When we first created FoodFit, we didn’t just want to provide fresh meals delivered to your door. We also wanted to source local produce that follows the seasons. Using local seasonal produce in our bespoke meal plans has lots of benefits for our customers, the environment and the local economy and here are some of the main
ones.
Lower food miles
Food miles are the distance your food has travelled before it gets to your plate. If food
has been grown or produced locally, it has much lower food miles compared to food that
has come from abroad.
If you take a good look at the produce in your local supermarket, you might be very
surprised to see exactly where it’s come from and how many food miles it’s clocked up
as a result.
The produce we use to create our menus hasn’t clocked up hundreds or thousands of
food miles before it makes it onto your plate. It’s all produced in the UK by British
suppliers, with ingredients that are in season rather than sourcing from abroad.
Better for the environment
Lower food miles also have an important role to play for the environment and protecting
the planet against the effects of climate change.
Lower food miles means less pollution, lower emissions and less packaging, all of which
helps reduce climate change. Choosing local food means you’re doing your bit for the
planet, as well as looking after yourself that little bit more.
A superior taste experience
Local produce is food at its best. It retains more nutrients than food that was travelled a
long way. It’s still fresh and highly nutritious when it enters our kitchen and even more
importantly, when it’s delivered to you. This gives the best taste experience, as well as
being healthier.
Studies have looked at the nutritional quality of broccoli after it had been harvested
locally and when it had been travelled from much further afield. There was a marked
difference in the vitamin C content of both varieties, which backs up the changes in
nutritional value.
This isn’t the case with much of the produce you might buy from the supermarket. It’s
often well-travelled before it reaches the shelves and it’s constantly losing freshness
and nutrients. By the time it’s bought, it can be well past its best and not the great
source of nutrition you imagine it to be.
Local ingredients also make meals more fun. Local produce that’s seasonally inspired
adds a lot of variety to mealtimes. You won’t get bored with the same bland meals on
repeat as the seasonal ingredients will change every few months. It keeps things
interesting!
More control over ingredients
There’s more control with local produce too. Because the growth and production occurs
close to home, it’s much easier to know how the food is produced. If your food is
travelling huge distances to reach you, it can be almost impossible to know whether it’s
been treated with pesticides, for example.
Plus, there are no worries about what may have been used to treat ingredients en route.
Produce that will be racking up plenty of food miles are often picked when they’re not
quite ripe and given artificial ripeners such as ethylene gas. There’s no need to worry
about this with local produce, which can be picked for optimum freshness and won’t be
travelling far.
You know exactly what’s in your food and you can trust what you’re eating when local
ingredients are the key focus. Locally grown food is definitely the way to go if you want
peace of mind about the food you put in your body.
Supporting the local economy
Sourcing and buying local produce puts money back into the local economy and that’s
incredibly important to us as a company.
We’re proud supporters of the Taste of the West initiative, which champions local
producers in the South West. By using our network of trusted suppliers on such a
regular basis, the commitment to local supports the local community, boosts their profits
and keeps more money in the South West economy. If you buy local as a consumer,
you’re doing the same thing too.
