4 Jul 2008
Second Totnes Local Food Guide Launched
Last week saw the launch of the 2nd Totnes local food directory, entitled “A Celebration of Local Food: Totnes guide to local food, shopping, eating out and places to stay”. The first directory was published around the same time last year, and provided shoppers with information to support their sourcing of local food and support for local shops. This second revised and updated directory, produced by Transition Town Totnes along with the Totnes Development Trust, was funded by an award from the National Lottery’s ‘Awards for All’ scheme and now includes bed and breakfasts, pubs and advice on what foods are in season at different times of year.
The Guide was launched on what was thankfully a drier Friday morning than the launch of the first guide (when it tipped down), and took place on the steps of Totnes Civic Hall. It began with a short talk by the new Mayor of Totnes, Cllr Pam Barnes, who spoke about the importance of local food and how Totnes has so much to celebrate in terms of its vibrant local food culture.
Then Helena Norberg-Hodge of the International Society for Ecology and Culture put the work in Totnes and the directory in the context of globalisation, arguing that rather than a decision to source local food meaning unemployment for the farmers of the Third World, in reality it means a withdrawal of support from an exploitative system of food production which is highly oil dependent and is ravaging both communities and planet. It is only by supporting local food and its producers, she argued, that we can begin to reclaim control of the way in which it is produced.
The final speaker was Noni McKenzie from TTT’s food group, one of those behind the production of the directory. She talked about the power of personal choice, the power that we can reclaim when we shop locally, and the knock on benefits of supporting our local economies rather than creating a demand for oil and the resultant wars fought in our names in order to secure access to it.
Finally, a group of children from the Grove School in Totnes sang two songs about food, which provided a great way to round off the launch. The directory was then available on the TTT stall which is run every Friday, and the press took their photos. The 44-page food guide, which includes colour maps and other colour sections, can be ordered from TTT for £1.50 plus £1 p&p (please make cheques payable to Transition Town Totnes). If you are in Totnes you can buy them in a range of food shops, where you also have the option of paying one crisp Totnes Pound for your copy.
Address for orders: Transition Town Totnes, 43 Fore Street, Totnes, Devon. TQ9 5HN. Any queries call 01803 867358.