Dorset-based Love Local Trust Local are calling on residents from across the county to support home grown produce amidst rising cost of living challenges.

The organisation was founded in 2018 to promote the values of quality and locality in the food and drink that we buy and consume. Subsequently the movement has launched the Dorset Food and Farming Awards aimed at highlighting the very best of Dorset produce.

The Cossins family are fifth generation farmers and as well as their farm they own a freehouse pub and a butchery & farm shop in the Tarrant Valley, just outside of Blandford Forum in Dorset

Now the Cossins Family are calling on residents to recognise the quality of produce on their doorstep and support local farmers. They say:

“We should all be asking our own citizens to eat and support local (farmers and produce) so that communities and families join together to ensure British food stays on our plates and in production.

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“Yes of course the Australian farmers produce excellent Wagyu beef and their lamb is also very good, but certainly no better than the home reared meat of the farmers right here on our doorstep with no miles to travel.”

The Cossins Family were responding, six months on, from the UK-Australian post-Brexit trade deal that, analysis found, would save the average UK household £1 a year. The deal saw tariffs removed on all British exports whilst “Australian favourites” such as Hardys wines and Tim Tams saw tariffs slashed.

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Critics called the deal ‘one-sided’ with the National Farmers Union saying the deal would “heap further pressure on (British) farm businesses at a time when they are facing extraordinary inflationary pressure and sustained labour shortages.”

In response Love Local Trust Local said the agreement was “utterly bonkers” and that the best way to tackle rising food costs, and bring more jobs back to Britain, was to focus on the local supply chain.

“Someone needs to stop and think. Producing food on home soil from some of the most talented farmers, fishermen and food producers in the world is not only safer and more sensible; it’s morally and ethically responsible to the people of the UK as a whole.”