Big Barn is well worth a look

In a blast of supportiveness, my mum handed me a newspaper cutting the other day about an online farmer's market, saying she thought it might come in useful in our drive to shop local.

And coincidentally, I'm really struggling to get out shopping at the moment. A combination of the Easter bank holiday weekend and a really busy week ahead at work this week mean I've got very little chance to go to the shops. Before this challenge it wouldn't have mattered so much as I could have gone to Tesco on my way home from work, but most of the shops I'm now frequenting close at 5pm or 6pm, and I'm not getting lunchbreaks so I can't nip out at lunchtime. We ended up getting a Chinese takeaway last night when we realised there was very little in the fridge.

So I've had a look at the website in the article mum gave me, www.bigbarn.co.uk, and it turns out it looks really good. The site acts as a kind of virtual farmers' market, which signposts visitors to local food producers in their area. There are also recipes, blogs, and the opportunity to sign up to a newsletter which gives specific information on shops and events in your local area.

The website states: "BigBarn is committed to reversing the anti-social trend of the UK food industry. A trend towards the growing mass production of food and control of the market by big business and retailers, giving farmers an average of only 9p in every £1 spent on food in the supermarket. And where milk is cheaper than water in some shops.

"BigBarn's mission is to reverse this trend by reconnecting consumers with their local producers, direct, or through local retailers, and encourage local trade."

It's says today's food industry results in "small farms going out of business, small rural shops and post offices closing, decreasing access to fresh food, food being produced for shelf life and not flavour, excess animal movement, too many additives in food, hidden behind a label, 'staple food' costs actually rising as middle men & retailer margins increase, increasing consumption of ready meals and increased reliance on oil as specialist farms move away from mixed farming."

These are all excellent points, and many of them are things I've been discussing myself on this blog over the past few months.

I tried typing my postcode into Big Barn's local food map, and it produced a brilliant snapshot of farm shops, delis, bakeries, butchers, veg box schemes, dairies, nurseries and pick-you-own, as well as much more, in my local area.

The site also has a market place, billed as "the Amazon of local food, with 469 vendors selling 5,772 products". The companies listed are based across the country but they are all small independent businesses and their products are available to buy online through the Big Barn website.

The blogs are great too - really topical and very focused on local food.

I haven't actually bought anything yet, but I reckon I will when I get chance to have a proper browse. Well worth a look anyhow.