New Food Guides go the Extra Mile

Travellers with a conscience can look forward to the launch of two new guidebooks that showcase local, sustainable and delicious alternatives to motorway services.

They have been put together by the team behind The Extra Mile, the guide that shuns ‘big-brand monotony’ in favour of local food options across England, Scotland and Wales.

The new Farm Shop Guide will celebrate locally grown, picked and produced food, and the Coastal Café Guide will feature ‘the funnest and finest foodie stop-offs our coast paths and coastlines have to offer.’

The Public Market on Mivart Street in Easton is one of the fresh food alternatives included in The Extra Mile – photo: The Extra Mile

The Extra Mile is the brainchild of Bristol’s Alistair Sawday, the environmental activist and founder of Sawday’s Special Places to Stay.

Alistair is a longstanding campaigner for local food and farming. The Farm Shop Guide, he suggests, “will provide a genuine boost to people whose work we need: people who care about our environment.”

Local food producers and farm shops provide environmental benefits and can also offer a better experience for consumers.

“They are all fun to shop in, offer real human beings to help, and give you an unusual contact with the local ‘terroir’… And my goodness, we need our farmers,” Alistair said.

Lisa and Ryan, pictured here with their family, opened Honey and Ginger in Failand, BS8, which champions local produce, independent brands and great coffee – photo: The Extra Mile

Alistair is involved with Local Futures, a network promoting localism for healthier environments and communities.

He attended their recent Planet Local Summit in Bristol, alongside local food enthusiasts Patrick Holden, Barny Houghton of the Square Food Foundation, Better Food’s Phil Haughton, Jon Goodman of Five Acre Farm, and Heloise Balm, Bristol Food Network director.

Local Futures founder Helena Norberg-Hodge, who established Bristol’s local food movement in the 1980’s, explained why the Summit was focused on local food:

“This is, from our point of view, the way we’re going to save the world – with local food economies worldwide,” she said.

“The global food system is the main driver of climate change. If you want to do something, and do it now, support local food systems.”

Small scale localised farmers use fewer resources and commonly favour regenerative systems that actively support wildlife and a healthy natural environment.

Supporting local food reduces food miles, lowering carbon emissions. It connects consumers with their food, putting farmers at the centre of local communities and helping them to thrive.

Patrick Holden – who helped to establish Bristol’s local food scene with Helena and, as Sustainable Food Trust founder, has been a driving force in the movement – stressed the importance of supporting local food:

“Even in Bristol the difference we’re making is minimal.

“We need to see a much more rapid transition to local food systems.”

Brockley Stores, BS48, sells local produce, baked goods and salads with a focus on ‘grown not flown’ – photo: The Extra Mile

The Extra Mile’s Farm Shop Guide provides the practical information needed to make the leap to local food.

A clutch of Bristol businesses are featured in The Extra Mile and the Farm Shop Guide will likely follow suit.

Honey and Ginger is a family-run coffee and farm store in Failand (BS8) that sells a range of independent brands and products.

Brockley Stores is, according to The Extra Mile, ‘the secret that everyone knows about’ near Bristol Airport. It started life 80 years ago as a roadside ‘field to table’ fruit and veg stall and retains the ethos of fresh, delicious,  ethical and ‘grown not flown.’

Its sister store, the Public Market in Easton (BS5), states its ‘self-confessed mission to buck the trend of a broken food system.’ It supports over 100 local growers and producers, and boasts a top quality deli, cheese counter and high-welfare meat section.

The Farm Shop Guide and Coastal Café Guide will both be published in 2024.

Find out more at www.farmshopguide.com/blog/the-farm-shop-guide-new-foodie-travel-guide-launches

and www.coastalcafeguide.com/blog/new-coastal-cafe-food-and-travel-guide-launches

Main photo: The Extra Mile

This piece of independent journalism is supported by The Extra Mile and the Bristol24/7 public and business membership.

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