food chain #2

food-chain#2 is ready! it will be on sale in May.

food co-ops

A few months ago, we came across The People's Supermarket on Lambs Conduit St (near Great Ormond St Hostpital) in London. Now a great documentary about The People's Supermarket is being shown on Channel 4. It started on Sunday (6th of Feb) and will be shown in four parts over the coming weeks.

The People's Supermarket combines low prices with fair payment for producers by working as a co-operative, giving discounts to members in exchange for a four hour shift in store each month and a small membership fee (£25 a year). On top of this, careful stock control is used to minimise wastage and a range of organic produce is also sourced localy.

The reason I'm talking about this now is that Sunday's documentary reminded me how good these things are but how impossible it is for those who don't have anything like it in their area. So I thought I'd list a few food-focussed co-ops around the UK, outside of London. My information comes mainly from Cooperatives UK, an online campainger and database of the UKs co-ops. It's only a little list. I will try to do more research later.

Brampton - Gilsland Spa Hotel

Bristol - Cafe Kino (Cafe Mono)

Burnley - Red Triangle Cafe (Red Triangle Co-operative Ltd, 160 St James St, Burnley, Lancaster)

Northampton - Kingsthorp Upper Crust Catering Service Limited (11 Cheyne Walk, Northampton)

Rochdale - Mokses Kitchen

Sale Moor - Citrus Tree Ltd (359 Norris Rd, Sale Moor, Cheshire)

Salford - The Star Inn (Starcliff Limited)