Local Food – Its Miles Better

by Nicola Martin, Source Marketing

The media coverage for local produce over the past 12 months has been so augmented that you’d be forgiven for thinking that this may be the latest trendy food fad and as such should be dismissed along with the “dangers” of eating eggs and meat on bone.

However, never has the media / celebrity chef / politician been so right about food. The build up of attention surrounding local produce is the result of a number of growing social and economic issues. These include the obvious need to address our Scottish diet and all its faults, the desire to bolster and enhance our local economies and of course increasing environmental awareness amongst a savvier consumer.

Child obesity, the worst record for heart disease in Europe, increasing food miles, CO2 emissions, packaging and waste are all becoming more of a focus in the consumers’ choice. We are socially intelligent and like to think that we make informed and educated choices. Shopping locally is the right thing to do – for our families, communities and health.

Add to this the nostalgic passion that we all have for real, tasty and delicious foods like our mums and grannies made us and you will begin to see why the resurgence of choosing local is upon us.

Furthermore, in an age where we are often cash rich and time poor the need for “life experience” has become greater. By choosing to shop at Farmers Markets and Farm Shops there is a sense of interaction that faceless supermarkets could never hope to achieve. By taking an active role in your choice of producer, shopping can become an “experience” in its own right. Rather than the never-ending selection of a supermarket you can choose to buy seasonal veg from an individual who for the last month has produced only seasonal veg – talk about your speciality produce! This choice has an obvious implication in the form of much higher quality and with the additional motivations of limiting environmental damage, better health and wider variety, buying local makes a compelling case for all.

Thankfully, when it comes to making this choice, we have more opportunity than we have had in the past 30 years through the growth of Farmers Markets. Perthshire is rich in agricultural land and as a result of this we have some of the best and most varied local produce in the country. This shows in the choice and quality of our own Farmers Market and surrounding Farm Shops. Shopping and buying local is easy, tasty and the right thing to do – go on you know you want to!

On the first Saturday of every month at Perth Farmers’ Market you’ll find plenty of fresh ingredients from the finest Perthshire Produce.

Meet and chat with the producers themselves to benefit from their expertise and practical advice on traceability, preparation and cooking.

From rows of green, leafy vegetables and herbs to the simple egg, deep red cuts of fresh meat to delicious seafood and home-made cakes, chutneys and pies like your granny used to make you really can taste the difference!