Making good choices is food for thought

Published on Monday 29 October 2007 01:14

CONSUMERS must deal with responsibility as well as choice. Choice comes in many forms, whether from a purely personal standpoint or from a society or community perspective.

Given urban living and modern lifestyles, it is understandable that many of us consume without necessarily having regard for the source of food they eat. In many instances they will have had limited input into its creation.

However, if we change the mindset, eating becomes an act of co-production. As with most supply chain relationships, collaboration, trust and service support are vital. But so too is knowledge, quality, environmental awareness and sensitivity, plus equality between trading partners and fairness of return.

So let's re-enter the realm of personal food shopping and consider what we may want for the future, taking account of stakeholder interests. We bring with us a range of views, from eco-warrior to intelligent couch-potato, and face an apparent contradiction between the need for convenience, ease of shopping, access by car and cashless payment set against authenticity, traceability, direct support for small scale producers, all-weather outdoor participation and endurance.

Are all these considerations compatible? Yes.

Depending on where you are on the continuum of food shopping and recycling, try taking one or two steps forward. Urge your friends and colleagues to do likewise. But please don't all crush forward at once - the farmers' market supply infrastructure is relatively short on resources and we don't want to disappoint.

From the supplier side, producers and farmers' market organisers must continue to be pro-active listeners and take bold commercial decisions which embrace innovation, greater flair and creative marketing and enhanced methods of communication.

We must continue to ask ourselves: "What business are we in?"

We are in the health and education business when it comes to local farm food for school meals. In other ways we are in the tourism business, with 15 farmers' markets accredited by Visit Scotland and our activities meeting the criteria of "authenticity of experience" vaunted by researchers and scenario planners.

Consumers: please challenge us to provide services that improve your shopping and eating experience, such as giving information on cooking techniques or bundled purchases for meals and menus with home-delivery options. In turn, we will challenge you gently to experiment, take a deeper interest in what you are buying and how it has been produced.

Please take more proactive control of your personal buying habits and patterns. If we all make small changes to our lives, the cumulative effects economically and environmentally can be dramatic.

Scotland's farmers' market movement and associated local fresh food supply chains and outlets have come a long way in the past decade.

They give producers the opportunity to receive full value by selling directly to the consumer, making the food chain more robust by shortening it.

Visit local accredited farmers' markets and other locally run food outlets, where we would urge you to spend some of your hard-earned money.

The Scottish Association of Farmers' Markets website, www.scottishfarmersmarkets.co.uk has a useful calendar of markets organised by its own members, while your local authority has details of others.

The rewards for your effort will be a strengthened supplier base, ongoing economic regeneration and, hopefully, better and healthier feelings for you. We may all end up wiser.

• Howard Wilkinson is co-owner of Petrie Fine Foods, a small artisan vegetarian/gluten free food business. He is also chair of the Ayrshire Food Network, vice chair of the Scottish Association of Farmers' Markets, and a leader of the Tourism Innovation Group food and drink team. www.ayrshirefarmersmarket.co.uk