Waste not, want not

AT a time of abundance for local produce it seems slightly odd to be talking about waste but it's something we keep a close eye on every week at Cultivate. To make sure we stay true to our ethical values we are keen to reduce waste, re-use where possible and recycle what we can. This can be tricky when dealing with fresh produce especially in the warmer weather. No-one wants to buy that last limp lettuce or the slightly squashy strawberry.

We have worked hard over the last year to reduce our waste, whether this is by recycling all our card, glass and plastics, encouraging customers to re-use their egg boxes, or by managing our fresh produce more effectively.

But really it all depends what you mean by the term "waste". In reality the fresh produce we track as "waste" is not just thrown away: all of the produce we have left at the end of the week that really isn’t suitable for human consumption gets popped into our big red bins. Then once a week Mark Cooper, owner of Coopers Oxford Pork and fellow Farmstep tenant at the Earth Trust, comes to collect them and their contents to serve as a tasty treat for his pigs.

Come Monday there might be stock left that is perfectly fine for a couple more days but may not really make it through to our next trading day on Thursday. It’s this produce that really gets a second chance to be served up as delicious meal, thanks to Monday Shop.

Monday Shop is a co-op dedicated to saving good food from going to waste and we’ve been sending our surplus produce to them since 2014. They open every Monday from the East Oxford Community centre 4pm - 7pm and operate a pay-what-you-feel system. They have a fab array of stock from local food businesses or just home-growers who have a glut. But what’s really great is that they’re not only stopping food from going to waste but making organic, local food available to more people. A cause that’s right up our street.