When you choose to buy locally grown produce and to support businesses in your area, this not only benefits you and yours – shorter distances travelled by food makes for naturally fresher and tastier grub – but its invaluable for your local community too.

Here are just some of the things that happen within your community when you shop there!

  • Reinvest – when you buy from local suppliers and producers 68% of your spend stays within the local area, compared to just 43% when you shop with a larger chain.
  • Job create – local businesses not only need their own workforce, but create a greater demand for essential professions such as teachers, doctors and the emergency services in the area, contributing to reduced unemployment.
  • Fund local projects – studies show that local businesses donate more than twice as much to community causes than larger chains in the area.
  • Increase variety – small business owners cater to their market by offering the products that you want to buy. This means a greater variety of items available according to the wants and needs of the community and you’re more likely to pick up something unique and special that you couldn’t in a big supermarket.
  • Reduce emissions – shopping within your local area reduces fuel consumption and conserves resources as well as reducing packaging and overall food miles.
  • Stay healthy – food requires artificial preservatives and plenty of packaging to travel long distances, local food not only cuts down on these but is more nutrient dense due to the shorter ‘farm-to-fork’ time.
  • Support entrepreneurship – by encouraging your friends and neighbours to develop their individual talents, you not only help develop exciting new artisan markets but also develop a positive and proactive environment for the next generation, keeping your community strong and vibrant
  • Build relationships – shopping becomes a little more social and a lot less monotonous when its combined with a quick catch up with your local butcher or your friend at the farm shop. Knowing your neighbours helps to enforce a closer knit and safer community atmosphere, plus its been proven to lift our mood!