Local food producers wanted for New Directory

A NEW North Coast food initiative is keen to hear from food producers in the Coleraine area.

With the importance of buying “local food” becoming an increasingly recognised issue in today’s environmentally-conscious world, the four councils in Moyle, Coleraine, Ballymoney and Limavady have joined forces to promote quality local food and to increase its consumption in the North Coast area.

With support from the Northern Ireland Regional Food Programme, “Naturally North Coast” not only recognises that buying directly from local producers helps to ensure that our food is fresh, nutritious, tasty and traceable, but that it also supports local businesses and benefits our local economy.

The “Naturally North Coast” initiative builds on the successes of the Menu of Moyle project, and will see the production of a local food directory and online database as well as the production of a range of local food recipe ideas.

Speaking about the initiative, Margaret Craig of Moyle District Council, which is leading the project said: “While previous research carried out by Menu of Moyle has unearthed invaluable information on a range of local goods from meat and fish to preserves, chutneys, cheese, confectionery, vegetables and herbs, we are still keen to get more information from food producers from throughout the four council region.”

The information compiled will form the basis of a high quality regional food directory and will be backed up by a web based database which will help promote the wealth of home grown produce from the North coast area.

Appealing for the support of local producers, Margaret said: “If you are a producer in the Coleraine Borough that offers fresh, home grown, farm-produced or home-made products, please get in touch with us and we will add you to our list. “Your details will be stored our database and actively promoted online and via the new “Naturally North Coast” Local Food Producers Directory, which will form the basis for the future promotion of the finest local produce from the North Coast region.”

To have your information included in the local producers directory and online database, or to find out more about the “Naturally North Coast” initiative, please contact Janice Harper on 7188 6131 or email [email protected].