Local Producers Award Scheme
Introduction
With the introduction of, and increasing demand for, organic food and an increasingly wider range of fruit and vegetables from various sources being produced, consumer confidence in the safety of food including fruit and vegetables appears to have changed. There are organic fruit and vegetables at one end of the market, and then other sources of fruit and vegetables at the other end.
Bath and North East Somerset Council feel the local pick your own producers offer a happy medium, with fruit and vegetables that are a non-organic alternative, both safe and cost effective for the consumer. Taking this into consideration, Bath and North East Somerset Council have developed a new initiative that will give the local community confidence in buying from a local source with the knowledge that checks have been carried out by the Trading Standards Enforcement staff.Aims & Objectives
The idea springs from the concept that consumers want to eat to organic food because they believe it is safe to eat because it has no chemical or pesticide contamination. This scheme aims to satisfy that demand without producers having full organic status.
The award is for local producers, with a pick your own scheme and also producers that supply local shops. Their produce was sampled for pesticides and organophosphates, if none or a trace amount was indicated then the producer would be presented with a certificate.
Its aim is to encourage local people to buy local produce, by indicating that local produce is safe to eat. Producers can display the certificates at farmers’ markets.
The producers will also be expected to comply with any other criteria laid down by Bath & North East Somerset Trading Standards Officers in conjunction with the Awards Scheme.
In the year 2000 the scheme was updated and new literature distributed. This award has been led and researched, by Bath and North East Somerset Council Trading Standards officers.
Methodology
Officer Time and Associated Costs
It costs £70 per sample and around 50 samples are taken every year. The scheme takes in total about 5 officer days per year, and usually ten samples are taken per day.
Scheme requires the following tasks to be completed by the officers: -
- Take sample
- Bag sample and input sample onto the system
- Transport the sample to the public analysist laboratory
- Receive results and input them onto the computer
- Feedback to the producer
Requirement to be met for the Award.
There is a requirement for certification to be kept in a book including the results of the samples so that customers can easily refer back to them.
If a sample fails then the producer is instructed to take appropriate action, this could be the immediate withdrawal from sale. An investigation is also carried out to ascertain why it happened. The produce will then be retested to ensure that it complies.
Certificates must be displayed so that local buyers can see that the produce is safe and satisfies the requirements.
Achievements
Verbal feedback has been positive from both customers and also producers. The project started in 1998 and that year it won the Agenda 21 award from the Natwest Bank.
Obstacles
There is limited funding, therefore resources are limited and the scheme cannot be extended.
Officers have mandatory duties that take priority over this project so sometimes lack of officer’s time inhibits the projects expansion.
It is hoped that the scheme can be expanded to include supermarkets, local grocers who sold any local produce.
Evaluation
None at this time. It has been identified that a questionnaire would be useful to find out if people use the producers more because of the scheme and subsequent certification. Unfortunately there is no funding to do this.
Sustainability in Current form
It is sustainable as it is built into yearly food sampling and also the department’s business plan
Future Developments
At present some of the award holders are not renewing as several pick your own businesses have closed down
The lead officer would like to expand the scheme to mimic the success of ‘made in Devon’ and to give the scheme more publicity.
It is felt that this scheme could benefit from linking with local schools, local school children could visit the local producers or the local producer could give a talk to them. This would aid improving the children’s knowledge as where there food comes from and the importance of supporting local producers.
Contact Details: B&NES Trading Standards