As Local As It Gets

Tuesday 3rd May

by: Debbie Ellen

In Manchester the contribution of food consumption to our carbon footprint averages at 10%, according to data provided by the Stockholm Environment Institute.  Making choices about where we buy our food from, where it has been grown and how it has been produced will make a significant difference to our carbon footprint.  

A gap in Greater Manchester’s local food map will be filled by a group of local people who are establishing a new Country Market for Greater Manchester.  Country Markets enable individual producers to sell home-made, home-grown and hand-crafted items locally and co-operatively, directly to the public.  With the increasing interest for local, seasonal food and other products that are very different to the mass produced offer of the high street it seems timely to have Country Markets in our region.

Our vision is to establish a new regional society for Greater Manchester, beginning with a stall on one of Manchester’s mobile markets. This offers us the flexibility of being able to run a market in places where our producers live, without needing to rent a fixed venue (something that many country markets do). The long term ambition is to have a number of regular country markets operating throughout Manchester and the other 9 metropolitan boroughs of Greater Manchester, with producers selling as locally as possible.  

Country Markets are very popular in more rural areas of the country, but have been less visible in  urban areas .  So, although there are 65 regional societies which operate local markets across England, involving 12,000 producers who produce food from locally grown, seasonal produce, there isn’t one country market anywhere in Greater Manchester. The combined turnover of Country Markets nationally is £10m and 90% of this goes back to producers themselves. It only costs 5p (yes 5 pence) for life membership of Country Markets and this includes Product and Public Liability Insurance.

The GM Country Market can be a showcase for the culinary diversity our city and region has to offer.  Following an initial meeting in March to publicise our plans and call for people to get involved we have over 50 potential producers including mozzerella and ricotta cheese (an italian man who now lives in Manchester and sees the potential of the green grass our climate provides to produce high quality milk for these cheeses). Another potential producer promises jerk sauce which it is claimed will rival a famous brand, others offer crafts made from recycled materials, plants raised in peat free compost, vegan baked goods, artisan bread… the list goes on.  We are organising a see and taste session in mid May to get an idea of what we can sell on our first market.

The group has visited existing markets and seen the value of having a direct connection with customers who come to buy a cake, or a loaf of bread made by a particular producer.  Jane said “People will queue up to buy from a particular producer who bakes the same loaf for each market or makes a particular type of preserve because they love their recipe”.

There are many different ethnic groups in Manchester – we would very much like to have people offering food and crafts that showcase the diversity of the region as producers. We would encourage anyone who is interested in finding out more about Country markets, how it all works, how they can become a producer to get in touch with us by email or visit our website FAQ page.

Debbie Ellen is a freelance researcher who focuses on sustainable food.  Debbie participated in the stakeholder groups (Sustainable Consumption and Green Infrastructure) which worked on writing Manchester A Certain Future in 2009. She is also a member of the Sustainable Food Steering Group, which focuses on the food actions within Manchester A Certain Future.