22 December 2022
Storehouse & Field is part of Good Food Barnsley, a coalition of different organisations based in Barnsley, Yorkshire. It was formed with the aim of building a better Barnsley where everyone has the right to the food they need to thrive.
Amy Calvert, Innovation Manager, led the opening of Storehouse & Field, a community food hub based in Shafton, in north east Barnsley. Running a bit like a community pantry, but with the feel of a farm shop, the project also offers wraparound services to its members.
Storehouse & Field has been receiving food from FareShare since June 2022 and takes fresh fruit and veg, store cupboard essentials, chilled foods, dairy and dairy alternatives, as well as snacks, breakfast items and frozen food.
“The idea was to have a pantry that opens twice a week in the first instance. We’ll open more as membership grows and in response to community need when we can. All the food comes from FareShare and it operates as a community-led food hub where members pay a set fee and take home a basket of food worth at least three times the value of the membership,” said Amy.
The food that FareShare provides to Good Food Barnsley facilitates what the organisation is able to do for its members. “We wouldn’t be able to source food at this scale, said Amy. “The diversity and quality of the food we get in has helped our store to feel more vibrant and diverse.”
Dignity is really important to Good Food Barnsley. “We try to ensure that we keep people fed but in a way that is dignified”, says Amy. “People can come to us, walk around as if it were a farm shop and choose their own food. In a way, the way that food is provided is equal in importance to what food is on offer. It’s about how it makes people feel, and the services that complement the food offer are the key to ensuring that our members feel they’re a part of something that’s doing good both for them and their communities.
“We’ve divided the shop up into categories – fruit and veg, store cupboard essentials, dairy and alternatives, chilled, breakfast, snacks and frozen. This helps keeps baskets fair in terms of value across all our members, but also ensures a good balance nutritionally between proteins, carbs, fibre, etc.
“When we have something a little more unusual, that our members aren’t used to – such as aubergines – we provide ideas and recipes so people know what to do with it. We aim to arm people with food literacy and confidence to inspire them to try something new, taking the risk out of it.”
Cost of Living Crisis
Good Food Barnsley has noticed an increase in membership sign ups as well as people referring to the cost of living crisis as a reason for joining – directly because of the increase in food prices.
“Food insecurity is a symptom of a wider problem. So we try to provide wraparound services too eg sessions with Citizens Advice and Credit Union as well as cooking workshops and mindfulness sessions – we base the sessions on what our members ask for. And mental health support and training has been asked for a lot as a result of the cost of living crisis.”
As a result of this, Good Food Barnsley organised a mindfulness session for its members.
“There was also demand for a session on cooking with a slow cooker, our members voted on it and so Chris Clyburn from Full Crumb Kitchen at FareShare Yorkshire is coming to do a one pot wonders session for us.”
