Which UK city ranks the highest for access to fresh food?

If you’re keen to avoid supermarket chains, then you might consider visiting your local market or high street to complete your weekly food shop – but which UK city ranks the highest for access to fresh food? Leisure, one of the leading range cooker brands has analysed cities around the UK to reveal which has the highest number of butchers, bakeries, greengrocers, fishmongers and farmers markets per capita. You can view the interactive graphic here.

It is thought that there are currently around 6.5 million adults who follow either a vegetarian, pescatarian or vegan lifestyle in the UK, but there are predicted to be 12 million more people following these lifestyles by 2020. Combined with an increased sense of ethical consumerism and health awareness, the UK has seen significant growth of organic and premium types of fresh food and a greater demand for fresh fruit and vegetables. So, which UK cities are leading the way with their availability of fresh produce?

Meat lovers can rejoice in Manchester, which is the UK city with the highest number of butchers per capita (99 butchers in total). – the highest number per capita for both outlets.

For the best access to fresh fish, it is no surprise that the coastal city of Brighton came out top with seven fishmongers in total, Ranking in second place overall in the Fresh Food Index, Brighton also has 14 butchers, 22 bakeries and five farmers markets.

However, if it’s the lure of a well-stocked farmers market that gets your culinary juices flowing, then the residents of Cambridge have plenty of options to choose from, with seven farmers markets overall – the highest number of markets per capita of all the cities analysed.

Crowned as the number one fresh food capital of the UK is York, scoring 69 overall. With a population of 153, 717, the city has three farmer’s markets, three fishmongers, and 24 butchers. Vegan, vegetarian or just trying to cut down on your meat consumption? York also has 15 greengrocers and 47 bakeries,

The northern region of the UK is leading the way with access to fresh foods, with four out of five top scoring cities based in the north including: York (69), Manchester (66), Glasgow (60) and Chester (57). London ranks in at a surprising 45th place, despite having over 118 farmer’s markets, 225 fishmongers and 67 bakeries offering fresh and local produce to its residents. Yet the high population in London means that it has significantly fewer fresh food outlets per capita.

Overall, the North of England is comparably better than the South of England for its access to butchers, fishmongers and bakeries, whereas the South has been revealed to have better access to farmers markets and greengrocers.

Average scores of UK regions for fresh food outlets per capita*:

*calculated from top 25 ranked cities

For more information on the UK’s Fresh Food Capitals, visit Leisure.