Why farm shops?
Five good reasons to shop local
The farm shop is one of the easiest ways to get better food and do something good for the place you live. These are the five reasons we think matter most.
You know where your food comes from
At the farm shop you often meet the person who made the food face to face. You can ask how the animals live, what they eat and how the product is made. It matters: in a 2021 SIFO survey, six in ten Norwegians were concerned about the welfare of farm animals, but only one in five felt they knew enough about it. Three in ten had avoided buying a food product because of concerns about animal welfare. At the farm you get answers, and you see for yourself how it is run.
Food with character, and what's in season now
Local food is about food with a local identity: an origin, a recipe or a way of making it that is tied to the place. It is cheese from the farm dairy, honey from the apiary, beer from the micro-brewery, lamb from the neighbour and jam from grandmother's recipe. The farm shop also sells what the farm has right now, so the shelves follow the seasons: strawberries in June, apples in autumn, eggs and meat all year.
The money stays in the local community
Local food and drink from Norwegian farms was sold for around NOK 12 billion in 2023, and the government has set a target of NOK 25 billion by 2035, partly in order to “build good local communities, create jobs and increase value creation across the country”. When you buy directly from the farm, you buy from the person who made the food, without many middlemen. The money gives the farmer an income and helps keep the farm running, and it stays in the village instead of leaving the district.
You support Norway's food preparedness
Norway covers only about 40 per cent of its food needs with Norwegian resources when imported feed is discounted, according to NIBIO figures. If we are to be better prepared should something happen to imports, we need more farms in operation, all over the country. Every farm that can make a living from producing food is part of that preparedness. When you shop at the farm shop, you help make it profitable to keep going.
It's an experience, not just a purchase
A trip to the farm shop is more than an errand. You meet the farmer, see the landscape the food comes from and can often say hello to the animals. Many have a farm café, open farm days, tastings or seasonal events, and some are self-service, so you can shop when it suits you. It's a good way to show children where food comes from, and to get to know your neighbourhood.
Sources
- SIFO report 6-2021 on consumers and animal welfare (OsloMet, in Norwegian)
- Norwegian Ministry of Agriculture and Food, 18 January 2024: target of NOK 25 billion in local food sales (in Norwegian)
- Norwegian Government: answer on self-sufficiency (NIBIO figures, in Norwegian)
We do not claim that local food is always better for the climate. Research shows that emissions depend on things like the season, how the food is produced and how you drive to the shop, not only on the distance. That is why climate is not one of the reasons above.