What’s Wrong with Food Distribution in the UK

By way of introduction, and without wanting to put anyone into a sad mood, our friends at Farmdrop give a super-fast summary of what’s wrong with our global industrialised food chain and, particularly, food distribution in the UK. So, why does it need fixing?

It’s really unhealthy

Think of Jamie Oliver and his sugar campaign. Staying in shape and out of hospital shouldn’t be so darn difficult and wouldn’t be if the supermarket shelves weren’t completely stuffed with hidden sugar.

It’s really bad for our environment

Half the UK’s farmland birds have gone missing since the rocking’ 60s (yep, more than half!). The bees have taken a hiding too. Fast forward another 50 years and the countryside will feel well… a little irksome let’s say. Not cool.

Producers really aren’t getting enough of the money

In fact, our nation’s farmers – the custodians of our fair and pleasant land – are getting about 10% of all the money we spend on food in the UK (it was over half in the good ol’ days when all those birds and bees were still around).

But fortunately, not all is doom and gloom for food distribution in the UK. At Farmdrop we really think we can, and are, fixing the food chain using the wonderful world of technology.

With the help of our online-only shop, you can connect with your local farmers and food makers in the fastest, most direct route, to get your hands on the freshest, most lovingly tended to food. Whether it’s our farmer Andy Clarke’s native Sussex cows (check out our video), who happily graze on his beautiful Kent wildflower meadows, or perhaps Geoff and Kim Bowles’s herd of 160 Jersey cows that they milk only once a day at Ivy House Farm to make full-flavoured organic, unhomogenised milk (and process on site to cut-out distributors), with every click in our shop you are helping to support a sustainable way of life; not only for our farmers financially or the environment, but for your health and happiness too.

For us, the really valuable tech is that which enables us to get back to the sustainable and natural order of the past. As Geoff says, their way of farming is “how everyone used to farm sixty years ago”. And the biggest reason for doing this is that it means more delicious, more affordable and healthier top-quality food, combined with simple convenience for you and a simplified food chain to boot.

We need to do this; horse meat wasn’t the work of some criminal mastermind, it was the work of an industrialised food chain. The economic structure of our current food system is wrong in that too much of the value is leaked between producer and you – every link in the supply chain represents another layer of cost to the retail price. That’s how we’ve ended up with a choice between affordable unhealthy food on one hand and expensive quality food on the other.

The good news is, it simply doesn’t need to be that way. At Farmdrop, with the helping hand of technology and because of your love for good food, we’re proving that affordable, high-quality food is doable. We’d love you to try us and exclusively for Truly customers we’ll throw in a free bottle of bubbly with every 1st order over £40. Just enter the following promo code when you checkout: TRULYBUBBLY.

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Looking for the perfect gift for your veggie friend? Check out our vegetarian dining experiences in London.