Local Food Systems - how do we make this a reality?

I attended a thought provoking event today. It was a Science Policy Interface group meeting of the VISIONARY project. As you'll see on their website, the goal of this project is to identify ways to make Europe's food provision more sustainable (economically, environmentally, and socially). This particular meeting consisted of stakeholders (producers, customers, and staff) of the Tamar Valley Food Hub. The food hub connects local food producers with local customers living in and around the Tamar Valley, on the border between Devon and Cornwall.

One of the questions we explored today was: how can we promote local food systems? We all acknowledged there is no easy answer to this question.

Someone suggested maybe there is a lack of consumer motivation to buy local. Let's explore this idea with a thought experiment. Imagine a shelf in your local supermarket stocked with two lots of carrots, both at the same price and of the same quality. One lot is marked as locally grown within 10 miles while the other is marked as grown overseas. Which carrots would sell? I asked this question today and everyone unanimously said the same thing: the local carrots. This is just a no brainer, isn't it?

So how come, in the real world, the average punter doesn't buy locally? The above scenario indicates it can't be lack of motivation. So what is going on?

I'd say my mum holds the answer. I remember, growing up, my mum would put my brother and me to bed and then nip out to the supermarket. She purposefully arrived just before closing time so she could get in and out as efficiently as possible while stretching every last penny buying products marked down to clear.

Money was tight, very tight. Time too was short. The idea my mum had time to worry about where her carrots were grown is just comical. What a ludicrous luxury!

This very real scenario holds the key. All my mum needed was affordable access. If her hand had landed each week on affordable carrots grown locally, she would have bought them. The key is two words: affordable access.

If we, as a country, truly wish to promote local food systems, let's use our existing infrastructure to make this happen. Let's adjust our policies to make it an economical no brainer for our supermarkets to stock their shelves with local produce.

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