New way to shop aims to stop local producers being squeezed by chains

A Food Assembly market at another local in London

The Food Assembly, a new community alternative to supermarket shopping, is being launched in Putney this month. It aims to reduce waste and support local producers by helping them to keep revenue that would otherwise go to the large chain stores.

The concept is to bring residents closer to producers in a bid to reduce waste and how far food travels. Focusing on identifying the best food producers and farmers coming from an average of 28 miles around Putney, the Food Assembly aims at bringing us the best from our local fields and kitchen from Artisan sourdough bread from Lazaro Bakery (Putney), to sustainably grown seasonal and organic vegetables from Sutton Community Farm (Sutton) and Cultivate London (Brentford/Acton), or allergen-free cakes from Everybody Cake (Putney) and even RSPCA and organic certified meat from Coombe Farm (Roundham).

In addition the food producers get to keep more than 80% from every sale in contrast to the 15 to 25% they’d receive through supermarket sales. All the goods come directly from farmers and food makers in the region and from an average distance of 28 miles compared with the supermarket’s 600 miles.

The Food Assembly is holding a launch party the Duke's Head pub, on Lower Richmond Road, starting from Thursday, April 21st at 6.30 pm.

You can RSVP for the launch party on Facebook.

They are also about to launch the online market where you can register and order goods for collection at the Duke's Head.

Similar assemblies have been opening around London (Haringey, Leytonstone, Nunhead, Forest Hill) and the rest of the country in the last few months in Bangor (Northern Ireland), Derby, Bristol, Edinburgh etc... and the concept has been awarded the "Best British Food Initiative" by the BBC Food and Farming Award in 2015.

April 13, 2016