A new community kitchen and distribution centre this winter

Cambridge Sustainable Food CIC (CSF) has joined forces with St Philip’s Church in Romsey in a new venture to bring people together around sustainable food. The Mayor Cllr Mark Lawton visited on 7th December to celebrate the opening of the kitchen.

At the start of the pandemic CSF worked with the Food Poverty Alliance, Cambridge City Council and mutual aid groups to facilitate the beginnings of the eight food hubs in the City and a distribution centre and kitchen at Buchan Street Neighbourhood Centre in Kings Hedges.  

Working with St Philip’s Church on Mill Road, CSF will be based at the Cornerstone Cafe kitchen. Alongside developing a surplus catering enterprise, which will raise funds for CSF’s wider work on food inequality, they are also working with the Church to facilitate a warm and welcoming space over the winter. 

Ruth Barry, St Philip’s Church, Vicar said: 

‘’We are delighted to be working with CSF. We know the valuable work they do in ensuring food gets to those that need it and they have a desire to see communities come together which is so strongly linked with our desire to provide a safe, welcoming and warm space for everyone.  This collaboration offers a wonderful opportunity for us to work with and in our local community and to ensure no one need be isolated this winter."

There are longer term plans for developing a model called Good Food Neighbourhood, first piloted in Cardiff. This brings people together in the area to talk about, socialise over and work on community led projects such as growing or cooking together. 

Sam Dyer, CSF CEO, said:

‘’We are very excited to be working with St Philip’s on this project and for their generosity with helping us find a kitchen. This project represents a little bit of positivity and hope during a time when the outlook is bleak for many people. We will continue to focus on our core work of making sure people are able to eat whilst we explore ways in which other aspects such as loneliness, health and community can be addressed.’’

CSF will also continue to provide cooked meals for the Holiday Lunch programme and other city-wide programmes. This winter they are working with Cambridge City Council and Cambridge City Foodbank again to send out over 700 Christmas hampers to families and 200 Christmas meals to older people in sheltered housing.

The food distribution centre has moved from Buchan Street Neighbourhood Centre in Kings Hedges to Barnwell. From here CSF is continuing to circulate surplus, donations, fresh produce to the food hubs and organisations throughout the city who are doing the fantastic frontline work of making sure people get fed.