In earlier centuries Bristol was known not just as a thriving port but also as the place to find excellent, locally grown food. Indeed the one necessitated the other, and in Brunel's time the city was ringed by farms and market gardens catering to the burgeoning urban population.

The same remains true today, as shoppers at Bristol's booming farmer's market know well. With most producers coming from within a forty-mile radius, the award-winning market sells cheese, fish, honey, cakes and vegetables, as well as meat, game and poultry.

A high proportion of the produce is organic, testament to the fact that Bristol is home to the Soil Association (SA), the UK's leading campaigning and certification organisation for organic food and farming. The SA's annual Organic Food Festival, held at the city's Harbourside in the autumn, attracts visitors from across the South West and beyond, promoting not just food but also sustainably-made clothes and other products.

The city is home to diverse pioneering enterprises devoted to the local and organic. Bordeaux Quay is a unique food venue run to exacting environmental standards, while the Better Food Company doubles as organic supermarket and café. Windmill Hill City Farm, just down the road from the headquarters of the Federation of City Farms and Community Gardens, is a model of small-scale farming that also plays a vital role in the local community.

Ordinary Bristolians are devoted growers too - increasingly so, as waiting lists for plots on the city's numerous allotment sites testify. Meanwhile a concerted effort is being made to spread the word about good food, by non-profits like the Bristol Food Hub and through campaigns like the SA-sponsored Food for Life project.
And as Bristol embraces its Transition City status, look out for more ventures like the Urban Fringe Pharmacy, which aims to teach people the medicinal value of locally available herbs.