A recent survey showed that 80% of people want locally produced food but only 20% are buying it. Why is the demand so high and why are more people not buying local food?

Do we need to raise awareness of where people can buy local food? Get more farmers growing meat & veg rather than cereals? Get more local food in to the existing supply chain or build a new one?

Another piece of important news that could help to encourage the growth of a new supply chain, as well as improve food quality for children, is that Scolarest have given notice to stop providing a school meals service for Bedfordshire schools. With 120+ schools under contract to Scolarest this opens a new market for local suppliers, a group of whom are already supplying 12 Bedfordshire schools.

Should work be done to make the best of this opportunity?

• Big Barn local food shop – e-commerce to encourage all suppliers to join and consumers to buy products.  Non profit organisation. Taking advantage of internet shopping.
• BigBarn are promoting within local schools
• Scholarest are moving out of Bedfordshire schools – an ideal opportunity to get local food in schools
• Redbourne is a good example of a school using local food. They could provide other schools with food as they have facilities
• Essex schools are all using local food • Essex has training schools which are fully booked. Everybody should visit. This is something Bedfordshire should aim for.
• Tastes of Bedfordshire – currently holding producer meetings to encourage people to work together
• Buy-Local.Net & River Nene – good examples of using local producers
• Groundwork is working with schools.

• Not enough people growing local food.
• Huge cost in going organic.
• Where is engagement with farmers?
• More farmers? Demand pull, employment issues, unsociable hours. People don’t really want to work on farms.
• Cost – perception of cost? River Nene cheaper than supermarkets.
• Waste is not costed for
•  It is a mindset to buy and use local foods.  People trust their normal suppliers and are unaware what is what out there, and the quality.
• Trust and making choices.
• Parking – not able to park at town centres to buy locally and this is where supermarkets thrive.
• Regularity of farmers markets. Normally only once a month.
• People don’t cook any more. Very used to convenience food.
• What do we perceive as local? “As local as it can be”
• Who goes into schools – to raise awareness?
• Need resources to maintain growing food
• Provide support and training on growing
• Need holiday club as growing time is within school holidays

• Getting local people to grow their own food
• Get local food in schools
• Have a strip of land near villages so local people can contribute
• Why not have a communal plot as there is a waiting list for allotments?
• Schools have land which they can use
• Need to sell and promote working on farms
• Could communities take advantage of grassland not fenced.
• Recipes to encourage cooking using local food.
• Communication is key to everything
• Involve the community
• Are infant schools a good start to promote an encourage buying and using local food?
• Encourage buying in season
• Landscape – associate food with the landscape and grazing, promote landscape as well as food.
• Promote at all levels
• Farmers markets need to be more frequent and better promoted.
• Quality needs to be good

• After school club
• Growing own veg and herbs
• Catering – sourcing locally
• Curriculum – food on syllabus
• Kids choosing menus
• Kids working in the kitchen
• Provide schools with information pack on growing local food
• Tap into 5- fruit & veg–a-day agenda
• 2020 schools to become sustainable
• Schools visits to local farms
• Using food miles and climate change to channel interest
• Local businesses cooking for schools
• Food waste – are schools composting?
•  Need resources to maintain growing food
• Provide support and training on growing
• Farmers to visit schools
• Work experience in local area with local food producers