Buy Local, Buy Ethical...

I am on a mission to change my food buying habits and switch to locally grown or ethical goods as much as possible. I have been on this quest for the last few months but realise I need to step up a gear!

So what does buying locally mean for Gloucestershire. According to the Soil Association:

• Buying local means boosting the local and rural economy - latest research from the New Economic Foundation shows that money spent on locally-produced food generates almost twice as much income for the local economy as the same amount spent in a typical supermarket


• It ensures farmers' fair share by avoiding the middleman. Creates better understanding between town and country and helps support improvements in farming. Cuts down on air miles, the least environmentally-friendly form of transport!


• It reduces processing and packaging

A big part of this new initiative will be to increase awareness about all of the great locally-owned businesses that are available in Gloucestershire. I hope that I will be able to motivate many of you to change your buying habits and support local businesses and where this is not possible with certain foods and the like - to go for green or ethical food. If you know of any local businesses that should appear on our website, send me an email and I will do my best to review and write about them .

A few of the stores that I visit regularly are:

• Over Farm Market - http://www.over-farm-market.com/

Great local produce such as cheese, veggies, stuffed olives and they do great homemade scotch eggs- plus a great day out for the family as they have a farm park!

• Gloucestershire’s Farmers Markets - http://www.gloucestershirefarmersmarkets.org.uk/

Fab local produce in Gloucester and Stroud

• Ecotopia - http://www.ecotopia.co.uk/A great range of foods (available over the web with next day delivery) based on one or more of the following principles - organic, fair-trade, ethical, recycled packaging. Check out their 'cafe direct' fairly traded coffee (It is the best coffee i have ever tasted and the farmers who produce it get a fair price and access to education and healthcare - see my previous post on the importance of buying fair trade coffee).

I also love Bottlegreen products. Nestled in a tiny village of Woodchester in the heart of the Cotswolds, the Bottlegreen factory has been carefully crafting a delicious range of soft drinks and Sorbets for 18 years. They are a great local success story. http://www.bottle-green.co.uk/

Over the next few months I shall be writing about other business and provide a brief summary about what they do, what they are known for and where they are based.I hope that my posts on buying local will motivate you to start buying local!