Local food
Hello, I am Helen Wright, True Food's local food co-ordinator. The purpose of this role is to manage the supply of local food and to increase the amount of local food True Food sells.
On a day to day basis I decide how much to buy from each of our local fruit and vegetable suppliers. I, or a True Food helper, then collect and prepare the produce for sale. I also go to each market and set out all the fruit and vegetables.
We are looking for new suppliers of different types of local food. We have a local cheese, Wigmore, that is produced in Riseley. We also sell traditionally made bread from the Brown Sugar Bakery at Stoke Row. On a Thursday we get a delivery of bread from the Authentic Bread Company, which is not local but very good bread!
We order meat weekly from Laverstoke Park Farm near Basingstoke. We keep some for sale in the fridge at the shop but recommend that you order using the forms available at the shop and markets to be sure of getting what you want. We order on a Monday morning for delivery on the following Wednesday. We have a range of frozen meat from Waltham Place near Maidenhead, what we have varies depending on what the farm has available but may include lamb, pork, veal and beef. We get chickens, again frozen, from Rother Valley Organics in Hampshire. Any of the frozen meat can be taken to the markets in our insulated boxes, just ring or email us - see contact details below.
The following fresh produce is currently in season and available from local suppliers. As we use several small suppliers not everything will be available at all markets. If you need something in particular then email localfood@truefood.coop or ring 0118 946 1188 to check. We can also order extra from a local supplier for you if you let us know a few days in advance.
Chard, lettuce, salad bags, spinach, cucumber, basil, parsley,new potatoes, spring onions, summer cabbages, broad beans, beetroot, fresh garlic, blackcurrants, redcurrants, gooseberries.
The government are currently running an 'eat seasonally' campaign - see their Eat Seasonably website for ideas of what to do with seasonal produce.