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The Forest of Dean has an amazing number of small scale, high quality food producers and retailers in its 480 square miles. Recently, several local businesses were designated ‘Food Heroes’ by celebrity chef Rick Stein. To build on this, the District Council is keen to support developments in locally produced fine food for the benefit of tourists and associated food industry businesses that bring economic benefits to the local area. Each year, in Autumn, there is a Forest Food Fair which celebrates the very best products available.

There is currently considerable publicity surrounding the issue of ‘food miles.’ In its simplest form, the issue relates to the distance food travels from field to plate. Agriculture and food account for nearly 30 per cent of goods transported on the roads. We now travel further for our shopping and use the car more often to do it. Each year, the average UK adult travels about 135 miles by car to shop for food, more often than not making trips to large, out-of-town supermarkets. Taking advantage of the wide range of seasonal local produce can reduce the amount of food miles travelled and, possibly, the household food bill as well.

We are fortunate in the Forest as there is a wide variety of local producers, supplying some of the country’s most prestigious retailers, such as Selfridges and Fortnum & Mason, as well as local residents. The last Forest Food Directory listed seven producers in the area supplying breads, eight supplying dairy produce (including cheeses), four providing local beer, cider and wine, more than 20 supplying fish, beef, lamb, poultry and game products, and many others for eggs, fruit, vegetables and preserves.

Some notable local successes include Stinking Bishop cheese, produced in Dymock from the milk of Gloucester cattle, and award winning beer from a Cinderford brewery. At Newent there is England's leading, and most awarded, single estate vineyard, and another one nearby produces country wines, as well as some traditional grape varieties. A bakery in the Forest had its big break when, in just its first year of business, it won the Best Bread award in the Soil Association’s Good Food awards. The increasing interest in organic food has resulted in the formation of the Forest of Dean Organic Producers, a cooperative of local growers and producers, all dedicated to providing high quality food for Forest Residents.

Another local producer makes Single and Double Gloucester cheeses, and then uses the by-product of the whey to rear Tamworth X Gloucester Old Spot pigs, which are cured to make bacon and hams. There is a smokery at Minsterworth which produces the finest quality, dry cured, oak smoked salmon, as well as kippers, trout, haddock, mackerel fillets either plain or coated in various pastes and hot smoked wild eels with a rich woody finish, in addition to chicken and duck breasts.

As well as food to eat at home, eating out is an important aspect of food in the Forest of Dean. There is a vast choice, ranging from country house restaurants, cafes, tearooms and pubs, to restaurants serving traditional English food, not forgetting those serving Indian, Chinese and Mediterranean meals. Many pride themselves on sourcing and serving the best local produce, often adding an innovative twist. Last, but certainly not least, there are numerous take-aways, offering Chinese and Indian meals, pizzas, kebabs, rolls and sandwiches and, of course, fish and chips.