Long ago I was involved with a local wholefood co-operative. About 20 of us clubbed together to order supplies from one of the big wholefood wholesalers once a month. People took turns hosting the supplies and everything was shared out. It was a great way to get cheap food, meet like-minded people and actually was quite good fun!
Now the Soil Association are encouraging people to do something similar through their local school. The idea is that a group can set up a school food co-op. The suggestion with the most educational value is that the pupils should run the group. I think this is a fantastic idea! There’s so much opportunity for great learning and children are far more likely to eat something they’ve been involved in buying.
You can get a handy pdf that gives you more information.
A school buying group makes fresh, local, ethically-
produced food more accessible to its members, and
supports local farmers by providing them with a local,
regular and reliable outlet. A school food co-op can also support other programmes such as Healthy Schools,
Eco Schools and Food For Life.
