There is a growing awareness that putting money into the local economy benefits far more than your rural retailer. As well as delivering economic benefits, the local food sub sector delivers benefits for social inclusion, health and landscape quality. As consumers we all have a choice - do we use our local retailers and retain them, adding to the survival and prosperity of the countryside - or do we ignore them and lose them? Below are some facts to inform why the Countryside Alliance is running this competition. From local food to Post Offices and newsagents, here are the key facts that you need to know.....

• Current research (Hill, in press), demonstrates that every £10 spent with a local food initiative is worth £25 to the local economy, compared with just £14 when spent in a supermarket chain
• For every £1 spend on food in supermarkets, just 8p goes to the farmers
• The demise of the local food store means that local areas have less access to groceries. There are health implications with the decline of local shops – an issue addressed by the Social Exclusion Unit. Car dependency is increased as distances travelled to shop have increased by some 30% since 1985 (Lang and Rayner 2002). Transport has become an extra food bill
• The Policy Commission on Farming and Food reported to Government in January 2002. Local food was specifically highlighted in this report “ We believe that one of the greatest opportunities for farmers to add value… is built on the public’s enthusiasms for locally produced food, or food with a clear regional provenance.” It is clear that the ‘Curry’ report perceives an increase in local food consumption to be one element of a sustainable future for British Agriculture
• Between 1992 and 1997, although British retail food sales increased by 30%, small shops lost 8.5% of their trade and supermarkets gained 18% (Keynote Ltd, 1997 and 1998)
• With the opening of supermarkets in market towns, local traders lose 15-50% of their trade. There is also a negative impact on employment. The National Retail Planning Forum (1998), identified that new out of town superstores have a negative net impact on retail employment upto 15kms away, with a reduction of employment in retail selling of 5.2%. One job is created for every £50,000 spent in a local store and £250,000 spent in a super market (Hallett, 1998)
• 95% of fruit and 50% of vegetables eaten in the UK are imported

• The amount of food being flown into the UK doubled in the 1990s and is predicted to rise further each year
• Each year, the average UK adult travels about 135 miles by car to shop for food, more often than not making trips to large, out-of-town supermarkets
• Food in the UK now travels 50% further than it did 15 years ago
• Five large retail chains account for 80% of food sold in the UK
• Transportation of food was responsible for 33% of the increase in road freight over the last 15 years.
  Fewer varieties of fruits and vegetables are available as producers concentrate on those with the longest shelf life and good travelling characteristics
• Increased amounts of packaging are used to protect produce during transportation. In the UK, 25 million tonnes of waste was produced in 1997, 33% of which was packaging
• UK food exports in 1994 - 12 million tonnes. UK food imports in 1994 - 20 million tonnes
• Each tonne of food travelled an average of 123 km in 1998 (the average figure was 82 km in 1978)
  Therefore, since 1978 the amount of food moved about within the UK by HGV has increased by 23% and the average distance for each trip has jumped by 50%
• Imports of indigenous foods rose from 13.5m tonnes in 1992 to 16.1m tonnes in 2002
• If all foods were sourced from within 20km of where they were consumed, the country would save £2.1bn in environmental and congestion costs
• Air transport accounts for 1% of food miles, but 11% of food mile CO2 emissions
• The amount of food air-freighted around the world has risen by 140% since 1992
• An area of rainforest equivalent to 10 football pitches is destroyed every second
• 1984 - 2005 – 7,000 Post Offices closes – a 32% decline (National Federation of Sub Postmasters, June 2005)

• 1994- 2004 – every year 272 post offices closed on average (NFSP, April 2004)
• 2004 research showed 55% of sub postmasters were pessimistic about their future, with 14% ‘expecting to be bankrupt within a few months’ (MORI)
• January to October 2005: 700 newsagents closed
• 1995 – 2005 – nearly 30,000 independent food, beverage and tobacco retailers closed
• Britain lost over a quarter of its bank branch network between 1990 and 2000
• Independent convenience stores see a reduction in sales of about 5% annually
• 2000 – 2005 independent retail operators declined by 5000 (11%)
• Around 2000 independent convenience stores disappeared in 2005
• 8 out of 10 local residents are inconvenienced when their village post office closes. 1/3 are affected a great deal. Most affected were those with no transport, people with mobility problems, older people and the less well off. (NFSP, June 2005)
• Research shows that people often spend their money locally to where they access it. 15% of customers expenditure in their village or small town is directly due to the presence of a local Post Office – amounting to £194 000 on average (Countryside Agency, 2000)
• In settlements of between 1000 –3000 people £417 000 could be lost per year by nearby shops as a result of the closure of a Post Office. Postcomm 2001
• Post Offices provide local employment, sub postmasters who employ staff provide jobs for an average of 4.6 people. NFSP
• Large scale grocery retailers introducing a pharmacy is likely to result in the virtual halving in the number of local pharmacies. This will result in restricted access for the more vulnerable sections of society such as the sick and the elderly
• Research shows that 50% of turnover from local retailers is returned to the local economy. Large retailers may return as little as 5% to the local economy