I'm helping to get the word out about a new green community café that opened yesterday in the old Station House on the corner of Stapleton Hall Road and Ferme Park Road (the MIND building), and will be open every Friday lunchtime from now on. The Station House Community Café is an initiative by award-winning charity <a title="FoodCycle website" href="
http://www.foodcycle.org.uk ">FoodCycle</a> whose aim is to reduce 'food poverty' in the community by bringing together volunteers, surplus food and an idle kitchen space to create nutritious meals for local people.
The initiative has been supported by local councillors through a small grant from the Making the Difference programme. The aim is to stop food being wasted and to provide cheap and healthy food to whoever wants it. I visited the manager last week to find out about the preparations and how it works. They work with local food retailers including Budgens, M&S and Sainsbury’s. They collect their surplus produce and use it to provide hearty meals that are prepared and served by local volunteers who themselves gain valuable training and practical experience. They also plan to hold healthy eating initiatives at the café, such as nutrition workshops and cooking lessons, providing local people with better knowledge about eating well. I suggested they also promote the history of the building they are in and the parkland walk nearby - which were central to the development of Stroud Green.
The café will be open 12 noon till 2.30pm every Friday. Please try it out.
Comments
Has this been thought about? Will there be appropriate security/supervision?
Looks great. I'll be there this week with the kids. Hopefully we can pop in after a parkland walk, and before getting a DVD from Londis for a lovely half-term matinee.
@ delaware1 what pessimistic views you have! Lets give the venture a chance before we put a damper on it eh?
I forgot to go to the cafe on Friday - I was stuck at my computer. I have now put it in my diary for next week. £4 for a full lunch sounds fantastic but what I like most about the concept is that a lot of the food is donated from local supermarkets!!