How to nurture and develop the local food economy

Developing local food networks and strengthening support for locally sourced food has a multitude of benefits. Buying locally sourced food reduces food miles meaning less fuel is used in transportation, reducing its carbon footprint, it supports nearby businesses, creates local employment, keeps money circulating within the local economy and much more.

What will you hear?

Judicaelle Hammond, CLA Director of Policy and Advice, talks us through what a local food chain is, whether consumers understand it in the same way, and what is needed to make the Government Food Strategy’s consultation on a plan for 50% of food expenditure in the public sector to go on food produced locally or to higher environmental standards work.

Vicki Hird, Head of Sustainable Farming at Sustain, explains the key actions needed to increase interest in local food, how local food chains can be sustained alongside retailers, and how they can remain financially viable.

Karl Avison, founder of Cedar barn Farm Shop and Café, shares with us the measures he has taken in his own business to inform consumers about the benefits of buying local, and the role of local food supply chains in the rural economy.