Local veg growers at Keveral are working in collaboration with other veg box schemes such as Village Greens, which covers the Cardinham, Mount, St Neot and Warleggan area, and The Growing Project in Pensilva, to make sure everyone in a large area of South East Cornwall has access to local veg and other produce.
“Keveral Community of Growers has been delivering veg boxes throughout South East Cornwall for over 20 years, but the last year has been both challenging and rewarding, as we have been able to provide local organic veg boxes, fruit and eggs to people during the pandemic,” says Jim Candy, who helps the box scheme with admin, and delivery when not locked in himself.
The year had started quietly, with members of the team grabbing some time off before the busy time of year, which nearly resulted in Holly being locked-in in France! And then lots of new customers contacted Keveral when they realised frequent trips to the supermarket, and the reliability of supply chains for exotic ingredients flown in from thousands of miles away, were in doubt.
The team expanded to cope with demand, taking advantage of the fantastic weather we had in April to increase production, particularly of quick-growing salad crops.
The summer was mostly kind to the growers at Keveral, and Oli Baker, who moved from Keveral to his own land near St Neot in 2016, where he concentrates on rhubarb, strawberries and other soft fruits, was grateful for the local outlet, as he normally supplies the restaurant trade.
Then, in May, the team were keen to help friends who were producing sourdough bread, but now had no customers, by supplying bread with the boxes.
“Although the bakery at Coombeshead Farm has been operating for over three years, most of our bread was going out to restaurants in Cornwall and London. Working with Keveral has been an amazing opportunity to reach people in their homes, so that folks in the surrounding area can have easy access to the bread. They’ve been brilliant to work with – it is with great pride we’re able to partner with people who have such established roots in Cornwall, and care about the land so deeply,” says Ben Glazer, the baker.
Bill Knight, who has been involved at Keveral from the start, says: “We started the box scheme at Keveral Farm to support local organic growers, to get good healthy food, produced in ways that are good for the environment, to local people as affordably as possible and to create local employment.
“It’s a social enterprise, established to benefit our local community, and it’s great to see it supporting the local community through this challenging moment in time.’
The delivery crew also expanded, with six rounds covering an area from Plymouth across to Lostwithiel, and as far north as Upton Cross, every Wednesday. The only week without delivery is between Christmas and New Year so the team at Keveral are looking forward to a rest, seeing family or sitting by the log burner chilling and planning for the next year.
Di Wells, of Village Greens, says: “Village Greens was operating as a well-established weekly farm shop and café before the pandemic. It is run by a Community Interest Company called Feast of Bodmin, whose main aim is to rejuvenate the supply of ethically produced food within our local community. In response to the lockdown and a soaring demand for local food, we reinvented ourselves as a click and collect online store.
“Customers can order from a range of fruit and veg boxes, adding on local meat, eggs, dairy and store cupboard items.
“Our main suppliers include Chapel Bank Farm, Warleggan, a 20-acre organic smallholding providing lamb, pork, vegetables and baked goods, and Stephen Gelly Farm, Lanivet, supplying organic beef and chicken.
“We also have several ‘micro suppliers’ whose seasonal fruit, vegetables and preserves are incorporated into the boxes whenever possible.
“The whole operation is a simple and effective way of getting local food to doorstep customers, buying produce directly from farmers and growers. We have a wonderful team of volunteers who help with ordering, box packing, and deliveries, which keeps the overheads low, but pays a fair price to the suppliers.
“In the early stages we tackled it one week at a time, reinventing our ordering and payment system to meet the demand, which peaked at over 60 orders per week. We have no minimum order, so individual customer spend ranges from £5 up to £80 or £90 per week, with some families buying most of their weekly shop from us. We can be contacted on [email protected] or find more info at Village Greens – Warleggan News (wordpress.com)”