The BBC (which is being discussed elsewhere on the forum!) has got hold of the results of a survey which suggests that consumers are demanding more local food:

A new survey made available to BBC News suggests that food shoppers are becoming more concerned about green issues and there has been quite a marked shift in the last year.

The poll, with responses from more than 5,000 shoppers, was carried about by the market research firm Nielsen.

The research is made available to supermarket management teams and regarded by them as an authoritative guide to our shopping habits.

The survey shows that 57% actively try to buy local products, up from 48% six months earlier. Some 46% said it was worth paying extra for ethically-produced goods or those seen as kind to the environment.

On organic produce, 83% of respondents had purchased at least one item over the last year. But only 21% thought it was worth paying more for organic goods, a reduction on a previous poll.

Thanks Isabel for these little snippets to prompt discussion and provide information.

So ! 57% actively try to buy local products up from 48% six months ago. This is good news and we shouldn't be churlish despite the fact that we don't know WHAT the 57% are doing in pursuit of local products.

It would, for example, be helpful to know how the revenue of local butchers and greengrocers (both of whom buy local product) has risen to reflect the activity of this 57%.

Having worked in market research I'm always sceptical about what participants say and what they do.

as a tractor driver workong on a farm that grows parsnips, turnips and wheat as a break crop, you could say that i do have a vested interest in the local produce, i'm proud to be part of the team where i work and love the job i do, and do my upmost to support by buing local veg and only uk meat but why oh why is it htat when the words local appear in farmers markets,farm shops does it increase the price???

Surely transport costs and hopefully the middle man has been cut out so shouldnt the selling price be just that bit under supermarket prices so as to attract more than the middle classes???

If anything the prices at these places seems higher than supermarkets so what is there really to attract the masses??? Come on lets not shoot our selves in the foot and kill this fledgling market...

In a reply to Bonehead. It seems that as soon as farmers take off their boiler suits and don an apron and straw hat and stand behind a market stall , they forget thet they are farmers trying to add a margin to their great produce . they think that they are retailers and have to sting the poor public for every penny that they can squeeze out of them. I am a great beleiver in Farmers sticking to what they do best and farm,( with enough income to do so) and retailers doing their job properly, making a realisic margin also.

Corky has put his finger on something fundamental, In that there are profound differences between the retailer's mentality and that of the poducer. This may be simply explained when one realises that the retailer has to maximise variety and options, whereas the producer needs to reduce variety and standardise methods and products.

There are therefore two conflicting points of view, and these are normally reconciled through the market mechanism. Unfortunately, that mechanism is now weighted heavily in favour of the retailer, and this is because Politicians have let the market become unbalanced.

Instead of preventing the growth of monopolies (or oligopolies) politicians allowed, and possibly encouraged the increased power of the retail sector. A consequence of this inbalance is that retailers can now scour the world for products with a buying power based on their assured home customer base. On the other hand, the producer has not got a substantial home sales platform and therefore, cannot gear up to compete for foreign sales, or indeed home sales, even assuming he has what they need.

The UK producer has therefore, neither capital capacity nor systems to negotiate with the UK or foreign retail sector on an equal basis. Producers are very reliant on retailer good will, and a, 'if I touch my forelock Mr Tesco, will you please consider buying my product' approach. 

A level playing field, based on equal powers in the hands of the retailing and producing sectors must be established by our political parties. It is clear after nearly eleven years that the Labour Party will not provide this because it is in thrall to the Retail Sector, and has an emotional and irrational antipathy to country folk.

Whether the Tories will, I know not.