Real local food

WORRIES over food miles can be eased thanks to a new organic food box available at Tesco in Ely and Budgens in Soham.

Hainey Farm, run by the Shropshire family for more than 50 years, is supplying organic boxes from its fields in Barway to selected stores nationwide.

The box contains a selection of 10 seasonal and organic salads, fruit and vegetables with different produce each week, all of which are listed on Shropshire's Foods website, www.shropshiresorganics.co.ukMost produce in summer comes direct from Shropshire's but in the winter months it may come from further afield. Due to the recent bad weather the ground has been too wet to plant new crops, which will have a knock-on effect later in the year, with the potato and onion harvests suffering.

Spokeswoman for Shropshire's, Alison Greenwood, said: "We try to get as much food as possible from our farm, but people have to understand that if they want to eat a lettuce in winter, chances are it comes from elsewhere. People have become so used to getting variety all year round through their supermarket, but if they really want to eat entirely local food in East Anglia it's going to involve a boring diet of broccoli throughout winter."

Shoppers are being encouraged to order the organic boxes as part of their weekly shop, or online at tesco.com. This cuts down on carbon footprints, the measured amount of carbons each person or item of food emits into the atmosphere.

To cut down on its own carbon footprint, Shropshire foods run a 'hitch a lift' policy with supermarket delivery vans, lowering road congestion.

None of the food sourced from abroad comes from air freight, and all of the recyclable packaging takes place at Turner's in Soham. The boxes are environmentally friendly from the ground to the kitchen table.