Corpus Christi’s Eco Shop is going from strength to strength since opening in February this year. They now have over 100 members and each week they serve between 30 – 40 people. They celebrated their success yesterday by awarding their 100th member with a free shop!
Well done to Trish and her team of dedicated voluteers!

Anyone who hasn’t collected any digestive biscuits yet and would like some, can you please let me know if you want any before I put it out to the rest of the Food Partnership and other local groups.
Thanks
Lisa

I know some shops maybe inundated with tomato soup but I still have lots of Sainsburys Cream of Tomato Soup which expires 05/2022. If you want any or know of any other groups/organisations which may be able to use them please let me know.
Thanks.

Hi all,

Just trying to understand how each of the organisations works regarding stocking the shelves. Other than FareShare and FareShare Go, do you have any other organisations you are registered with? We have recently joined Neighbourly and hope to take advantage of the surplus stock from there very soon.

I feel we do get a range of items, however, when looking at some of your pictures online, there seems to be more vegetables available and I can’t see where this comes from, any help here would be appreciated.

Also, I see other items on your pictures that we don’t stock so feel I should ask the above questions, are we missing something.

Thanks in advance all 🙂

In the last EcoShop network meeting we had Claire & Andrea from Teesside University tell us about the research programme they are working on and were looking for volunteers involved with EcoShops to support them in collating some information. Anyone who is interested in getting involved please let me know. More information about the project below……..

Community Social Supermarkets: understanding how they shape access and availability to healthier foods in food insecure communities
Social supermarkets (SS) like the Eco-shop are not-for-profit organisations which receive and sell surplus produce to local people.
Our project aims to:
1. Explore how SS are used throughout the UK.
2. Look at the availability and accessibility of SS products across the North-East and North Cumbria.
3. Understand how people in the North-East, specifically Middlesbrough, use and perceive eco-shops.
4. Explore ways of encouraging customers to buy and use healthier SS items.

This is a 2-year project which started on 1st February 2022 and will include the following:

1. We will carry out a scoping review to look at evidence and information on how social supermarkets are used throughout the UK. This will include finding out how they may be categorised; what purpose they serve within a community and understanding how they are perceived by communities.

2. A survey will be distributed across a sample of social supermarkets across the NE&NC to understand what products are available and how often customers use SS.

3. Interviews will be carried out with EcoShop managers and customers to find out more about the products people buy and also to understand how what their thoughts and feelings are about EcoShops.

4. We would also like to work with members of the EcoShops task and finish group to explore ways of encouraging customers to buy and use healthier food items such as fruits and vegetables.

Public Involvement

Within this project, we would like members of the task and finish group to help develop the survey, interview questions and other project materials to ensure that it is fit for purpose. We will also employ 2/3 peer researchers (from the ecoshop community) to be involved in the data collection process, meaning they would carry out the interviews and help with the analysis of data. It is important that community members are engaged with the project so that the results are meaningful and benefit the people of Middlesbrough.

Hi All
If any of you have an abundance of soup – especially vegetable – mushy peas or tinned tomatoes (whole or chopped), Pioneer Credit Union will happily take some off your hands. In exchange, we can offer dried spaghetti, Knorr stock pots – beef and/or chicken – lasagne packet sauce mix, white chocolate spread or wholemeal flour (1.5kg bags)
We can collect at your convenience
Cheers
Elaine

Hi All
If any of you have an abundance of soup – especially vegetable – mushy peas or tinned tomatoes (whole or chopped), we will happily take some off your hands. In exchange, we can offer dried spaghetti, Knorr stock pots – beef and/or chicken – lasagne packet sauce mix, white chocolate spread or wholemeal flour (1.5kg bags)
We can collect at your convenience
Cheers
Elaine

We have had a huge donation of Digestives and Rich Tea biscuits from PD Ports which would have otherwise have been incinerated. These biscuits are perfectly fine and still in date, please come and get some!!
Let me know when you are able to collect and we will have some ready for you.
Thanks.

Food Waste Action Week is encouraging people to reduce their food waste by freezing more food. Its a quick and easy way to stop food being wasted so make the most of your freezer and share these top tips with your Eco Shop customers.

Fruit – Did you know that 81.25% of the fruit we waste is wasted because we haven’t used it in time? Freeze your fruit to stop this happening! You can freeze almost all fruit, and simply grab a handful next time you’re making a dessert or smoothie

Potatoes – We waste 4.4 million whole potatoes every day in UK homes – and 17% of these are wasted because we cook, prepare, or serve too much. If you’ve got loads left after dinner, pop it in the freezer for another day – this works for mash, roasties, or even chips! If you need to freeze uncooked spuds, boil them for about five minutes and freeze them for later. When you want them, thaw overnight and roast the next day!

Cauliflower and broccoli – Try making a big batch of cauliflower or broccoli cheese and split into individual portions for freezing. This is a great option if the veg isn’t going to last much longer or you’ve bought too much. It’s very tasty with garlic in the cheese sauce, then topped with breadcrumbs and parsley.

Milk – It’s best to freeze milk as soon as possible after buying. When you need it, thaw it in the fridge. Plastic containers are okay for freezing milk in, but the milk will expand so pour out a small amount before you freeze it (for example, in a cup of tea) to allow for this. Shake well before using. Or try using an ice cube tray to freeze your milk in perfect tea-sized portions! If you’re off on holiday and there’s just a little bit of milk left in the bottle, freeze it in cubes, and when you make your homecoming brew you can pop in a cube to milk up your drink.

Cheese – Grate up your cheese and then freeze it – you can just grab a handful whenever you want a topping for a pasta, pizza, shepherd’s pie… whatever you like!

Bread – 20 million slices of bread go to waste every day in UK homes. Freezing bread stops it being wasted, whether the whole loaf goes in as soon as you buy it, or you freeze the last few slices at the end of the bag. You can toast bread straight from the freezer, and it tastes just as great! When you’re freezing loaves, slice them up, and loosely tap them on a hard surface before freezing to stop the frozen slices getting stuck together