Fine Dining On Your Doorstep

We carry on with our series of articles that look into how using local producers could save money while improving the quality of the food on our tables and our general health.

Everything has to start somewhere and where better to start than close to home.

Community Supermarkets

When The People's Supermarket hit our screens on Channel 4, at the start the idea worked a lot better in theory and getting people motivated was the highest hurdle to jump.

A year on and the supermarket is starting to thrive, offering, not only its members but the whole community, an alternative to the supermarket giants.

It also helps to promote local producers and serves fresh lunches, made using produce that could normally be thrown out as waste - because it has been collected in abundance or failed to sell that week but is still perfectly safe for human consumption.

If you have ever walked past the back of a supermarket and witnessed the food piles being sent for disposal you will appreciate this a whole lot more.

Grow Your Own

We are also beginning to see a resurrection in the amount of allotments being reclaimed and farmed in urban and inner city areas, as well as those further afield.

It is not just the older generation tending the land - to pass a few retirement hours, the younger generation are also beginning to learn how to grow their own produce and are starting to take over where their grandparents have left off.

Harvest Brighton & Hove have taken this one step further and positively encourage its members to grow their own and share their surplus crops by creating an entire online community.

Incorporating advice on what is the best project to become involved in, as well as on-hand advice and a check list of local producers and places to eat that support the scheme - this is a positive move to taking back control of where their food comes from.

No Garden?

With waiting lists for allotments growing rapidly and the lack of garden space available to many people - what can be done?

If you find yourself without a garden, think about joining a landshare scheme.

Many people with gardens are willing to share, for numerous different reasons. Some people simply don't have the time or ability to tend their gardens any longer and are looking to 'partner up' with those who are searching for a plot to grow their own.

The Future

If enough people within each community started to use local produce then there would be more demand for it.

With more demand, local farmers and shops, who grow and sell fresh food for our tables, may just stay open for business.

To grow together communities have to pull together and with enough effort - maybe - we could rival many of the major supermarkets on price and quality.