Local cooperatives can offer an alternative to food banks, allowing neighbours to club together while tackling food waste
In a large, bright room in Gospel Oak, north-west London, 20 green plastic boxes have been arranged on the floor in an approximate circle. Four volunteers are moving between them, putting food items into each: a packet of cornflakes, bags of rice, four oranges, a handful of large mushrooms.
Before long – a mango, a jar of chickpeas – the boxes are almost full. From a large sack, one of the volunteers takes a fistful of garlic bulbs to drop in each container: “It’s winter. People need garlic,” she says with a grin. These crammed, healthy boxes of food will go a long way to feeding a family each week. The cost to each recipient: £5.
