Midwinter community campaign will help those in need while supporting Lancaster businesses

North Lancashire’s sustainable food partnership FoodFutures has launched the midwinter campaign, which will to support food producers while simultaneously raising funds for Eggcup’s food justice and community building work.

Hampers will contain locally produced food and items for midwinter and Christmas celebrations, alongside the stories of those that have produced it.

Producers will be paid directly (at a price they set), and the profits raised from the sale of these hampers will go towards Eggcup’s ongoing work re-distributing surplus food to those that need it.

Featured producers include the Fig Tree, Backsbottom Farm, the Port of Lancaster SmokeHouse, Precious Plastics, Love ewe dairy and Atkinson's.

Eggcup, who will package and distribute the hampers, is a not-for-profit organisation whose mission is to ensure that good food reaches people who need it within the Lancaster City Council district.

The Eggcup team gather and re-distribute surplus food; supporting existing food clubs whilst supporting new community food clubs to set themselves up.

Since March 2020 Eggcup has worked with local partners to support around 750 households per week - that’s just over 2,000 individuals, many of whom are children.

They have distributed around 235 tonnes of food, equating to just under 560,000 meals.

David France, Eggcup charity manager at Eggcup, said: "The Covid crisis is impacting all of us, but many people were already finding it difficult to manage, and it's these people who have been the worst affected.

"Eggcup works to support those people that are facing financial challenges, but it's not about charity, it's about food, people and community.

"Our members pay a small subscription fee each week which helps towards the costs of delivering the scheme.

"We access surplus food that is then shared amongst the members, helping them to save money. We also operate a buying co-operative to ensure that our members always get some basics like milk, bread and eggs.

“We have seen a huge increase in applications for our memberships during the last few months and we've had to scale up quickly to meet this demand.

"Unfortunately, this trend seems set to continue. There are people and families in our area experiencing real hardship, people who may have been just about managing and have now found themselves pushed over the edge.

“Access to food is a basic human need and everyone in our community should be able to feed themselves and their family.

"Food is also a fantastic way to connect, and share experiences with others. We want to see a food system that works for everyone, which is why we are so proud to be part of the FoodFutures network.

"We hope that the midwinter hampers will be an opportunity for people to learn about the amazing produce being created in our area and to support those in our community that are finding it tough."

Eggcup, alongside FoodFutures, are supporting collaborative working amongst community partners in the Lancaster district to create a system of support for people throughout the food system – during our current pandemic and beyond; from field to plate and glass.

The FoodFutures network includes representatives from the Lancaster District Food Poverty Alliance (including EggCup), the local farming community, academic institutions, Lancaster City Council, local community gardens and other third sector organisations, all of which have initiated schemes to respond to the lockdown and emergency food needs - both now and expected in the future.

FoodFutures Midwinter Hampers is the latest of such schemes; responding to local need whilst replacing Lancaster’s annual Midwinter Market which has been cancelled due to current restrictions on public events in the city centre.

Anna Clayton, FoodFutures coordinator, said: “At the start of lockdown we saw a surge in enthusiasm for buying more local and sustainable food, backyard growing, and offers of help to support our local emergency food response and longer term recovery.

"All these trends need to continue if we are to holistically tackle the rising demand for emergency food support whilst simultaneously facing an economic recession, the climate and ecological emergency and supporting our local land stewards (local sustainable farmers) as we head into the unknowns of Brexit and the ensuing trade negotiations.

"The FoodFutures Midwinter Hamper is one way to support this holistic food work. Committing to support and buy direct from our local sustainable food producers all year round is another. You could also get involved directly in FoodFutures and Eggcup’s work.”

To learn more about FoodFutures and this midwinter campaign, go online here and you can also order your FoodFutures Midwinter Hamper online here.