Oxford is my world Your – Guide to saving the planet!

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FOOD

What we eat, and where it comes from, can have a great impact on the environment. Supermarkets tend to stock the same food all year round so it's easy to forget that most fresh food is seasonal and any food grown out of season uses much more energy to produce and will probably have to travel further. Not only that but food you might expect to be produced locally; such as apples and lamb, may have literally travelled half the way around the world to end up in your shopping basket.

In fact even produce from the UK can travel up to 400 miles to be packaged and stored before hitting the supermarket shelves. This is why the most environmentally friendly action you can take when shopping for food is to buy local food from local suppliers. This way you can be helping both the local economy and the environment!

Very Easy

• - Try to buy locally produced seasonal food. Some supermarkets have been increasing the number of local suppliers used, such as The Midcounties Co-operative's Local Harvest scheme.
• - Try shopping locally once a month, or every week for a month, you might be surprised by the prices and the choice! See the details of local markets and vegetable box schemes below.
• - Some farmers' markets are comparable in price to supermarkets: The East Oxford Farmers' Market, every Saturday from 12–3pm, sells good value fresh produce which has come from within 30 miles of Oxford. There is also a farmers' market in Gloucester Green on the 1st and 3rd Thursdays of the month, one at Wolvercote Primary School every Sunday and a new Headington Farmer's Market on the fourth friday of the month (except December).
• - Elder Stubbs garden group sell their allotment produce every Thursday morning.
• - For more information about local food contact the Oxfordshire Food Group for your copy of the latest Berks, Bucks and Oxon Food Guide.

Fairly Easy

• - If you want to stop shopping in supermarkets altogether, The Ecologist magazine gives advice on how you can do it.
• - There are also plenty of good quality organic vegetable box schemes in the area. It's better to choose a local rather than a national scheme as they support local farmers and involve lower ‘food miles’.
• - Try local schemes from Tolhurst Organic Produce, North Aston Organics or Sandy Lane Farm.
• - There are several high quality butchers in Oxford who sell local and organic meat including Fellers in the Covered Market, Alders on Cowley Road and Alcock's in Summertown.
• - Try visiting Medley Manor Farm, a short walk from the city centre, where you can pick your own and buy ready-picked produce including strawberries, new potatoes and garlic. Opening times and produce depend on the time of year.

Not Quite So Easy

• - If you can afford to, buy locally produced organic food. Organic fruit and vegetables are not treated with ‘artificial chemicals’: such as pesticides and herbicides, which pollute our soil and waterways and are very energy intensive to produce. The Soil Association is a good source of information about local organic food.
• - How better to reduce your food miles than to grow your own vegetables, you can either grow them in your back garden or you can rent an allotment for as little as £7.50 a year!
• - For more information on allotments contact Oxford City Council.
• - For handy hints and tips on how to grow your own vegetables try the BBC's website or programmes or look in your local library or second hand bookshop.
• - You don't need lots of room to grow your own; if you don't have a garden or allotment you can grow herbs or chillies in pots and window boxes.
• - Organise a vegetable box scheme for you and your colleagues at your place of work, Tolhurst Organic Produce supply bags of vegetables from around £6 and deliver to workplaces.
• - Get involved in creating a City Farm; plans are being developed to create a City Farm in Cutteslowe. The farm will host a variety of garden crops and animals and aims to become self-sufficient. It will also provide opportunities for visitors to explore solar, wind power and a state of the art water management system.

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