Wednesday, 15 July 2009

Brit Farmers

What’s the first thing that comes to mind when British fine foods is mentioned? Personally, as soon as I think British my mind turns to supporting British farmers and local communities. So many supermarkets are following the trend of sourcing locally. Sure it makes the customer feel good but is it really supporting local farmers?

On the one hand the supermarkets take huge margins making produce barely profitable for farmers. On the other hand the supermarket provides the mass market. Think about it, by shopping locally, money goes into local business which will enrich the community, farmers get a healthy margin and can concentrate on producing quality rather than quantity and you, the buyer, get to rekindle the local spirit that Britain used to be so proud of. Sure supermarkets have some great deals in this time of hardship but we have to look further than that. It won’t be until after the recession that we realize by caring more about Britain as a whole, we could have saved the lives of countless shopkeepers, farmers, pub owners and local businesses.

These days the word British is used in food a lot but just remember to think where your money is going and who its benefiting most.