Northern Ireland’s first community-owned greengrocers is urging people to “buy intentionally” this Christmas to reduce festive food waste.
It is estimated that, on average, nearly 12 million carrots go to waste each year and more than 17 million Brussel sprouts are scraped into the bin across the UK during the holiday season, according to Business Waste UK.
Carrickfergus Greengrocers was set up in July last year after raising more than £34,000 through a community share offer to open the store.
The greengrocers now has 400 members and in the past year turned over a profit of £150,000, growing fresh, local produce for the community.
Lee Robb
Lee Robb, one of the voluntary directors on the board, has been part of the co-op since it was established last year. She said that while it is impossible for a greengrocers to compete with “the big supermarkets”, it is important for people to “buy just what they need”.
“Last year some of the big chain stores were selling a bag of carrots for just 9p; that’s just not sustainable and not possible to pay farmers a fair wage at that,” said Lee.
“The point of our greengrocers was to give our suppliers a fair deal because we can’t continue to grow food the way we’re doing it at the minute.
“We are also encouraging people to buy intentionally, and buy only what they need, which helps to avoid this massive wastage caused at this time of year.
“All of our produce is loose, not packaged in plastic, which helps people think about just how much they need and for what purpose.”
DAERA Minister Andrew Muir has launched Northern Ireland’s first Food Strategy Framework aiming at making us a world leader in “sustainable, healthy and nutritious food.”
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The minister was at Carrick Greengrocers to launch the strategy and said the framework “recognises the interconnectedness between food, health, the economy and the environment.”
“From obesity, food poverty and waste to climate change and biodiversity loss, the food we produce and eat is a major factor in some of the greatest problems facing Northern Ireland. It is also a vital part of the solutions,” he said. “The Northern Ireland Food Strategy Framework sets the shared long-term direction of travel and there is a role for everyone in this journey.
“I intend to bring forward an action plan in early 2025, which will provide more details on how we as a government intend to start the transformation of our food system.”
Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs Minister Andrew Muir
Mr Muir also praised the work of Carrick Greengrocers who he described as “making a real impact supplying local people with nutritious, local, in season food.
“It is important that we all value our food and where it comes from and I would like to pay tribute to all our food heroes, who grow, produce and make our food and I look forward to the next steps we take together to shape a better tomorrow.”
Lee said that climate change is always going to impact the chain of supply of various food items which are imported into Northern Ireland.
To celebrate its first birthday this year, Carrick Greengrocers launched a Friendly Food Club offering those on low incomes half price fresh fruit and vegetables for the next 12 months, which people can also avail of over the Christmas period.
“Some people who maybe aren’t eligible for emergency food provision, and are also working, are still struggling to make ends meet and want to include healthy, organic food in their diet that won’t cost a fortune, so that’s where we come in,” explained Lee.
The Carrickfergus pilot is part of the Bridging the Gap programme, a UK-wide initiative established to test ways in which communities can make climate-friendly food accessible to all.
Those interested in registering can call into the shop or email [email protected]