Ambitious local, community-run, organic veg box scheme to launch this month
Tuesday, 4 January 2011
First chance to pick up your own HebVeg selection on January 15th - The aim is to produce everything in the box from within 3 miles of Hebden Bridge town centre within 3 years
A group of local residents are making local, organic vegetables more easily available in a new low-cost, not-for-profit scheme that will get underway on Saturday 15th January at Hope Street Baptist Church in Hebden Bridge.
Sourcing good quality produce as locally as possible, the HebVeg vegetables will come from an organic certified grower in Hipperholme near Halifax. To keep costs down there’s no home delivery - customers come and collect the box themselves from a town centre location (where it’s been packed by volunteers).
“It’s all about getting good food in a way that is affordable for both us and the environment,” explains Ben Oubridge, one of HebVeg’s organisers. “We want to encourage low energy farming methods and minimise food transport by making it easier to get hold of organic produce that can be grown on our doorstep. Local and seasonal means you won’t pay through the nose for high quality.”
Interested customers should ring to reserve their HebVeg box by Thursday 13th January and then come along to Hope Baptist Church, Cheetham Street, Hebden Bridge, HX7 8EW from 12 midday until 4pm where they’ll find delicious local organic potatoes, carrots, onions, leeks, cabbages, beetroot, swede, kale, parsnips, cauliflower and sprouts. Customers can make choices about what goes into their box, but at the moment it’s ‘one size fits all’ with a £10 box providing enough veg for 2 to 3 people for a week.
“We’re launching HebVeg with a no-obligation trial run,” explains Ben, “We want to spread the word and find out who is interested in being part of the scheme, both as customers and volunteers.” If people like what they see they will have the option of signing up for a month’s veg at a time.
The scheme will source vegetables from local growers while getting on with developing growing sites in and around Hebden Bridge. The aim is to produce everything in the box from within 3 miles of Hebden Bridge town centre within 3 years. Having thirty customers by the end of the year will enable the group to employ a grower and get on with growing their own produce as a fully fledged Community Supported Agriculture or CSA project.
CSAs are springing up all over the world - local communities taking control of producing food in their local area. This scheme is part of Transition Town Hebden Bridge - local people making a plan for how we can live our lives with less fossil fuels (eg oil and gas).
To find out more and to reserve your no-obligation trial box for January 15th, call Ben Oubridge on 07957 192112 or email ben@climatefriendly.co.uk