However though the main supermarkets are able to offer a wide choice, have user friendly websites and alleviate the struggle of transporting heavy purchases, when it comes to the food itself, they are often unable to offer anything from local producers. This is because the big supermarkets buy on an enormous national scale and primarily on price, so small local suppliers rarely get a look in. Yet as consumers, when we buy locally produced food and drink, we are directly supporting small scale, environmentally friendly farming practices and the local economy, as well as getting much fresher and great tasting food, so I suspect that given the choice, most people would support ‘local’ every time.

I was therefore delighted, at the recent City Food Festival, to meet Simon Croft, who together with his business partner James Meldrum set up Crumbs of Sussex in 2005. They were determined from the beginning to run Crumbs in such a way that residents in this part of Sussex could support a wide range of local suppliers, either by visiting Crumbs’ own fresh food shop at “Shoots Garden Centre” or alternatively by using their home delivery service.

Before opening Crumbs, they spent seven months doing taste and quality research and meeting and interviewing over 120 food producers in Sussex, Surrey, Hampshire and Kent, with the aim of sourcing really fresh high quality produce, ideally from within a 20 mile radius of their shop, depending on the season.

However, uniquely, they also wanted to pass this information on directly to the consumer, so they designed a clear and transparent colour coded labelling system starting with ‘Low Food Miles’ ranging from as little as 0.5 miles, out to 70 miles, though the average distance from suppler to shop is around 20 miles. These product labels are on everything they sell and also detail the name and background of the producer. Obviously there are times of the year when they do have to source some produce from outside the ‘local’ counties radius, but this too has its own coloured ‘UK’ label. Despite global warming, nobody has yet cracked the growing of exotic fruits like bananas in the UK, so occasionally they have to use an ‘overseas’ source in order to maintain a good range particularly during winter months.

However during the summer months over 90% of the fresh food they sell has been supplied from within the ‘Crumbs Low Food MIle’ formula – just compare this with the estimate from the author Felicity Lawrence in her book “Not on the Label”, highlighting the fact that the contents of the average UK shopping basket have travelled around 20,000 miles!

Crumbs has undoubtedly the most mouthwatering and comprehensive range of foods. Whether you want to buy fruit, vegetables, fish, meat, cheeses, preservatives, breads and pastries,beverages or juices, frankly you are spoilt for choice. They offer no fewer than 50 cheeses, (50% supplied by 9 local cheesemakers) a great range of locally sourced smoked fish, a wonderful dairy and chilled food section, and their range of fruit and vegetables would not be out of place in the best French markets. In 2006, they even launched  their own growing operation at Wiston House, near Steyning, in about 3/4 of an acre of the Walled Garden.

I very much admire the obvious hard work, dedication and commitment that Simon and James have shown in their support of local quality producers, which has made Crumbs a genuinely unique food emporium. Furthermore everything they stock in the shop can be ordered from their website www.crumbsofsussex.co.uk and delivered to your door in Brighton on either Thursday or Friday each week.

If you want to visit them in person, the shop (Open Monday to Saturday 9am – 5pm) is at “Shoots Garden Centre”, (off A24 North carriageway 500 yards from Washington Roundabout) Washington, West Sussex. Tel: 01903 892527.

Otherwise why not relax and have everything home delivered like your favourite magazine!

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Colin Page Books, Duke Street, Brighton

If you’re a book lover you probably occasionally browse the table of second hand books outside Colin Page Antiquarian Bookshop in Duke Street, but have you had a good look inside this fascinating treasure trove? Rare and valuable books are kept on the ground floor by the desk, for obvious reasons, but climb down the corkscrew wrought iron staircase to the basement for a wealth of inexpensive books on every imaginable topic. They can’t be bought online – in fact, contrary to what you might imagine, second hand books tend to be sold online tend for several times more than the £4 average instore price, because of the extra effort involved.

Colin Page started the business in the late 1960s, and moved down to Brighton a decade later. John, the current owner, who studied Maths at Sussex University in the late 1970s, started working here in 1981 after graduating, becoming a partner a few years later. He bought Colin Page out when he retired ten years ago, but kept the name – after all, it would be hard to come up with a more appropriate one for a bookshop! Perhaps the degree in maths helped John develop his astonishing memory – that’s where most of the stock inventory is recorded, rather than in the computer on the desk! However he admits to not knowing how many books he actually has. Theft, however, is rare, valuable stolen books being virtually impossible to sell, even online, thanks to book traders’ excellent e-mail network: there are about 2,000 professional book dealer in this country, and most are members of two trade organisations; a likely stolen book would be notified to all their members immediately, and so about 90% of valuable stolen books are recovered.

Most of Colin Page’s customers are ordinary readers, perhaps enthusiasts about a particular subject, who buy books for that reason, not as an investment, although ‘the odd Russian’ does come in from time to time and buy a small fortune’s worth. John is in the market for all manner of books, both rare and otherwise. He once had a Shakespeare fourth folio, but it was in poor condition, so not all that valuable. In fact rare new books can be worth far more – for example the first edition of the first Harry Potter book, as only a few hundred were printed, so they’re very rare.

John is a book lover and avid reader himself, although he admits that he buys far faster than he reads – in fact he’d need to live for about another 150 years to get through his own personal library as it is! But he’s still a keen buyer of books, both for himself and the shop, so if you have an old book lying around, take it in to him for a valuation. John prides himself in paying a fair price for books – as he says, you couldn’t build up a stock like his otherwise. Your old book might only be worth about £50 or so if it’s not rare but in good condition, but then again, it might surprise you by being worth a few thousand quid. And you might find something interesting to buy while you’re there.

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“The Lanes is a unique, historic area, with a vibrant business community.  We have an opportunity to revitalise the Lanes Business Network so that it’s really valuable to our members.  But to do that, we need to know what the community wants from us, and how they would like to become involved” explains Tim Maugherman, Chair of the Lanes Business Network.

The research team, made up of four students at the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) at the University of Sussex, will bring their varied experience in community development in Kenya, South Africa, Guatemala, Indonesia and Australia to understanding what makes the Lanes a community.

The students are conducting the research as part of their studies at IDS. 

During the week beginning Monday 16th February, students will be in the Lanes, to meet traders and talk about their ideas for the Lanes Business Network and the challenges, priorities and ideas for the Lanes area.

Traders can also contact the team with their views by email, at lanesresearch@gmail.com

For the students, working in the Lanes is a fascinating opportunity to compare and contrast how individuals and organisations come together in Brighton with the work they are engaged in overseas.

“I’m interested in what motivates the Lane’s Network members to come together to build their sense of community” says Rosario Garcia, a student from Guatemala.

“In Kenya the challenges at community level are not so different to the challenges here. We are interested in balancing tradition with modernization, protecting the environment and ensuring people can live in safety.’” said Gathoni Njenga.

The Lanes Business Network includes more than 100 traders located in The Lanes area of Brighton. Membership is free. The Network was set up to: network and create interaction between businesses in the Lanes; market the Lanes; keep the Lanes traders informed and represented on important issues involving the council.  The Network is currently assessing its direction for 2009. Tim Maugherman of Maugherman’s Deli is the current Chair.

The IDS students bring considerable knowledge of a range of social and environmental issues from more than 30 years combined work experience in Europe, Africa, Latin America and Australia.

• Rosario Garcia Meza: works in Guatemala on women’s empowerment with NGOs and community groups.

• Gathoni Njenga works with a capacity building organization in Kenya.

• Andy Seale works with the UN in South Africa on HIV and AIDS.

• Joanne Sharpe works in communication and public consultation in Indonesia and Australia.

The team will present their findings at an informal social evening on Monday 2 March, and traders in the community will be invited to attend.

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