I'D like to thank Jennifer Lang and Cheryl Holes for drawing our attention to the issues of Asda and supporting local retailers.

As Jennifer points out, Asda are wholly owned by US retail giant Walmart. As some may be aware there were widespread protests in the US recently over Walmart's failure to pay staff a living wage.

Living wages are part of the International Coven­ant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights which the US government has yet to ratify.

Walmart has lobbied the US Congress repeatedly to prevent the introduction of a minimum wage and although they probably won't be able to do that here, there are other aspects of Walmart's profit maximising approach that trickle down to Asda.

In 2006, a study by Social Science Quarterly revealed that where Walmart had established in other countries, there had been a corresponding increase in poverty levels, averaging out at more than 15 per cent. The effect is to displace local retailers who cannot compete with their purchasing power. As Cheryl points out. we increasingly neglect these retailers in favour of the internet and supermarkets.

In stark contrast, our co-operative stores make a positive contribution to the community. As I discovered last year, they will provide cost-free support, to help communities establish their own revenue creating initiatives.

For example, we now have a group of people at Yorkley Court Farm who want to engage local residents in a food sovereignty co-op. Food is a fundamental human right and by linking local producers to local shops and individuals we preserve and enhance local supply chains and stimulate wealth flows in the local economy while reducing transportation cost and the use of fossil fuel.

In order to develop this local economic infrastructure we need to map available resources and this has been started with a crowdmapping initiative. Local producers and interested individuals

are encouraged to introduce their resources

on the website at forestofdean.crowdmap.com.

– Jeff Mowatt, Lydney.