We’re namechecked in Now Then Magazine this week in a story about the fantastic work that Sheffield Food Chain are doing to get fresh meals to people who need them. Every week we donate fresh fruit and veg that’s still good, but won’t sell in time, to this local charity. Beanies also works with Foodworks, The Archer Project, and Open Kitchen Social Club to ensure that no edible food goes to waste here.
Fighting food waste and food poverty is a crucial part of the Beanies ecosystem. It’s a radically different approach from that of supermarkets, who send huge volumes of edible food to landfill each year because they don’t (and won’t) have networks set up to manage waste. At Beanies, bins are for recycling and food is for eating!
By collaborating within our community we operate a near closed-loop system (be wary of anyone who claims they’ve got this entirely stitched up, they are probably lying). Our compost goes to local growers to break down and use in growing more veg for us. Surplus, useable food goes to charities who either redistribute it as is or batch cook it for home. It’s a satisfying and tidy way of managing our shared resources, and we do think that if the wider world was set up like this, it would be a much better one to live in. In the meantime, you know that when you’re shopping at Beanies you’re supporting an eco-sensitive, community centered business to keep our local food networks fair and resilient.