The benefits of supporting your local farmers and producers

All of the milk and dairy products (and many of our household and grocery items) that are available for doorstep delivery from Foulgers are locally sourced and therefore have many benefits for both the farmer, producer and you the buyer.

When you purchase locally sourced dairy, meat or produce you’re providing a market for local producers where they can get a fair price. Most local food producers are small or ‘micro’ businesses (less than 10 staff) that can’t, at least at the start, distribute more widely. So local food can help existing and new businesses to grow and bring new products to market too.

By buying local food you are helping smaller, traditional and mixed farms to survive in an increasingly specialised and intensive farming industry. More of your food pound should go to the farmer or grower so they, in turn, can earn a decent living without needing to grow bigger or to farm more intensively. This keeps the countryside more diverse, especially where it has been shaped by centuries of farming traditions, and so protects the landscape’s character. Your local food might also be organic, which can help look after the soil and boost local wildlife.

If you don’t buy local food, the food you buy may have been air-freighted, as well as being trucked up and down the country. A quarter of all lorries on the road carry food. Air-freighting of fruit and vegetables is a major contributor to greenhouse gas pollution from our food supply system. Cutting the distance your food has to travel is a simple idea that many shoppers respond to. It is better still to buy seasonally and think about eating less, but better quality (especially grass-fed), meat and dairy to cut your carbon footprint further.

Local food may not always be the cheapest food available but it is certainly affordable for many and it scores well on quality. Shoppers clearly trust it. So it can be great value for money because of the freshness, taste and quality of the ingredients. Ultra-processed foods often use cheaper ingredients to bulk out the product, making them appear cheap but feeding you less well.

So in a nut shell, buying local not only benefits the producer, the local economy and the environment. It can also benefit you and we would like to thank you once again for your continued support.