South Manchester Food Assembly

I’m lucky enough to live in Trafford. I say lucky because we have rafts of open space, green fields and farmland, we have great schools and in Stretford certainly we have a sense of community that I’m really rather proud of.

And yet here in Stretford we seem to have a bit of a dearth of places to buy good fruit and veg. Unlike those in Altrincham or Urmston with their markets, we lost our only greengrocer a few years ago, and now the only option is to visit the supermarket, or hop on a bus. Hardly ideal if like me you work full time and would arrive in time for everything to be firmly shut. 

Given we have a wealth of local suppliers and growers across the county and even into Cheshire and the hills of Lancashire, we seem to have wholeheartedly given in to handing our money over week by week to one of the big three. Purchasing veg flown in from Kenya and Chile, when we have perfectly good vegetables almost on our doorstep. 

Until now. Stretford Sip Club have started hosting Manchester’s first ever Food Assembly, enabling people to buy online from local farmers and producers, and to collect a pre-appointed day.

An idea that started in Europe, there are now more than 700 food assemblies across France, Germany and the UK. The idea is simple, head to the website and create an online profile. You can then shop – ordering as many or as few of things as you’ll need. Fresh vegetables, meat, milk, even chocolates and cakes, can be added to your list and paid for online.  The orders are then collected together and made up before being delivered to The Sip Club on a Thursday evening.

Ordering online means you can pick exactly what you want, and you’re not going to end up with random items that aren’t going to be used, and added to the compost at the end of the week – it also means that the producers can cut out the middle men, and offer you the customer a better price. 

Producers using the system include Mike Partington who bottles the milk produced by his 75 Ayreshires on his farm, Little Heath Farm who supply beef and pork as well as venison from the Dunham estate, Abbey Leys and their rare breed eggs as well as luxuries such as the Eponine Patisserie and their handmade chocolates. Everything is made locally, or farmed locally, no further than 100 miles away. As many of the suppliers attend the pick up, you can even meet the people behind the food. 

After a bit of a Christmas break, we’re looking forward to placing order number three, having been thrilled with the quality of vegetables and the freshness of the milk. And being able to pick it up from so close to home, without having to worry about how we’ll carry it home, or if it’ll last the week, has been a bonus.

So people of Stretford, if you want to eat well, seasonally and help support our local farmers, the next collection date is 21 January, and you can register here.