Sustainable Thornbury Logo
Caring about the future of our community
Home pageWho we areWhat we are doing Events How to joinMeetingsGroups and ProjectsHints and TipsDiary datesWhat we have donePressUseful links Contact us

Local Food

Local food is important to us because it is more sustainable and it gives us local resilience. Local food is usually fresher; we know where it comes and what has been done to it. We also want to support our local farmers and ensure they make a decent living and know they can sell the food they grow. 

The term food miles is used to describe the distance our food comes from farm to plate. We want to minimise our food miles. If our food comes in lorries from distant warehouses or in ships and aeroplanes from far-flung countries then we are causing climate change. We are also making ourselves dependent on cheap plentiful oil and on trade with distant places. If oil prices rise suddenly or exchange rates change then our food supplies could get very expensive or disappear. While it is reasonable to bring luxuries from hotter countries, we believe we should try to get our basics from nearer home.

We have put together some hints and tips on where to get local food.

We also manage the Thornbury Community Orchard.

Even better than buying local food is to grow your own, in your garden or on an allotment.

Thornbury Harvest Co-operative Ltd

Some members of Sustainable Thornbury have been working with the Sheiling School in Thornbury to set up a local food scheme in Thornbury called Thornbury Harvest Co-operative. It is producing vegetables and looking for new members to eat them. 

The idea is called Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). The farmers and consumers work closely together; the farmer gets a guaranteed market for the crop while the consumers know how the food was grown and pay a modest price for local food.