Volunteering with FoodCycle in Peckham

All Saints church hall in Peckham, Southeast London, is fairly unremarkable to the unknowing eye. The usual community notices adorn the iron gates: jumble sales, nursery school hours, don’t forget Tuesday bin day. Little do the many passers by know, heading to the newly opened pop-up coffee shops and hubbub of Rye Lane, that the tiny church hall shed is fit to burst with bags of onions, sprouting potatoes, and enough oranges to feed a small army. These are the foundations of a full three-course meal, cooked and dished up every week by FoodCycle, the charity that combats food waste, poverty and social isolation, and who every Saturday treat All Saints as home. 

FoodCycle is a national charity, with hubs all over the country that rely solely on volunteers to provide food and company to members of the community. Food is donated by local supermarkets or shops, on the basis that it can no longer be sold: ‘out-of-date’ food that you or I would probably have a quick prod, shrug, and happily have for dinner; wonky carrots and avocadoes with brown bits on; boxes of chickpeas that have taken an accidental tumble and received an un-aesthetically pleasing dint. Under normal circumstances this food would probably be binned, as part of the 15 million tonnes of food thrown out by households and shops in the UK every year. Organisations such as FoodCycle not only help combat this waste, but divert it to people in the community who need it most.

Over the past couple of months I’ve been volunteering at the Peckham hub, getting to know how FoodCycle operates and the impact it has on the community. The afternoon starts off with a food collection, first from Sainsbury’s, then trundling round Rye lane with a snazzy trolley full of peppers, plums and plantain donated by the many market stalls. This is then weighed and sorted, before the challenging bit begins of deciding what to cook – more difficult than it sounds when you’re presented with 28 pomegranates. Volunteers split into soup, main and pudding teams and commence peeling, chopping and mixing; soon bean burgers and an orange upside-down cake are taking shape. Others set up the hall with tables and plastic cloths, bunches of flowers and jugs of coffee. Just as the carrot, coriander and onion soup is being blended (after a quick plug change to fix the blender) the first guests arrive, and settle down with cups of tea and coffee. Soon there are about 35 guests, some sat in groups chatting, others just enjoying the food and a bit of time to stop. One mother is doing her work for a night school class she’s attending, whilst her daughter plays with one of the volunteers. She says FoodCycle gives her a break for an evening from managing two jobs and childcare, as well as a well-balanced meal for her and her daughter, that she doesn’t always find time to prepare. It’s not just the food that is important for people who come to FoodCycle – though for many it is the main meal of their week – it’s the time they can spend with other people somewhere warm and welcoming, whether they are regulars, or just passing.

FoodCycle is lucky to have a network of committed volunteers, but it still needs money to buy basic ingredients (can’t turn those pomegranates into a crumble without any flour) and to cover costs of premises upkeep and cooking equipment. Without this FoodCycle couldn’t do the valuable work it does offering isolated members of the community a place of refuge, company and much needed hot meal, which is why the money we are raising, and your help in ding so, is so important.

Hannah Cook

Breadline Challenge: Ailie Crane

As part of my effort to raise money for Food Cycle as part of Cariad Fund group, I am taking part in the Breadline Challenge, where I am living on £2.86 per day for a week. As well as raising some money to go towards our total, this week’s challenge has already made me think about those in which Food Cycle is set up to help (especially in the lead up to Christmas!).

I was able to purchase a surprising amount of food for my money by shopping in Aldi on Sunday – pasta, veggies for soup, bread, apples, cheese, chicken, potatoes and even some chocolate as a treat. However, while I loaded up the car with my bag, it made me remember that people on a very low income would not have the luxury of taking the car to a supermarket. By shopping in small local shops, they are often paying a ‘poverty premium’, unable to benefit from deals and bulk buying to save money.

Another thing the Breadline Challenge fails to capture is the struggle of fuel poverty often faced by those targeted by Food Cycle; they are often not only struggling to make ends meet with food. The price of electricity and gas to make meals must add further stress to an already difficult situation. I don’t think I could have managed if the challenge incorporated a limit on things like electricity, travel and household essentials. Many also have a family to think about.

The rise in the use of food banks in the UK is shameful alongside the tonnes of waste produced on a daily basis. Although the work carried out by food banks is fantastic and a life-line to many, Food Cycle differs in a number of ways. Firstly, there is no need to worry about the costs associated with preparing the food. Food Cycle also provides a friendly, dignified environment to have a sit down, nutritious meal.

 

For me, food can often be a very social experience, from going out to eat with friends to sitting around the table with family finding out about each other’s day. Having to say no to sharing a celebratory piece of cake at work for a colleague’s birthday and to a coffee catch up with a friend this week takes away some of the social interaction we take for granted. Having to say no time and time again must really begin to get you down, and would undoubtedly have negative impacts on mental health.

Today, day five, I am already planning and looking forward to eating out on Monday! What I have to remind myself is that this is difficult as a week’s challenge. These difficulties are a reality for people all over the UK and what Food Cycle does to address this is amazing.

Ailie Crane