Let Local Food be a Token of Love this Valentine’s Day

We’re asking people to spread the love for local food and those working to put healthy, seasonal fayre on our tables this Valentine’s Day. Gather, the online North Lancs Food Hub has been taking a mid-winter break but not so for food producers and growers who have been battling record-breaking storms and are having to adapt their working practices constantly to ensure food can get to plates, that their staff say safe, and their businesses remain viable.

Since December, North Lancashire has experienced frequent severe storms and has highlighted the urgency to develop a local food system that works in harmony with nature and better able to withstand the erratic weather patterns caused by climate change.

Stormy winters saturate the ground increasing the risk of soil damage, and rotting produce whilst storms in other parts of the world can increase costs for ingredients or make them unavailable. Unseasonal weather patterns affect breeding cycles across the plant and animal chain which in turn affects food production and availability.

All the food producers at Gather are invested in regenerative farm and food practices, so they are producing healthy, nutrient-dense food which is good for people, place and the planet.

One of the key adaptations to increase the viability of these small-scale businesses has been to join forces and work together as a collective entity – and that is why Gather exists. By working collectively, producers can focus on what they do best – producing high quality, healthy food, pooling their knowledge to adapt to challenges, and giving them the power to determine realistic prices for their food. 

Bill Grayson, from the Morecambe Bay Conservation Grazing Company, explains ‘Building a local food system that links producers directly with consumers is probably the single most crucial thing we can all do to restore nature and our collective sense of self-determination and purpose.’

Jo Haughton from LESS CIC, the Gather Food Hub Communications Coordinator said, “Food has always been the ultimate token of love – and by buying food through Gather, people can help create a healthy, resilient food system for their community which is better protected from the global shocks of climate change’’

You can read more about how Gather’s food producers are adapting to the effects of climate change in the Spring edition of Thrive Magazine.

Gather reopens on Friday 7 February with first deliveries on Friday 14th – Valentines’ Day – further information at www.gatherhub.uk