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Making life better for people by inspiring solutions to environmental problems

Paul Rankin launches local food campaign

Friends of the Earth and celebrity chef Paul Rankin today threw their weight behind local farmers and small retailers with the launch at Stormont of a campaign to 'localise' Northern Ireland's food economy. The campaign began as Friends of the Earth published an exciting new report [1] which highlights the social, economic and environmental benefits of 'Local Food Economies'.

The report demonstrates that consuming Northern Ireland food:

• allows farmers a greater share of retail price
  
• boosts farm incomes, making more farms economically viable
  
• enables monies spent on food to be retained for longer and 'recycled' in the economy
  
• helps revitalise rural shops and creates more jobs in the countryside
• cuts Northern Ireland's greenhouse gas emissions as fewer 'food miles' are travelled
• enhances our tourist industry
• fulfills the requirements of the growing restaurant trade.

The authors point to the large share of the Northern Ireland grocery market accounted for by convenience stores, relative to other parts of the UK where the supermarkets enjoy greater dominance. Since supermarket practices undermine local food supply chains, their relatively small market share here favours the growth of local food economies. The role of 'producer retailing' initiatives such as farm shops, box schemes and farmers' markets is acknowledged but the authors insist that independent retailers are the bedrock of the local food economy and recommend that the local food sector be expanded by encouraging food processors, restaurants and the public sector to source their food locally.

Lisa Fagan, Food and Farming Campaigner at Friends of the Earth said:

"The controversial report of DARD's Vision Group [2] overlooked localisation, preferring to concentrate on export markets. Our research demonstrates that locally traded food offers farmers a profitable future. The Department of Agriculture must encourage the growth of the local food sector when it publishes its Vision Action Plan [3] later this week."

And celebrity chef Paul Rankin added:

"Northern Ireland food is quality stuff. Restaurants like Cayenne need local farmers to provide our ingredients because they will be the freshest and tastiest we can get. And after all, taste is what food is all about, isn't it?"

Notes

[1] (back) 'Localising the Food Economy in Northern Ireland' was commissioned by Friends of the Earth (Northern Ireland) and undertaken by Eco-Stopes Consultancy in collaboration with the Foundation for Local Food Initiatives. Click here (PDF† 794K) to view the report.

[2] and [3] Available at www.dardni.gov.uk

†To view PDF files you will need to download Adobe Acrobat Reader. Visually impaired users can get extra help with these documents from access.adobe.com.