Shop Local Food Blogging Challenge
The world has certainly grown smaller over the last few decades. Our food, especially in the West, is shipped to us from all over the place. For example, a trip to my local supermarket in Shetland presents soft fruits from Spain, fresh herbs from Israel, lemons from Argentina and lamb from New Zealand!
Lamb all the way from New Zealand?! A quick look outside my window shows me a field full of lambs, why are they sent from New Zealand? The effects of this mass transport of food has global implications. There is an unfair global distribution of food and the environmental damage caused by this transport is alarming.
This is in addition to the loss in food quality that occurs during transport. Vegetables harvested thousands of miles away lose much of their vitality by the time they get to your plate, whereas a courgette from your local veg box, harvested and eaten on the same day, is bursting with nutrition.
We don’t need to look thousands of miles away for produce as there is a wide array around us. Each of us have a favourite local producer, don’t we? Mrs. Smith and the home made marmalade she sells at the Farmer’s Markets, your local cheese maker at a pop-up stall in a shopping centre, your butcher down the road selling locally reared meats, your veg box provider, the crofter who sells her eggs at the end of her driveway, etc.
Here I give you a brand new food blogging challenge to promote your local food producers and share your recipes using their produce. This is the place to showcase the wonderful foods available where you live, where ever you live, worldwide.
The Rules:
1. Write your blog post showcasing an ingredient sourced locally and post your recipe url to the Linky at the bottom of the appropriate month’s challenge, including your email and the title of your recipe or post. Tell us a bit about where the ingredient came from, with a link to the producer too, if available.
2. Display the Shop Local badge (as shown below) to the relevant recipe post, with a link back to the monthly challenge post.
3. Add as many recipe links as you like, there’s no limit! Share the local producer love!
4. If you tweet your post, please mention #ShopLocal and @TangoRaindrop in your tweet – I will retweet all that I see.
5. The recipe can be one of your own or one you’ve seen elsewhere, but make sure to credit the source. You are very welcome to republish old recipes/posts but please add the information about this challenge as listed above with the Shop Local badge.
6. All entries will be added to a Pinterest Group Board – Shop Local
7. The challenge runs from the first day of the month to the last. A new challenge Linky will be added here at the beginning of each month for the following month’s challenge.
Mum of three, daydream adventurer, OU Life Sciences graduate, occasional crafter, ex-pat Canadian & quite possibly Britain's most northerly food blogger.
Magnolia Verandah says
Somehow I must of missed this but looks good. Maybe I will get organised for next month.
Karl Hall says
Hi
I am the owner of Building Your Kitchen (http://www.buildingyourkitchen.com/) and I really like your website.
I also have a website that offers great information on Do It Yourself kitchen design projects.
If you would like to exchange links, I would be happy to do so. Please let me know if this is something you would be
interested in.
The link information is:
Building Your Kitchen
http://www.buildingyourkitchen.com/
Thanks,
Karl.
Janice Pattie says
Just sneaking in at the end of the month!
Elizabeth S says
With a gorgeous entry too! Thank you Janice! 🙂
laura@howtocookgoodfood says
Oh this is fantastic, I will hope to add something that comes straight from my allotment. Now that is local ad organic and free!
Elizabeth S says
Splendid, thank you! 🙂
Choclette says
Oh yes Elizabeth, well done. This is a great challenge and a subject that is very close to my heart. It’s almost impossible to buy local chocolate, but I really do try to shop and buy local as much as possible for all sorts of reasons and you’ve named a few of them.
Elizabeth S says
Thanks Choclette. True, chocolate isn’t known as a UK product, is it! However, there are plenty local grown food chocolate pairs nicely with, I reckon. 🙂
Phil in the Kitchen says
Lovely idea. I do use a lot of local produce, but I don’t celebrate the fact enough. I’ll try to join in if the fates smile and circumstances allow.
Elizabeth S says
Thanks Phil, it’d be lovely if you joined in. 🙂
Anneli (Delicieux_fr) says
Oooh, what a brilliant new challenge! I love this idea! I really hope to be able to join in asap. x
Elizabeth S says
Thanks Anneli, I can’t wait to see what you make!
Linzi_Barrow says
Great, count me in too
Elizabeth S says
Splendid! 😀
Karen S Booth says
LOVELY new challenge and I will join in! Karen
Elizabeth S says
Excellent! Yay! Thank you 🙂
Jean says
Here in France it’s easy to get local produce. We are surrounded by goats cheese makers and dairies. Local farmers have a stall on the market and most days I find a gift of tomatoes, salad or haricots verts on the doorstep!
In the supermarkets local produce is clearly and proudly displayed. I can’t say the same for Tesco, our nearest supermarket back home! (Whose “love every mouthful” advertising campaign seems to me to be an attempt to restore customer confidence after the horsemeat fiasco whilst peddling the same old imported produce.)
So I should find it easy to take part in this challenge while we’re in France on holiday, but it could be more of a challenge when we get back home!
Elizabeth S says
I hear you! The French sound like they are leaps and bounds ahead of us in quality produce. It might be a bit of an adventure to seek out local produce where you live; stuff not available in the supermarkets.
belleau kitchen says
Brilliant new challenge and should be a breeze to participate in as I pretty much use local produce every day. Can’t wait for the roundup already!!!
Elizabeth S says
Yay! Thank you Dom, you’re the first person to link up to this new challenge. I’m so glad you like it! 😀