THIS meal, pictured right, could have travelled nearly 11,000 miles to reach Guernsey, or it could have travelled fewer than five. Islanders are today being urged by a grower with more than 40 years’ experience to help the battle against unnecessary food miles by sticking to local produce.
Dave Gorvel, who sells locally grown produce at the farmers’ markets, said meat, fruit and vegetables produced locally were of a higher quality. He said there were a number of benefits to supporting local produce.
‘If food has come 10,000 miles, we have to look at the damage it has done. It’s really up to each individual to start thinking about it,’ he said.
‘You have to look at the air miles and lorries travelling from one country to another to bring us something that you could grow locally.’
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12 Article Comments
Maybe its time to start dusting off the old vineries. Guernsey has acres of productive land sat waiting to be used for food production.
Supply chain economics will dictate when they become viable again.
For once we should thank the IDC/Environment they were never covered in houses over the last 25yrs. They might need clearing of weeds and repairing but at least Guernsey has the potential to grow a significant amount of produce should imported food costs start to rise above a critical level.
Coupled with more intensive animal rearing, local fishing using small boats and tidal power, the island may have a chance to be more sustainable in the next 50yrs.
Dan
I see your point but where exactly is the labour going to come from to produce food in our derelict vineries ? We have full employment and a restriction on population growth and food production is highly labour-intensive. Whether we like it or not until this island becomes a backwater for other reasons, its always going to be cheaper to import our food because local labour costs will be prohibitive. Who’s going to give up their existing jobs to go ad work in a vinery at a wage level which would make the food production financially viable ? I just don’t see it.
I have to agree with David - it’s not going to happen any time soon. And while buying local obviously makes sense for then few local producers - a frenetic pace of life means we don’t have time to cook from scratch from local produce - so imported ready-to-cook items are what we turn to.
Plus more intensive farming, particularly livestock farming, will increase CO2 and methane emissions locally - so that would just cause another outcry!
Get the finance industry to invest in it. I’m sure there are many young folk cruising through temp and filing work who would rather be doing something more honest than pushing round a piece of paper and stamping ‘done’ on it.
How does that work then Lawrence? I can just see the long queue of young finance industry earning 20k plus fringe benefits rushing to the greenhouses and fields to earn 15k a year with no fringe benefits, hoping that the finance industry will make up the 8k a year difference between the two packages so that the youngster can afford to feed himself. I can confidently predict that your idea won’t get very far.
I recognise that labour costs currently deter large-scale commercial food production on our old vinery sites. However, the potential for some sites to be redeveloped as allotments (with parish business or even States support ?!) might prove attractive to many locals whose day jobs offer little satisfaction.
In addition, such a scheme could utilise community resources to clear, repair or rebuild greenhouses for a more sustainable form of hobby farming before the vast reserve of local horticultural expertise is lost as our growers become older. It could also furnish our families and the very popular Fairfield market with additional fresh produce free of excessive food miles.
Any financial institutions interested in such a sustainable charity?
But David, are you implying that the system should be so screwed toward the finance sector, that people can’t grow food due to economic necessity? Isn’t that an absurdity? We keep on getting told how well the sector is doing. How is anyone benefitting? People need to understand that the current bubble that has burst has systematically destroyed the model to which we were all supposed to abide by, the good years were not enjoyed by the majority. It’s about time those responsible are forced to funnel the cash into the community and you will well achieve smallholder growth and the incentivisation of the Guernsey people.
Otherwise, as the economic troubles rumble on, the sector will be seen as ever more parasitic to honest hardworking people.
Lawrence we are talking here about the Guernsey economy. On what basis do you claim that “the bubble has burst”? The global stock markets may have fallen sharply but all that has happened here so far is a slowing down in the net rate of positive growth. Our finance industry is so diverse these days, particularly the fund sector, that new funds are still being set up to buy financial assets at distressed prices. A slowing down in the rate of growth in the Guernsey economy now and again is rarely a bad thing but I don’t see any signs that the Guernsey bubble is bursting and so I don’t see hundreds or even dozens of finance industry staff switching to an agricultural or horticultural career to earn a replacement living.
David, why are the essential workers on strike? It’s because Guernsey cannot afford them. Tell me how that makes us a strong economy? Reeling off receipts stats is only a piece of the jigsaw. The fact is that Treasury is in a hole and that hole will be made worse in this current global climate. To say that Guernsey is not unaffected by the credit debacles is false. Funds doing well does not help the low paid.
Our success is only as good as our weakest member of society. They are on strike. Have you taken a pay cut recently? Oh it was bonus time recently, no? There is no fairness nor proportionality in Guernsey. We are reaping that now.
Nice discussion - here’s another one - what about the prison population clearing out some old vineries ready for use as free allotments?
Idle hands are doing nothing but costing £40k a year to keep locked up and even the ultra-politically correct UK is considering making the long term unemployed carry out community projects.
I wasn’t suggesting that finance workers leave well paid jobs and flock to the nearest vinery but maybe the States/relevant firms/private groups should start supporting the redevelopment of vineries into community projects and allotments for residents.
You can’t build on them so why not use them once economics and public support for local foods gain momentum.
Sean McManus’ suggestion that the re-agriculturalisation of Guernsey ought to be a charity case. This is as far as it will get with David’s idea that the real world only wants M&S ready meals and cash to buy more unnecessary luxuries.
But it makes sense to appease the growth worshippers if they control the purse. I think it would be great for the banks to sponsor a rejuvenation of the vinery sites, there are some old heads out there that would know what they were doing, and would be willing I’m sure.
At a PR level I’m certain it would attract more attention than another Golf jolly.
But it’s a shame that vital community services are being driven by charity. Guernsey has lost its values.
Some good ideas floating around here - let’s be positive and go with the allotment idea, plus prison work details and how about a scheme using the unemployed. those hoping to return to work, etc. Look at the success of Grow Ltd as an example. Maybe the Guernsey Conservation Volunteers would help/and other organisations. It is high time Guernsey got back to its roots!