It’sgood local foodfor less !

Alison Wade, an MA student in London, runs Leytonstone Food Assembly – part of a UK network of groups who order food from local producers and collect it at weekly meet-ups

Igrew up in a village where we had eggs from the ‘egg lady’, ate free-range local pork and there were sheep in the field opposite our house. When I moved to London, I realised it was di"cult to be connected to where your food comes from. My ex-housemate Ashley and I opened Leytonstone Food Assembly in 2015. The Assembly is every Thursday night at The Wild Goose Bakery, run by Vernon and Kirstin, who were some of the first people I met in the neighbourhood. We’ve got 17 producers now, having started with 10. Some are based within a mile: London honey, Leytonstone-based MC Chocolatier and Zara, who does amazing chilli jams, plus meat, cheeses and vegetables from farms just outside London. I’ve got to know so many people through the Leytonstone Food Assembly, and we’ve started holding community dinners, which bring us all together.

My housemates order from it too as it makes sense to buy together to save money, especially when you factor in our partners. My housemate Michal makes sourdough using The Wild Goose’s flour and their sourdough starter. We get to buy better produce but keep within our budgets.

How it works ‘The Food Assembly combines the idea of a farmer’s market with the convenience of ordering online. You stay in control of your budget, because the prices and portion sizes are on the website.’

Is it right for you? ‘There’s quite a long process to setting up a Food Assembly. You need to ind a venue, recruit producers, set up the online market and have a certain amount of members. I take 8% of all sales, but I tend to spend more than I earn – I probably break even.’ Find out more thefoodassembly.com.