Welcome to Eat Local – the food website for the Lancaster district

There are lots of great reasons to choose local food:

You can reduce your food miles
Most of our food has travelled long distances between producers, processors, packagers, shops and supermarkets and our homes.  Transporting of our food by air, road, boat and rail releases greenhouse gases such as carbon that contribute towards climate change.  By buying local produce you can reduce the distance your food has travelled from being produced to being eaten and it’s carbon footprint.

You get the freshest, seasonal food
We have got used to being able to get different foods all the year round but there is nothing quite like fresh, seasonal food straight from the producer.  Try freshly picked peas or sweetcorn, or go and pick your own strawberries straight from the field.  

You can support your local economy and farmers
By buying local food you can help support the local economy, keep farmers in business and create local jobs.

You have lots of choice and can try out new, exciting flavours
Buying directly from farmers at farm shops or farmers markets gives you the opportunity to try out different things you rarely find in supermarkets such as game and rare-breed meats, unusual and heritage varieties of fruit and vegetables and jams, pickles, pie and cakes made with love to old family recipes.

You can reduce packaging and food waste
Much of the food that we buy has lots of unnecessary food packaging. Food bought direct from the farm and from farmers’ markets often has less packaging or packaging that is easier to recycle or reuse such as glass and paper.  Buying local food also reduces waste in the food industry as you can buy great tasting food that may have been thrown away as it’s the ‘wrong’ shape, size or colour by supermarkets.

You know where your food has come from
When you buy locally from farms and farmers’ markets you can meet the people that produce the food you eat and find out more about all about how it has been produced.  You can ask about how the animals are looked after, what goes on your fruit and veg or what goes in your jam and cake.