environmentally sustainable way this was to be expected. In order to engage in more environmentally sustainable supply chains, these chains actually have to be developed,
as in many cases, producers are disparate without established supply chains and
cannot supply with the volumes and continuity that many event caterers will be used
to. Also there is a need for the seasonal planning of menus if you are to source from
these routes. This additional work will need to attract some sort of price premium and
it will be interesting to see whether consumers are prepared to pay in the first instance,
and whether this is sustainable in the long term. An agricultural society in the South of
England canvassed its members with regard to the catering at one of the region’s
county agricultural shows, and the members indicated a preference for locally sourced
food. This appeared on the menu for one year and has now disappeared as a result of a
combination of the issues indicated above. The members of such an organisation, that
celebrates and promotes local food, would have seemed to be prime consumers for
supporting something like local in the long term. This was not the case.