Buying local

[*stuffed*]

Not being in a position to produce my own meat I was thrilled to discover a local source today.
http://www.parklandproduce.co.uk/p/Larg ... 04ecfd1e3/
I have ordered one of these boxes for mid June.
They actually had a stall at a local food show and were offering 20% off any orders made there so decided to go for it.
Their office is actually about 10 minutes walk from my house, situated in the local park where only a couple of weeks ago I was watching the sheep graze when I went there for a picnic.....can't get much more local than that when you live in the middle of a city
So I get local meat and help look after the local parkland in with the deal.....Thought this was worth shouting about!!!

[Flo]

If only more vegan products were that easy to source from a grower locally ...

[Gert]

Flo, why don't you seek out local allotments , i'm sure people there would happily sell you any surplus, they would be so pleased that someone wanted their crop, that you'd probably get it for a trade in something .It has to be worth a try.

[Flo]

Ah but we don't grow butter beans, kidney beans, soya beans or lentils on our allotments ... Admittedly those aren't hard to get in a local supermarket, but they aren't locally grown products. If you are trying to buy local, you are really trying to support local farmers and growers.

The local maker of excellent vegan chocolate cakes has gone out of business. An absolute disaster. So - if you want a vegan cake you cook it yourself - no change of stopping off at a cake shop. If you want a vegan option instead of butter in a local cafe, forget it.

[Green Aura]

It's not just vegan butter alternatives Flo. Even in vegetarian restaurants my daughter often has difficulty getting a vegan option and in ordinary restaurants or cafes she invariably ends up with salad and chips.

Strangely enough our local bookshop /cafe will always provide a vegan meal. We went for Sunday lunch and she had a lovely main course - the dessert on offer (apart from ice cream) was a crumble and they offered her some stewed fruit with vegan custard - she appreciated their efforts and I was really impressed.

Why can't other places be like that - it wasn't hugely difficult, just took a little effort.

As for local meat - I've moaned about it before - we're surrounded by farmland - sheep and cows - and can't buy local meat for love nor money. It all seems to get send down south.