If all our food came from within 20km of where we live, we could save £1.2 billion every year in environmental and congestion costs. And that’s just from food shopping, what about the other products we so often fill our baskets with?

Buying locally means our products don't have to travel as far. Food products in our aisles are often transported to us via air, sea or land and the journeys use enormous amounts of fossil fuels. But it’s not just transport that can be reduced by buying local produce. The fact that food can be transported and stored more easily often means less plastic packaging is used to keep food fresh and saleable. Plastic is made of fossil fuels, and less plastic packaging means less waste getting into our seas and harming our wildlife. 

Top tips!

1. Reduce your food waste.
2. Find out where people are selling local produce in your area, and see what's on offer. 
3. Eat less meat and focus on buying better quality meat where you can.
4. Whether you drink oat milk, soya, hazelnut or dairy - use your local milk delivery service! You'll be reusing glass bottles instead of single-use plastic ones and reducing the miles that it travels to reach you.
5. Check which fruit and vegetables are in season - it's more likely they'll be sourced at the right time of year.
6. You could sign up for a local veg box that gives you excess or 'ugly' produce.
7. When shopping check the country of origin on labels.
8. Look for products that use less plastic packaging.
9. Grow your own produce.

Buying local often means that you'll also be buying more seasonal produce, which is often tastier too!