Harvest Share produce donation scheme launches

PRESS RELEASE

Date: 21st July 2011

New ‘Harvest Share’ scheme encourages gardeners to donate spare produce to local charities and residents

Every year, garden gluts of courgettes, beans and more end up in the compost bin rather than on our plates. Now gardeners and allotment holders can ensure this extra produce is put to good use instead!

There are many community groups around Brighton & Hove that would be grateful for any donations, large or small, of fresh fruit & veg to share with their members (e.g. lunch clubs, community cafes and day centres). The Harvest project at the Brighton & Hove Food Partnership is helping to make links between these projects and local gardeners so more people can enjoy healthy, local produce.

How does it work? Signs with details of the scheme and local projects are being distributed to allotment sites, libraries and community centres (please contact us if you would like a poster to put up in your neighbourhood). Gardeners and allotment holders can just call one of the projects in their neighbourhood when they have a glut and arrange a day and time to drop off or have the produce collected. Or they can contact the Harvest team on 01273 431700 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it – we have a long, and growing, list of projects happy to receive produce.

Gardeners can also share or swap their produce through GreenCycle Sussex which is part of the Freegle network. Freegle puts people who have unwanted items like clothes, furniture, food, books or plants in touch with people who want those items.

Go to www.ilovefreegle.org to find out more and join the local network. Free items can then be advertised to more than 15,000 local members of the network. If gardeners want to share via Freegle but prefer to offer produce without going online, the group volunteers are happy to help via text or phone. Please contact on Cat Fletcher 07962 449 573.

“We know that sometimes gardeners end up with more veg than they can handle, even if they share with friends, family or neighbours. The idea of the Harvest Share Scheme is to make it easy to put that produce to good use at community projects such as lunch clubs for the elderly, day centres and community cafes. We hope the scheme will help reduce waste and enable more people to taste fresh, seasonal, local produce.” said Jess Crocker, Manager of the Harvest project at the Brighton & Hove Food Partnership.

Ends

For more information contact:

1. Jess Crocker, Harvest Manager, or Ann Baldridge, Development Officer, Brighton and Hove Food Partnership, Tel: 01237 431 700

 

Notes for Editors:

  1. Harvest Brighton and Hove is a three-year, Big Lottery-funded project led by the Brighton and Hove Food Partnership, in partnership with Food Matters, the University of Brighton, The Brighton and Hove Allotment Federation, the Brighton Permaculture Association, Moulsecoomb Forest Garden and the Whitehawk Community Food Project. It is supported by Brighton and Hove City Council, and Brighton and Hove Teaching Primary Care Trust. www.harvest-bh.org.uk

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  2. Brighton & Hove Food Partnership is a not for profit organisation that works for better food for the city now and in the future. By better food, we mean food that is healthy, affordable, accessible and produced within environmental limits. We believe by working in partnership Brighton & Hove can achieve a sustainable food system. Details of our work are at: www.bhfood.org.uk.

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  3. GreenCycleSussex is the Brighton Freegle group (FREE Giving Locally Easily).  They facilitate reuse and recycling for over 15,000 locals via their free and friendly online service. If you have something you no longer need or want you can find a new home for it - so it doesn’t go to waste. You can equally ask for things. Everything is completely free. What can be freegled?  Tools, food, books, seeds, furniture, clothing, DIY materials or anything else legal! GreenCycleSussex would like to work with allotment holders to ensure crops don’t go to waste and to also help you get things you might need. Or maybe you have a compost heap that locals could add to? Feel free to join here: http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/GreenCycleSussex/ Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Twitter: @FreegleBrighton If going online is not easy for you, the group volunteers are happy to help you via text or phone to co-ordinate your participation. Please contact Cat Fletcher 07962 449 573. More information about Freegle: http://www.ilovefreegle.org/

  4. Local Food has been developed by a consortium of 15 national environmental organisations, and is managed on their behalf by the Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts (RSWT). Supported by the Big Lottery Fund's Changing Spaces programme, Local Food will distribute grants to a variety of food related projects to make locally grown food more accessible. Further information please visit www.localfoodgrants.org

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  5. RSWT: The Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts is a registered charity, incorporated by Royal Charter, to promote conservation and manage environmental programmes throughout the whole of the UK. It has established management systems for holding and distributing funds totalling more than £20 million annually to environmental projects across the UK.

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  6. Changing Spaces programme: The Big Lottery Fund’s Changing Spaces programme was launched in November 2005 to help communities enjoy and improve their local environments. The programme funds a range of activities from local food schemes and farmers markets, to education projects teaching people about the local environment.

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  7. The Big Lottery Fund: Is the largest of the National Lottery good cause distributors, has been rolling out £2 million in Lottery good cause money every 24 hours to health, education, environment and charitable causes across the UK. www.biglotteryfund.org.uk.