La Ruche qui dit Oui!-Local Products in Short Supply Chain

The steps involved in hosting an Assembly

1Share your motivation with us

Hosting an Assembly requires strong personal commitment. In order to make sure that your Assembly will work we first check that you have the motivation and organisational skills required for the role.

2 Find a welcoming venue

Your Assembly needs a place where everyone can meet for weekly collections. What is essential is that the venue has vehicle access nearby and makes your Members and farmers feel welcome and homely. The venue can be a public space (e.g. a town hall, library or school) or a private space (e.g. a restaurant, pub, theatre).

3Create your Assembly community

Get to know your neighbourhood by having an explore and finding out what is going on. Share the new opportunity to shop locally at your Assembly with everyone you meet! Little by little, interested Members and Producers will gather around you and your community will be born.

4Organise your weekly Assembly

Each week you will create the weekly catalogue by selecting a variety of local food products from what the Producers have on offer. Members will then order online and on the day of the collection come to pick up their food at the chosen venue.

Bring your Assembly to life!

On the collection day Members and Producers assemble at the weekly pop-up market. This provides the opportunity for your community to exchange much more than just food. From seasonal events and foodie workshops to sharing services and farm visits; your Assembly will quickly become a regular gathering, bringing extra life to your local community.

Open an Assembly

Host Profiles

Paul Sousek

Bude, Cornwall

Paul and his family run Cottage Farm organics, a sustainable organic farm powered entirely by renewable energy with hardly any fossil fuels. A pretty good record when you consider the farm was only set up in 2005 with no previous experience in farming! Today, it is considered one of the UK’s most sustainable farms. Paul decided to open an Assembly in his local area too: the Bude For Food Assembly takes place weekly at Rosie's Kitchen, a family-run beachside café adjacent to some of Cornwall's best surfing beaches. Sounds idyllic, doesn't it?

Tim Daborn and Vicky Tedder

Nunhead, London

Tim and Vicky are involved with The Food Assembly because they love “fair” food, and wanted to be involved in a system that’s fair to farmers and also to animals. Every week Vicky orders food only to discover that Tim has eaten it already, most likely before they even arrive home after they host their pick-up market. They like knowing who gets up early to pick their salad leaves, and connecting to those who make the food. What’s their favourite thing about hosting The Food Assembly? “Falling into a food cave”. When they aren’t comatosed in food caves, they’re sharing recipes, eating cheese and living the dream.

Katie Lyttle

Chester

Little did Katie know that a chance encounter with a Facebook post would have her running around Cheshire's countryside finding farmers, shouting about local food on social media and hosting one of the UK’s first food assemblies. Katie is inspired by her mother, who started a grassroot movement to buy food directly from local producers in Northern Ireland. Before starting a Food Assembly, Katie was a kindergarten teacher, then decided she needed a change of pace. Now Katie works with what she loves most: food! She wakes up thinking about food and goes to sleep at night dreaming of food, food, food…

Open an Assembly