Welcome to some recent news about our work in Exeter, where we rescue good food that would otherwise be destroyed and redistribute it to community organisations!
New Title
We have changed our name! DCFA (Exeter) is now Exeter Food Action. We are still the Exeter hub of the DCFA but as potential new hubs develop we want to keep our city identity and pride! In the next few weeks there will be new posters and banners, though our work will stay the same…
Exeter Stats for the Year
November figures – 2,171 tonnes food saved; reducing 1,022 kilos CO2; £5,427 saved for the community.
Our annual figures are 22,413 kilos (nearly twenty two and a half tonnes) of good food saved to end of November. This adds to carbon savings of 10,556 kilos CO2 and more than £60,000 of financial savings to community groups in and around Exeter over the year.
We estimate that maybe £12 is saved indirectly for every £1 EFA spends!
Latest News
Marks & Spencer on the High Street are our newest suppliers! We have been collecting from them each evening since November 23rd. They will become the fifth major food retailer in the city to work with us.
Daily Bread
One our new suppliers in Exeter is the recently opened Pret-a-Manger who have been providing us with 50-100 sandwiches on a daily basis. Rather than wasting time and energy storing these at Spinning Path, our wonderful volunteers take them direct to a city centre homeless project at the end of each day.
A ‘whole’ cow story
This summer a local farmer contacted us regarding a cow he had which was coming to the end of her life and which he didn’t want ending up as cat food.
So he had it slaughtered locally and brought us the meat for distribution!
New Volunteers
We have welcomed over 20 new volunteers since the Spring. Long standing volunteer Joan collects every day from Heavitree Coop for us. And she also offers her allotment for any remaining food to be composted and returned to the earth! Completing the food cycle is the way to eradicate food waste…
Community Festivals
Exeter Food Action has just produced a new paper leaflet (copies available on request). Amongst other activities, these are taken around to various local food festivals in the area. We were at Newtown in September and will be at the Taste of the West at Westpoint next February.
Other Local Food News
Exeter Food Network now has twenty member organisations and set up its new website exeterfoodnetwork.org.uk. EFN has also registered Exeter as a Sustainable Food City.
One of the new projects developed over the summer has been a Cookery Course run at St. Sidwell’s Centre with food supplied by us at EFA. This has been especially aimed at families whose children are dependent on school meals, which are obviously not available in the holidays. The pilot course encouraged 28 children from 3 schools to prepare and cook meals, for their own use and to take home – therefore learning new recipes and skills, and also with some craft work too. A full report is on the EFN website.
Explorations continue into a potential Real Exeter Centre with food, energy, arts and community economy elements.
DCFA would like to thank South West Water and all its other funding partners for 2015/16
Registered Charity no : 1155313, Company registration no : 07419679