Why you should buy local this Christmas

There are many reasons for buying your festive food and drink from local suppliers.

Christmas is the biggest food event of the year, and it’s very tempting to go straight to the largest local supermarket and get everything at once.

But hold on. There are other ways to get that food into the fridge, and they come with economic and environmental benefits, making for a win-win Christmas.

Save money

At Christmas time, it’s inevitable that you will spend more than you intended. There are just so many goodies around that are so hard to say no to, and it's always so easy to persuade yourself that you and your family deserve a treat after a hard year's work.

But you could save a bit more cash by buying locally. Anthony Davison of local shop directory BigBarn (pictured left) says that “supermarkets like us to believe that they are always the best value option, but that’s normally not the case.” Which makes sense when you think that you remove the expense of the supply chain by going direct to your local farm shop.

Anthony also points out that the produce in farm shops, in most cases, has “travelled from plot to plate in the shortest possible time”, so you’re getting the freshest deal around. That also reduces the fuel expended in getting the food from the farm to your house.

More perks

If convenience is important, more and more local shops offer pre-orders and home delivery, in part to compete with what the supermarkets offer. Anthony says that you can now pre-order from “good butches, grocers and farm shops and pick them up on Christmas Eve, thereby avoiding the arguments over that last bag of sprouts in the supermarket.”

And if you can get the food delivered to your doorstep, you can put your feet up with a glass of mulled wine and wait for the doorbell to ring.

It’s easy to ensure that you’re buying a turkey that was raised with high welfare standards by seeing which turkey suppliers are close to you and checking out their credentials. Many suppliers on BigBarn’s listings follow organic and/or free range practices, so you can put your weight not only behind your local suppliers, but their ethical practices too.

Savour new flavours

By exploring the produce on offer in your local farmers’ markets and shops, it’s very likely you’ll find hidden gems that you never knew were right on your doorstep. You might expand your Christmas cheeseboard with some artisanal offerings, discover a delicious local wine, or maybe even get hold of something really special, like lobster, for a decent price.

By shopping around near your own home, you’re also boosting the local economy, and making sure that the produce you enjoy this year continues to be available in the future, so that you can enjoy it again next Christmas. 

Will you be sourcing your Christmas dinner from local businesses this year? Let us know your plans in the Comments below.

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