I Like My Locally-Produced Welsh Beef

The vegetarians among you make not enjoy the subject matter of this post, but I've just found out that all meat that is used by UWA Hospitality Services comes from local Welsh farmers and cattle.

A flyer for Nosh Da - the late-night burger/pizza thing by Cwrt Mawr - popped through my door recently, including a line 'Locally-Made Char-Grilled Welsh Beef Burgers). That caught my attention - I think that part of achieving genuine sustainability is drawing upon the strengths of the local environment, and food (and food miles) is a key part of that.

It boggles the mind to read about lamb from New Zealand being air-freighted from half-way around the world to your supermarket, or tons of British tomatoes being exported to Germany while tons of German tomatoes are imported into the UK. The environmental and social costs of transport are rarely apropriately reflected in the actual price you pay for your food.

I asked Hospitality Services about this with a tinge of cynicism, I'll admit. After all, a Tesco in Bangor was criticized during the summer for advertising as 'local' any food from Wales, which would include food from South Wales, despite produce from across the border near Liverpool actually travelling less than food from the Vale of Glamorgan would.

Nevertheless, UWA Hospitality Services, I'm told, source all their meat(not just for Nosh Da) from a local butcher, Rob Rattray. He has a shop in Aber, on Chalybeate Street with an elegant blue frontage and recently won a national (Wales) award for the quality of the produce available. The main processing facility is in New Cross, Ceredigion (not far outside Aberystwyth, to the south-east). In this case it's probably not more than 5 to 10 miles away.

Why is this significant? Firstly, the distance over which food has to be transported - from farm to plate - is greatly reduced. This means less carbon dioxide emissions (contributing to climate change) and less carbon monoxide from the trucks themselves. Secondly, local farmers - in this case Rob Rattray - and the local community benefits from this trading relationship. Money spent on this produce is going back into the local economy, supporting employment and locally-based economic activity (rather than big, faceless chain stores based at the other end of the country). The money, essentially, stays longer in the area. Thirdly, local produce encourages seasonality - having the same produce available year round may be 'nice', but does little to our understanding and enjoyment of food. Having the same produce the whole year round dulls variety and doesn't give you anything to look forward to. Finally, this is a tangible demonstration of the value of procurement and giving something back to the local community - big purchasers, such as UWA, are able to dramatically boost local sustainability, encourage greener behaviour and set an example through its procurement choices.

A final word on local food - you can do it too! There's a good farmer's market along North Parade every first and third Saturday of the month, packed with local farmers bringing their own produce (jams, vegetables, meat (try the wild boar burgers for three pounds), bread, etc) to market, and there are places in town that expressly stock local food (Treehouse on Baker Street, for starters)

And, if you've not nothing better to do and food miles excite your imagination (as they do mine), there is an interesting DEFRA (Dept of Env, Food and Rural Affairs)-commissioned report on "The Validity of Food Miles as an indicator of Sustainable Development." The Farmer's Weekly magazine is also running a campaign billed 'Local Food is Miles Better'.

If this isn't enough, there was an exchange at the National Assembly for Wales a few weeks back between Mick Bates, AM for Montgomeryshire and First Minister Rhodri Morgan during First Minister's Questions on food miles (go to page 27).