Four community-owned village shops in West Oxfordshire will be launching themselves as venues for purchasing local food with free samples of strawberries and cream on Saturday 17 June.

Using strawberries from Rectory Farm in Stanton St. John and cream from Upper Norton Jersey Farm in Church Hanborough, the four shops at Tackley, Finstock, Chadlington and Ascott are celebrating a brand-new scheme to help promote local food.  The scheme, which is funded by West Oxfordshire Network LEADER+, aims to point customers in the direction of food produced by local farmers, growers, bakers and brewers including meats, eggs, honey, flour, beers, wines, cakes and vegetables.

The scheme works by identifying products and produce from within a 30 mile radius using a bright new eye-catching logo [below].  Shelf labelling will also help customers to identify local food.

The four shops, which have been trialling the scheme, all have a good range of local food.  Mary Brunt, the manager of the Three Villages Shop at Finstock said; “local food is very popular in our shop.  When we started identifying local products as part of this scheme we found that customers came in especially to buy them and the amount we stock has risen.  Our community is really keen to support local farmers and this project is a fun way to help them to do just that.”

The Plunkett Foundation’s James Pavitt who is managing the project in partnership with the Oxfordshire Rural Community Council and the Oxfordshire Food Group, said; “shops that are owned and run by their local communities are ideal venues for local food promotion because they have a natural affinity with local people and businesses.  We have been measuring the quantities of local food sold in these shops and as much as 28% of fruit and vegetables they stock are grown locally.  Compare that with the figure of less than 5% stocked by supermarkets!”

The signage and labels and promotions will be in the shops from Monday June 12. Customers are invited to come and sample local strawberries and cream on Saturday June 17 between 11am and 1pm at Tackley, Finstock, Chadlington and Ascott community-owned shops.

The project team would like to encourage as many local food growers or producers as possible to take part in this free scheme.  Anyone interested in supplying local village shops with quality produce should please contact James Pavitt at the Plunkett Foundation on 01993 814 376.

The new logo which will be found on or near local food at Ascott, Tackley, Chadlington and Finstock village shops from June 12

Notes to Editors:

1. Photo opportunities:  The shops at Finstock, Tackley, Ascott and Chadlington will be available for photographs from Monday June 12.  Please contact James Pavitt at the Plunkett Foundation on 01993 814 376 to organise times for photographs.

2. The new logos are available as JPEGS and can be emailed to you.  Please email james.pavitt@plunkett.co.uk if you would like a JPEG copy.

3. The advantages of local food have been identified as:

·     It helps to preserve local diversity, landscape and culture

·     The produce is fresher and transportation is reduced

·     Buying locally boosts local economies and in particular the farming and small business sector

4. Project funding is provided by West Oxfordshire Network LEADER+ from the EU and EAGGF, with additional matched funding provided by DEFRA, SEEDA and Oxfordshire Business Link.  The project team gratefully acknowledges the support it has received for this project from funders and the LEADER+ group.

5. West Oxfordshire Network Leader+ is an EU funded programme to improve the quality of life for people living in rural communities.

6. The project is being run by a partnership between the Oxfordshire Rural Community Council, the Oxfordshire Food Group and the Plunkett Foundation. 

7. The Plunkett Foundation is an international charity whose mission is to improve rural livelihoods through co-operative and social enterprise. Plunkett has extensive practical experience of working with partners from the private sector to create sustainable solutions to rural problems such as the closure of village shops, the lack of public transport and the growing disconnection between food and farming.

8. Oxfordshire Rural Community Council (ORCC) is an independent, county-based organisation.  The basic aim of ORCC is to promote thriving, sustainable rural communities and to alleviate the disadvantage experienced by many people in the Oxfordshire area.

9. The Oxfordshire Food Group (OFG) was set up in response to the ambition of local consumers and producers to promote our local food more widely. Over the past three years they have developed an active programme of advice and support for local producers, and have succeeded in promoting Oxfordshire’s wonderful range of local produce to ever-increasing numbers of local people and visitors.