What's a Locavore?

People have been asking us – What’s a Locavore?

The word “locavore” was coined by Local Foods Wheel co-creator Jessica Prentice from San Francisco and was 2007’s “Word of the Year” by Oxford University Press. You can read about how she came up with the word here.

Essentially a locavore is someone who prefers to eat foods which are grown or farmed relatively close to where they live. It is part of a worldwide movement which aims to connect people to the production of their food and reduce ‘food miles’ or distance food has travelled.

A huge diversity of food is grown and produced in the Northern Valleys region from fruit and vegetables to beef, lamb, chicken, and pork. Eggs are produced here (and they are free-range or pastured!) as well as honey and even goat’s cheese, although we don’t have a dairy industry this far north.

Frustratingly it has been hard to access these foods directly from their producers as typically farmers and growers are pretty busy people and focus on getting their product out to their primary buyers. They don’t have time to run farm gates or deliver to individual customers or small vendors – so we end up eating food that has travelled from our region to Perth and back – or worse – from the eastern states! Generally, it has been stored along the way and handled several times.

The Northern Valleys Locavore Store aims to change all that! We are working with local producers – large and small to provide their produce direct to local customers. It’s a win-win for everyone!