By Anna Burdett

Last updated at 21:56, Tuesday, 21 July 2009

There is a famine of vegetable growers in Cumbria and the industry is in danger of shrivelling to nothing thanks mainly to the increasing domination of supermarkets on the retail landscape.

Bill Lightfoot: ’I can’t see why we can’t grow the crops they grow in Lancashire’

James Walton in Dalston is one of the last dedicated vegetable growers in north Cumbria.

There are farmers who grow brassicas and winter root vegetables, but traditional vegetable growers such as Mr Walton have become a rare breed in the county.

He supplies a wide variety of seasonal fruit and vegetables including strawberries, beetroot and early carrots to wholesale firms who can sell it to pubs and restaurants at a premium because of its local credentials.

Mr Walton said: “There are not many places you can buy local veg now. It’s a sad thing but it’s a sign of the times.

“Veg growing won’t come back to Cumbria on a big scale; for a small grower it’s not easy to supply the supermarkets.”

The decline of Cumbrian vegetable growers began with the demise of the Land Settlement Association in the early ’80s.

Vast vegetable and fruit growing estates were created and maintained with help from association funds, but the money stopped.

Since then Bill Lightfoot’s produce at his Wigton shop has been sourced from further and further afield.

There is plenty of north-west produce for sale, but most of it is from Lancashire.

Mr Lightfoot, a greengrocer for 29 years, said: “I used to sell Cumbrian tomatoes from April until November, lettuce, cucumber, prize-winning celery and soft fruit in June and July.

“We had five greengrocers in this town when I started and everyone of us had a local supplier. But the independent greengrocers have gone and supermarkets bring their produce from centralised packaging.”

He believes there could be a future for the fruit and vegetable growers in the county because of consumers’ renewed demand for local produce.

One of his suppliers is Maggie Harrison from Aldoth. Her large-scale, 48-acre potato crop has even won her contracts with Sainsbury’s in Cockermouth.

Mr Lightfoot added: “I think there could still be a market for local produce especially as supermarkets are being required to market local produce.

“We used to have a mushroom farmer just up the road, but he couldn’t compete with Irish farmers. Now we can get mushrooms in from as far away as Poland.

“Less than 10 per cent of the produce I sell now is Cumbrian – it used to be 40 per cent.

“I can’t see why we can’t grow the crops they grow in Lancashire. People are looking to local suppliers for milk, cheese and meat. It’s the same with fruit and vegetables if someone would take the opportunity.”

First published at 21:58, Tuesday, 14 July 2009
Published by http://www.cumberlandnews.co.uk