Hub to tackle food and climate issues

A new charity is planning to address food poverty, security, and sustainability in the face of the pressing cost-of-living crisis, public health concerns, and the climate emergency. Bridport Food Matters (BFM) brought together food-related stakeholders from the area to discuss a new community food hub, to bring together a number of existing community food initiatives and some new ventures, in one central highstreet space. Ideas include a People’s Supermarket, a physically, financially, and socially accessible shop for healthy food, to include low-waste refills (a transition of the Waste Not Want Not shop in South Street). A Community Café would be used as a space for family activities and social cohesion, cooking classes, workshops, training, and other small-scale community events. And there will be a garden to grow food for the café and supermarket, and to use for outside cooking demos.

BFM trustee Candida Dunford Wood said: “We hope it will be a welcoming, inclusive, creative and social space.” More than 45 people from community groups and businesses, such as the town’s free-food offers, farmers, growers, producers, retailers and schools discussed the plans over a bowl of soup. They hope local growers could supply the hub, and that small parcels of land could be made available to grow food. Candida added: “There are many people and groups doing wonderful things around food, and if we work together we can be greater than the sum of our parts.” While they search for premises, the hub will be based in Waste Not Want Not. Town councillor Sarah Carney said: “During the pandemic, we showed what can be done when we work together. There are too many families struggling to access healthy food on less-than-subsistence incomes in our town. Local housing is not affordable for keyworkers, such as our medical and care staff, teachers and agricultural workers, and we need to come together to look after each other, our children, and our planet.”

The hub will be open to all. It will be run democratically by the community for the community, with a vision to help build resilience and the local economy.

To find out more go to bridportfoodmatters.net