IT has been fantastic to have the help of so many wonderful local shop keepers and local food suppliers to keep us all fed during this crisis.

The time has come to ask ourselves some really important questions. Is it wise to fly in much of our food via a just in time delivery service which is highly vulnerable in a crisis? Or are we better off having more local food, more seasonal food and more contact between farmers and their customers?

The government is currently in the middle of negotiations with the United States which will involve much easier access to UK markets for mass produced antibiotic and chemical soaked food imports. Bringing greater amounts into the country of battery farmed cattle products and chickens that have to be soaked in chlorine to cover up the problems of extreme mass production doesn’t seem entirely compatible with what we ought to have learned from this crisis. Knowing how your food is produced and where it comes from is important for our safety and for our food security. Let’s have more local seasonal food and not undercut our farmers with a rushed and ill thought out new trade deal that undermines our food standards.

Cllr Andy Brown

Green Party

Cononley