Stroud Food Surplus Café

Recently there has been a lot in the press about how supermarkets throw away mounds of food waste. Between them, Asda, Co-operative Food, M&S, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Waitrose – accounting for around 87% of the UK grocery market – were responsible for the disposal of 200,000 tonnes of food in 2013. This just doesn't make sense when so many people are being forced to visit Food Banks.

Stroud Food Surplus Café aims to help redress the imbalance in our food system by reclaiming surplus food and transforming it into delicious healthy meals for all.

On Valentine's Day they are holding a  truly romantic Valentines Best Before Bistro at The Socialight on Sunday, 14th February at 6pm, on a Pay As You Feel Basis.

All money raised will be reinvested in the project and go towards intercepting food from local supermarkets, restaurants, and shops in Stroud and the Five Valleys in the future.

The entire 4 course meal will be created from suplus food that would have otherwise have been thrown into landfill, so settle down for a lovely romantic meal whilst feeding #belliesnotbins - vegetarian, vegan and meat options will be catered for.

You have an option to dine communally or at your own private table. As with all of our events - children are welcome. And as it's Valentine's Day, alcohol will be available for purchase.

Use the form to register your place. Registration is required for entry. Spaces are limited, so please be sure to reserve now!

38 degrees currently have a petition to make supermarkets give all unsold food to charity which you may like to sign.

Supermarkets, however,  contributed to just 1.3% of all food waste in the UK in 2013. We all need to waste less food ourselves.

Further reading:
http://saynotofoodwaste.org/what-can-you-do/supermarkets/

http://sustainablefoodtrust.org/articles/global-food-waste/
 

The myth of supermarket choice

Sign the petition here

I was in a supermarket the other day. I know, it’s a terrible thing to confess to, but there I was, looking at the bread shelves. Lots of different brands of white sliced bread, and brown sliced bread, and a couple of novelty varieties. A huge array of bread, but once you get past the branding, most of it nearly identical to the other ‘choices’.

We’ve been sold the myth that supermarkets offer us choice. However, go and look at the selection and you will see there are a lot of very similar products offered by different brands. The choice is merely between makers, not between products. One plastic pre-sliced loaf is barely distinguishable from another once you take the labels off. Crisps and cleaning products, sauces and sausages – the choice between items is largely an illusion brought on by brightly coloured packaging.

I went into one of our lovely local bakers this week. There were a range of different kinds of breads and different loaf sizes. In no more space than the supermarket bread isle offers, they had far more diversity of product. Sure, it all came from the same producer, but if the producer is good, this is no great problem. I went round to the market and looked at bread sellers there, who with a fraction of the supermarket space offer easily twice as much range.

We’ve been conned into thinking that brands mean choice, and that supermarkets full of brands offer us a real range of products. As a vegetarian looking for a pie, I’m much better off in the local wholefood shop than in a supermarket, where my choice is cheese and onion, or someone else’s cheese and onion. It’ll taste exactly the same as it did last time, because in mass production ‘quality’ is just a measure of sameness, not of actual quality. 

If you're concerned about the supermarkets do visit Stroud Against Supermarket Saturation

Stroud Supermarkets (we have enough already thank you)

This is an article by Nicholas James, reproduced with his blessing. Stroud Against Supermarket Saturation really needs your support…

 

Please sign the following petition:
http://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/stop-further-out-of-town-supermarket-developments-in-stroud
Or ask at least one other person to do so. Please forward this to your friends.

If we can hit the 500 mark soon that would be a start.

Sherbourne, Dorset August 2013 - Plans to build a Tesco superstore which prompted protests have been scrapped as Tesco say the site "won't work" as road access was too difficult and expensive to resolve. Residents formed a "No Thanks Tesco" campaign against the store and 11,000 signed a petition against the plans.

The population of the town is 9,523!!

Supermarkets claim that they offer us choice, value and convenience but they are actually powerful corporations who bully their suppliers and crush local economies. We think that Stroud has enough supermarkets and that we should be supporting our local shops and opposing the building of more supermarkets in our town.

SASS is not against change or development and fully supports new investment and regeneration in the local economy in line with the 'Local Plan'. However, we maintain that these developments will harm industry, including small and medium sized enterprises, as well as putting pressure on diversity of livelihood and overall employment rates.

Stroud has a thriving town centre that is full of vibrant local independent retailers and a hugely successful nationally acclaimed farmers' market. Its unique mix of shops, cafés and bars provides an excellent retail setting for tourists and residents alike. Stonehouse too has a diverse mix of independent shops, and is well-served by the co-operative store on the High Street.

These distinctly positive and attractive elements in the retail settings could change very significantly if these supermarket developments are allowed to proceed.

 

Developers propose to locate one supermarket on a flood-plain at Ryeford and another on a historical industrial site in Lightpill. Each site is on a key gateway route into Stonehouse and Stroud. We should fight to conserve the historic built fabric and the established infrastructure investment, and thus to enhance the integration and cultural identity of the district.  This is what gives Stroud its rich and varied attractive characteristics. We already have four large supermarkets operating in Stroud district and SASS argues strongly that there is no need for any more.

FFI http://www.tescopoly.org/
Nicholas James

 

You might also want to support Stroud Against Supermarket Saturation by following @SASS on twitter.

Stroud Against Supermarket Saturation

Stroud Against Supermarket Saturation formed in July 2013 to protest against the proposal to build two new supermarkets in Stroud. You can find them on twitter - https://twitter.com/sasscampaign their website is here - http://sasscampaign.wordpress.com/

 

The proposed new Asda site is in part derelict, which would suggest that appropriate redevelopment would be a good idea. What does Stroud actually need? We already have a number of supermarkets. Yes, Asda will create new jobs, but it will undoubtedly cost jobs in other places. Many of the new jobs will be low paid and part time, which is not a great asset to the town. Edge of town stores with big car parks encourage people to drive, and to stay out of the town centre. Neither of these are things the Green Party feels are in Stroud’s interests. We have enough traffic flow problems as it is, especially at peak times. We have a town centre that needs our support, not further competition. We need good jobs that pay a living wage and offer opportunities for full time work, so that local people can thrive. A new supermarket would not seem to answer those needs.

 

If you object to the idea of new supermarkets in Stroud, you can sign the petition here -

http://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/stop-further-out-of-town-supermarket-developments-in-stroud

 

Then there is the issue of Asda itself. Asda is part of Wal-mart. If you take any interest in international issues (and I bet you do if you’re reading this) you probably have some idea already that Wal-mart does not have a great reputation. If you’d like to know more about Wal-mart/Asda there is a free film showing on Sunday the 15^th September, 7.30pm in Landsdown Hall. This is part of Transition Stroud’s bi-monthly film screenings, and there will be a debate afterwards. Stroud Against Supermarket Saturation and Stroud Community TV are also involved.

 

 (This is not an event organised by the Green Party. We are always glad to support local community projects, to encourage debate and political engagement and the like. If you have an event, campaign or activity that we could helpfully support, do get in touch by emailing brynnethnimue@gmail.com)