A SCHEME to promote the benefits of eating local produce is gathering momentum after the brains behind the Oke Local Food Hub presented the idea to town councillors last week.

Matt Parkins and his wife, Sally, are working on the project, which aims to promote Okehampton as a centre for quality local food.

If the scheme gets up and running, local people will be able to order a variety of foods grown locally by producers on the Food Hub's website. If a customer has no internet access, a Food Hub representative will help with their order.

One day a week, the orders will be brought to the 'hub', potentially based in a central town location like an empty shop or the Ockment Centre, for customers to collect.

The scheme would be run by an advisory group of businesses and food producers in Okehampton, paying one manager to maintain the website and oversee collections, with volunteers organising and distributing orders.

The hub's volunteers would also engage with the community through events to promote healthy eating and the benefits of buying food locally.

Mr Parkins was at the town council meeting last week to discuss the scheme with councillors.

He said: 'The project comes in the wake of oil prices rising, and how that is having a knock-on effect for food prices. The longer food is transported around the world, the more expensive it becomes.

'It could be difficult to get food on people's plates in the future. People have lost contact with the source of their food, and where it all comes from. We hope the food hub can tackle these things together.

'It's about educating people and getting producers to produce more local food, and finding a way to boost both.

'We also want to do away with the myths that local food is expensive. The events and community engagement are an important part of all of this. The overall aim is to get more people buying local fresh food from across the area.'

Mr Parkins also said that he had consulted with many of the food producers and retailers in Okehampton, and the majority of them supported the scheme.

Councillors supported the principle of promoting locally-grown food, but did not want the Food Hub to be successful at the expense of retailers already present in the town.

Cllr Tony Leech said: 'I am all for buying local food, and we should try to make sure that supermarkets buy as much of their produce as possible locally. It is a big issue across the country. What concerns me is that the small retailers in town are under pressue, and this is another retailer providing more competition.'

Mr Parkins responded: 'We are trying to bring more people into the town, and having small businesses on board with the hub would be a good way of helping them.'

Discussions with the community to to gauge support for the project will continue.