Katie Herring is sales and marketing manager for Cultivate

SEPTEMBER marks the start of the harvest season, when farmers are hard at work gathering the fruits and vegetables of the previous year's labour.

It's a time when the The Cultivate VegVan shelves are absolutely bursting with local produce.

With less than one per cent of the food consumed in Oxfordshire actually being produced here, we thought it the perfect time to encourage people to make the swap to eating local food and demonstrate how easy that is.

That's why we're encouraging Oxford residents to take on our harvest challenge and make one meal a week entirely from local produce.

By sourcing at least one meal a week from local producers you can help to reduce food miles, help to keep our local farmers farming and also help to preserve the land and wildlife they work with.

All of this helps us create a better and more sustainable food system for Oxford.

Better for everyone who eats food, better for everyone who grows food, and better for the planet.

To help the local community take on the challenge we will adding a a new click-and-collect location at the White Hart pub in Wytham.

As of September 4, local villagers will be able to order their produce from us online and then collect from the pub on Thursday each week.

If you visit one of our weekly VegVan stops we’ll be offering seasonal recipes, special offers and tasters to help inspire and motivate you.

And at this abundant time of year that shouldn’t be too difficult as the range of colourful produce we have is really fantastic.

On top of this, local chef Jack Greenall of Smoke and Thyme will be hosting Locavore Harvest Supper Clubs on the first and second weekends in October.

These will consist of a seven-course menu sourced from local growers and producers and tickets are available now on his website smokeandthyme.com

We’ll be looking to our existing customers to help us spread the word, too, so if you've got some local, seasonal recipes or local shopping tips get in touch and help us show people how lovely local can really be.