Dear friends and supporters of the West Somerset Food Cupboard
What a scorcher of a month July has been! But record-breaking temperatures haven’t put the food cupboard team off their stride, nor stopped our generous donors from donating.
The Local Pantry continues to be a very popular resource for a wide variety of people, including some who have previously been dependent on emergency food parcels, some who are only now feeling the squeeze as the cost of living rises, and some who are passionate about reducing waste (or all three).
As well as our regular Tuesday morning Fareshare supermarket surplus food delivery, we collect surplus food supplies from Lidl, Alcombe Co-op and Morrisons, all of which are very gratefully received.
In addition, we are very grateful to the green fingered veg and fruit growers of Porlock and Dunster allotments for sharing their produce with us, as well as to the Good Vibe Veg team in Horner who are also helping to keep our members supplied with a fabulous locally grown rainbow of healthy organic vegetables.
Just a note to any other local growers – we can only receive donations of fresh produce on Mondays or early Tuesday mornings, and only having agreed a drop-off time with a member of the team. Thank you.
Our Facebook page, /WSfoodcupboard, has proved a useful space for sharing recipes and pictures of creative meals produced with the food supplied. It’s amazing how many courgette recipes there are! If you’ve got an abundance, maybe try this walnut, cinnamon and courgette cake recipe: courgette cake recipe
It is estimated that 3.6 million tonnes of food is wasted by the food industry every year in the UK and over 2 million tonnes of that food is still edible when it is disposed of. Thank you for supporting us as we join an army of other food surplus redistribution organisations across the country in the fight against waste.
As well as our busy Tuesdays at the Local Pantry, the West Somerset Food Cupboard team remain committed to ensuring that free parcels of non-perishable food, generously donated by members of the local community, are always available to those in need. Throughout July 77 emergency food parcels were distributed across the Minehead, Alcombe, Dunster, Carhampton, Timberscombe, Wootton Courtenay and Porlock area. We are always amazed by the generosity of all our donors and all the stores and other venues who facilitate the collection points.
Our supplies are fairly healthy this month but if you’d like to help, here’s the list of items that we are beginning to run low on.
Any non-perishable food items are gratefully received. This month we are low on:
- Individual snacks – crisps, breakfast bars etc
- Biscuits – savoury and sweet
- Hot chocolate
Thank you all for the part that you play
From Ali, Mike and the West Somerset Food Cupboard team
