Question:
In a recent bulletin from WBC on fighting climate change much was made of the impact "food miles" have on our "carbon footprint". I quote:
"If you're looking for inspiration on how to reduce your food miles and lower your carbon footprint, look at these top sustainable tips:
* Choose food with fewer food miles
* Grow your own fruit, vegetables and herbs
* Share surplus food with friends, family and the local community
* Shop locally e.g. butchers, farmer's markets and local food stores
* Use refill shops to prevent plastic waste
* Only buy what you need to prevent food going to waste
* Turn leftover food into compost and use soil for growing your own food"
Have the Council also considered encouraging local farmers to grow local food on local farmland, to then be sold to local residents?
Minutes:
Question
In a recent bulletin from WBC on fighting climate change much was made of the impact "food miles" have on our "carbon footprint". I quote:
"If you're looking for inspiration on how to reduce your food miles and lower your carbon footprint, look at these top sustainable tips:
* Choose food with fewer food miles
* Grow your own fruit, vegetables and herbs
* Share surplus food with friends, family and the local community
* Shop locally e.g. butchers, farmer's markets and local food stores
* Use refill shops to prevent plastic waste
* Only buy what you need to prevent food going to waste
* Turn leftover food into compost and use soil for growing your own food"
Have the Council also considered encouraging local farmers to grow local food on local farmland, to then be sold to local residents?
Answer
Thank you for your question, Paul.
We acknowledge the significant impact that global mass production and consumption of food have on climate change and ecological systems. We also acknowledge the unprecedented pressure on our local land, to balance the demand for new homes and infrastructure with the need to make green spaces available to our community.
We do not directly liaise with farmers to encourage them to grow food on the Borough’s land and sell it to local residents, but as you’ll be aware, some already do. As a semi-rural local authority, we recognise the importance of growing food locally. This has positive implications on individuals and communities, including supporting the local economy, improving people’s health and wellbeing, reducing food waste and protecting biodiversity.
For this reason, the Council runs various initiatives to support local food production, including providing allotments to our residents, funded through s106 developer contributions. In the past 4 years, Wokingham has had several new allotment facilities added which new and existing residents have access to. Sites in Binfield Road, Mulbury Grove, Penny Grove, Shinfield Orchard Rise and Ifold Crescent include over 130 plots, providing residents with the opportunity to grow their own food on local land, benefitting them as well as their friends and families. Some allotments are also provided with compost toilets and solar power electricity, allowing residents to spend more time at the allotment.
There are local markets and farm shops around the Borough where local farmers can and do sell their produce, thus providing residents as well as visitors with fresh produce that has a low-carbon impact, whilst supporting the local economy.
Supplementary Question:
Given the imminent publication of the Local Plan in November, has it also occurred to Council to stop encouraging big owners of farmland such as the University of Reading, to stop them selling off their farmland to housing developers, and instead encourage them in, what would seem to me, to be their primary purposes i.e. education and research into better farming and food production methods?
Supplementary Answer:
Given that this relates to the Local Plan it would put me in a very difficult position to say anything on this, as I cannot predetermine any judgement on that Local Plan until it comes to Full Council for debate, so I am going to have to decline to give a detailed answer on that I am afraid.