Cloughmills 'Grows its Own'

The idea is to provide information to the community as to what foodstuffs are locally produced and/or can be purchased directly from the producer.

The growing, processing, transporting and disposing of subsequent food waste accounts for up to 1/3 of all consumption related green house gas emissions in the UK.

If you consider that one tonne of strawberries flown into the UK requires 300 times more energy to produce and transport than one tonne of locally grown strawberries! Buying local, seasonal and organic foods has community economic, health and environmental benefits.

If you buy from local food producers, you help keep more money in the economy and support the retention of jobs in the area. Checking for seasonal foods is better for everyone because they tend to:

be fresher, tastier and more nutritious

require less energy in production and transport

be less expensive as transport costs can be avoided

keep jobs alive within our community.

Patrick Frew, Cloughmills Community Action Team, added: ‘We have big plans for this food project and have already started on our community garden. We want to ensure residents are aware of and have an opportunity to buy locally produced foods and this directory. If you produce anything at all, from cheese to chutney, we want to help you promote it.’

Declan Donnelly, Ballymoney Borough Council concluded by saying: ‘This food directory can make a major contribution to the Cloughmills community, increasing the amount of money available in the village economy and ensuring residents are able to access good quality foodstuffs. It will also ultimately help reduce food and packaging waste as well as CO2 emissions.’

If you live within 8 miles of Cloughmills and would like to be included, please contact any committee member, leave you details on the website or email [email protected]