Local Food

Picture of local breadHello, we are Nicola Tipler and Helen Wright. We are True Food's local food co-ordinators. We are job sharing and split the week between us. The purpose of the 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 we decide how much to buy from each of our local fruit and vegetable suppliers. We then collect and prepare the produce for sale. We 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 have also started supplying traditionally made bread from the Brown Sugar Bakery and The Natural Bread Company.

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 currently also have some lamb cuts in the freezer from Waltham Place near Maidenhead and some frozen chickens from Sheepdrove Farm, Lambourn.

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 0845 330 8272 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, spinach, radishes, cucumber, basil, parsley,marrows, new potatoes, spring onions, summer cabbages, runner beans, french beans, dwarf beans, beetroot, fresh garlic, spring onions, courgettes, tomatoes, pati pan squash,   

The government are currently running an 'eat seasonally' campaign see their website for ideas of what to do with seasonal produce. 

Waltham Place Meat

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Waltham Place is an organically farmed estate near Maidenhead. We currently have some of their beef and lamb available for sale frozen from the Emmer Green shop. We can also deliver it to any of our markets just ring us on 0845 3308272 any time up to 2 pm on the day you want to collect it. We have available lamb legs, shoulder and a few chops. Beef we have various joints, steaks and stewing beef. Come and have a look and see if anything takes your fancy.

Film about Tolhurst Organic Produce

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Tolhurst gardenMERL (Museum of Englsh Rural Life) are showing a film about one of our local suppliers, Tolhurst Organic Produce. The film runs during the museum's opening hours and shows a year in the life of this organic, stockfree farm.

If you haven't been to MERL it is well worth a visit. On Redlands Road, near the Royal Berks hospital it is full of old photos and quirky artifacts but also makes links to food and farming in the present. The Tolhurst film runs until the 16th July so you can find out about the farm and then come to True Food to taste the produce.

Real Bread at True Food

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True Food supports the campaign for Real Bread and all the bread we sell is made, using organic flour, by traditional slow methods, without the use of artificial additives or preservatives. On Monday, Wednesday and Friday we collect bread from Brown Sugar bakery, Stoke Row, just 6 miles from the True Food shop. This is a sliced, malted loaf, ideal for sandwiches and toast. On Thursday we collect a wider selection of bread from the Natural Bread Company in Wantage. To keep costs down, we also collect bread for Tolhurst Organics, who supply it to their veg bag customers and contribute to our collection costs. The bread available from the Natural Bread Company includes rye sourdough, wholemeal sourdough,oxford sourdough, pumpkin,wholemeal seeded and saffron buns.

Meat from Laverstoke Farm

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We have started taking regular orders for meat from Laverstoke Park Farm, a biodynamic/organic farm near Basingstoke (27 miles from the True Food Warehouse). As well as the usual selection of lamb, beef, pork and whole chickens Laverstoke Park have Water buffalo. You can buy buffalo sausages, burgers and mince as well as milk and delicious mozzarella cheese.

Initially we will be having a weekly delivery from them on a Wednesday. Orders need to be with us by Monday morning for delivery on the Wednesday. We will then bring them to the market of your choice (frozen for Monday and Tuesday markets).

Look out at markets for the order forms and product list or email localfood@truefood.coop and we can send you copies. We usually have some bacon and sausages available at the shop but to be sure of getting what you want it is best to order.