On the 3rd of September we will be hosting the fourth Love Local Trust Local Food Awards at the Dorset County Show Members Pavilion. It makes us very happy to be celebrating and showcasing what has been grown and produced right here in Dorset.
In the UK we do not celebrate our food anywhere near as much as we should! The food that is produced in our homeland is absolutely world class.
Last autumn I wrote an article about American Thanksgiving celebrations, and how much I admired those traditions and the appreciation of the food on their tables. I truly believe that if we celebrated more of our own British food from our fisherman and farmers, it would bring so much more awareness of what we produce here in England.
Rishi Sunak hosted a Farm to Fork Summit at Downing Street recently, and he is planning to make this an annual showpiece event (as long as he is still at No 10). This is wonderful news and incredibly welcome. But wouldn’t it be nice if we could make it a proper national celebration just like American Thanksgiving? It would definitely help people become more aware of what we British food producers and farmers do to put food on all our tables.
Making sense of it
I also have to once again say congratulations to Jeremy Clarkson on his new series. I love the fact that this series has given our British food sales a real boost. It’s exactly what we need people to think about when they are buying from the supermarkets.
They need to look at what is in season, buy it locally, cook it themselves and enjoy it. It’s as simple as that.
We have had the wettest 18 months since 1836… yet other countries are worried that they’ve had the driest of winters and won’t have enough water to see them through this summer. The planet and climate are all over the place and nothing makes sense.
In the middle of all this, please remember that our farmers are out on the front line in all this extreme weather, still trying to produce food for our country.
British farming leads the world in food security and production standards. We should all be very proud.
And that date for your diary is 3rd September 2024. If you would like to come and support us on this evening please contact us by e-mail info@lovelocaltrustlocal.co.uk or phone 07831 184920.
Barbara Cossins
Founder, Love Local Trust Local
