Advocate, Educate & Support – Shopping local

There are many opportunities for us to support local food in the Illawarra. Advocacy, education and support can happen at schools, between friends, at work, within organisations and at any level of government. Start a conversation in your local community, talk to your friends, colleagues and peers, share information or write to your local councillors and Members of Parliament. You can:

Talk to your friends, colleagues and peers about:

• Recommendations on the best places to shop local.
• Who are the local producers in your area.
• The importance of supporting local retailers and producers.
• Avoiding imported products and major supermarkets.

Talk to local businesses about:

• Increasing their selection of local food.
• Labeling local food items.
• Choosing local food suppliers.

Talk to school and university staff about:

• Increasing the local food segment in the school canteen.
• Incorporating local food education into the curriculum.
• Developing guidelines to increase the local food segment in campus-based catering and at university food outlets.

Write to your local council or Members of Parliament about:

• Promoting and supporting local food choices through government marketing campaigns.
• Providing leadership to maximise the economic, tourism, employment and ecological benefits possible through increasing local sustainable food production.
• Supporting employment in local food production through subsidies and start-up grants
• Supporting authentic and accredited farmers markets.
• Opening unused public land to small-scale farmers and market gardeners.
• Reducing the power and influence of major supermarkets.