Pop-up fruit stall supports local growers and raises money for local food hubs

Can you help this worthwhile project in 2021?

This is a simple idea, but very effective: if local fruit growers can’t sell their fruit, it doesn’t get picked, therefore wasted. This, together with land-use change as orchards have been grubbed up, has led to the loss of much of our legacy of fruit-growing in Cambridgeshire. So one Cambridge resident decided to help out. 

Everybody is talking about the need to eat seasonally and locally, but local growers often cannot always sell all their produce. Cambridge resident Martin Roach wanted to support a local fruit farm in Bluntisham, which sold their fruit in a farm shop and local market stalls, but had little access to Cambridge. This means they always have unpicked fruit left over.

Martin often visited the farm to buy for his own family use, and wondered whether his neighbours would be interested, so he set up a pop-up fruit stand in his front garden each Saturday during the season and promoted it through the local Queen Edith’s Forum newsletter. On offer were cherries, plums, apricots and green gages, as well as apples and pears, with many local varieties of each.

Over 10 weeks during the summer, and for 2 weekends of an apple-and-pear celebration in the autumn, he set up his stall and people came, rain or shine. The fruit was sold at the same price as the farm shop, so as not to undercut local tradespeople. The farm gave a quantity discount, and trays could be broken down into smaller quantities, giving a profit which was donated to the local community food hub.

The fruit stand

Hills Pop Up Fruit Stand sign

Martin, a member of the Cambridge Doughnut Economics group, CamDEAG, would like to extend this successful scheme in 2021 and is looking for volunteers in other parts of Cambridge City who could do the same when the season starts in late June. He also has his eye on other farms which could benefit. Martin is happy to provide advice and a helping hand, deliver the fruit and find ways to spread the word to your neighbours.

If you are interested in helping by holding a pop-up fruit stall in your own area of the City, contact Martin Roach at martin.roach1@outlook.com.

Pop-up fruit stand