource production and consumption in any economy that involves sharing, leasing, reusing, repairing, refurbishing, and recycling existing materials and products for as long as possible."

As Rob states in the below video, their research showed that for spending every £1 with a local independent business, that has a multiplier effect of about £2.50. Whereas, if that same £1 is spent at a supermarket, it only has about £1.40 of a multiply effect to the local economy and thus the prosperity in the region. So buying locally produced and sourced food has a great multiplier effect for jobs and the local economy.

The Preston Model, the Multiplier Effect Writ Large

This multiplier effect was demonstrated very substantially when Preston Council in Lancashire teamed up with CLES the Centre for Local Economies Strategies, to find a way to keep public procurement money in the local economy. They teamed up with the hospital, council and other public bodies to see where public money spending could be re-directed to local trades people, building contractors, food suppliers and generally look at ways that these 'anchor' institutions could benefit the local economy and bring more wealth and well being to the people of Preston. See the documentary below for more context and information.

Better for the Environment

Organic food production seeks to produce food in a way that supports and leaves some space for wildlife to flourish on the land, utilising these complex eco-systems to aid in the production of food. A healthy soil full of a diversity of microbes, that is kept covered over the winter with cover crops, resists flooding and the degradation of water courses via of soil running off fields in winter. Many animals such as badgers and moles eat predominately earthworms, so soil that is well managed as is the case with the majority of organic farms, have many more earthworms per square metre than conventionally managed fields, that can often be very degraded of their natural soil life. Generally organic farms have over third greater diversity of plant, insect and animal species than their conventional counterparts. Check out our biodiversity video from June 2022 below.

Buying locally produced food means a large reduction in food miles, less air pollution and smaller farms that generally do less damage to the environment than industrial farms growing for big commodities markets and sometimes owned by investment firms seeking to maximise profit, often at the expense of the local environment.

Better for Your Body, Tastes Great Too!

Eating organic food, especially organic food whose provenance your 100% sure off, will dramatically reduce your exposure to glyphosate (widely used herbicide that the WHO said is 'carcinogenic' and a 'probable cancer causing agent'), and other potentially harmful chemicals used in conventional crop production. This study produced by Friends of the Earth and reported on by consumerreport.org, found that by eating organic food, the participants had dramatically reduced the levels of glyphosate in their bodies in just six days, as well as other chemical pesticides from food production.

Organic food has often been shown to have higher levels of anti-oxidants and polyphenols all help stimulate and regulate our immune systems, the meta-analysis study published in the British Journal of Nutrition and the largest of it's kind at the time, found much lower levels of pesticides in organic food and much higher levels of anti-oxidants.

The last but by no means least reason you should eat locally grown organic produce, is that it just tastes great! Depending on how it's grown, the variety and how old the produce is since harvest. You can experience a fullness of flavour that you just won't find in most of the equivalent crops bought at your local super market. We harvest almost all the produce we grow here at SOG on either Tuesday or Wednesday for our veg bag packing Thursday and Friday. This means the freshest most nutrient dense vegetables you can get your hands on, and as we regularly hit our target each year of growing over half the veg items you get in your veg bag from us in any given year, you know our bag is the best when it comes to getting THE MOST seasonal delicious produce in Sheffield.