What CPRE is doing

Bill Bryson with winners of a poster design competiton to promote local foods, organised by CPRE Cheshire. Photo: CPRE Cheshire

Bill Bryson helps Cheshire promote local foods
Bill Bryson, visited Cheshire branch on 10 October to find out about their local food campaign and present prizes to winners of their poster design competition. He took a short tour of Broad Oak Farm to learn about the challenges of farming in the area and the farm’s successful educational programme. This was also a great opportunity for Bill to unveil the winning entries from CPRE Cheshire’s poster design competition for local school children, aged 4 – 10. The posters will be used to promote CPRE Cheshire’s local foods campaign and ‘Buy Local’ Awards.

Our report: The Real Choice
CPRE published a report in June 2006, The Real Choice: how local foods can survive the supermarket onslaught, which surveys the successful local food economy which has developed in East Suffolk following a decision by the local council to refuse a Tesco superstore in Saxmundham. The report argues in favour of planning and retailing policies that will encourage local food networks like the one that is flourishing in East Suffolk.

Consumer demand can help local food producers and retailers survive. We have been working with a number of organisations – including the Government, Food Links UK and Sustain – to encourage an increase in the demand for local foods, as well as improve their supply. Whether we like it or not, much of that demand must come via supermarkets, because they dominate the food retailing market. We have been working with individual supermarkets chains, challenging them to increase their range of genuinely local foods, so that they support local suppliers rather than threaten them.

Supermarkets often fail to have a clear definition of what is even meant by the phrase 'local food'. Our definition is that the product should be grown and processed within 30 miles of the store. Supermarkets need to make a distinction in their labelling between local and locality foods. Locality foods are foods specific to a region and marketed on their origin, such as Wensleydale cheese or Melton Mowbray pork pies, and are often sold around the country. Sound definitions and clear labelling allow shoppers to make choices about what they are buying, based on information about where their food has come from and how it is benefiting local producers and their local environment. Through work with CPRE, Waitrose adopted a definition of local foods based on our recommendation. We hope that other supermarkets will follow its lead.

Local campaigns
CPRE isn't just campaigning at a national level for policy change. We're actively promoting local food projects on the ground, too:

• The East Suffolk food web
• Essex Food Fair
• Peak District and South Yorkshire local food directory

Celebrity support
Several leading food celebrities have endorsed our campaign.
> Celebrity endorsements