OXFORD is a city that consumes nearly 130,000 tonnes of food a year.

A mere 1 per cent of that comes from local sources.

By shopping locally, 70p from every pound goes back into the local economy as opposed to 10-12p when shopping at chain stores.

As we all start planning our festive feasts to share with friends and family it’s the perfect opportunity to source a few more things locally.

This December I and the Cultivate team are partnering with our neighbours and fellow Earth Trust farm step tenants to present a series of locally-sourced festive feast ideas.

We’ll be hosting and celebrating a different farm step tennant at our regular stops each week throughout December offering tasters, recipe ideas, a chance to talk to the producers and opportunities to make a purchase.

This week we kick things off by hosting Emma’s Ewesful Acres at our stops.

Emma took over as shepherdess at the Earth Trust in September, after making a brief appearance with her lambs at their popular lambing event back in March.

As well as working another part time job, Emma tends to 300 breeding ewes and has also just taken on 12 red Simmental cows.

As a result Emma is super hardworking and I’m quite used to bumping into her at the Earth Trust late on a Thursday evening after my VegVan shift.

Her herds graze across the wildflower meadows around Wittenham Clumps and across the Earth Trust Farm land, you’ll be able to see them if you ever take a walk that way.

This means they eat a varied diet and just the amount they need – no risk of being overfed like commercially produced lamb.

This also means they are able to mature at a natural rate increasing their health and improving their flavour.

Emma has just sold her first cuts of local lamb and is ready to take more orders for the next month.

Paired with root veg gratin, Emma’s lamb is a great local and ethical addition to your festive menu, I’d certainly encourage any meat eaters out there to give it a try.