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Community Food Enterprise Community Food Enterprise
Community Food EnterpriseABOUT US: Vision, Core Aims, ObjectivesPROJECTS: Social Food Outlets, Service Delivery, Cook & Eat, Fruit Delivery, Mobile Food Store, Breakfast Clubs, ConsultancyNATIONAL TRAINING PROGRAMMENEWSLINKSCONTACT
Community Food Enterprise
About Us
Our Staff
 
About Us
A group of people with baskets of fruit and vegetables
    
Our Mission
  • Work in partnership with the diverse communities of Newham and the East London region to safeguard and sustain their right to the right food as a fundamental condition for their health and well-being
  • Disseminating and promoting best practices in diet and nutrition through education and training and outreach.
 

Our Vision

At CFE we believe that everyone in the community has the right not just to food, but to the right food. At the heart of our belief is the principle that access to food is a right, not a privilege. The food and drink we consume should be safe, nutritious, affordable, accessible and culturally acceptable.

 
    
Image of girl eating
Our Work
 
At CFE, we are passionate about lowering or eliminating any barriers that might prejudice the ability of the members of our community to enjoy the right to the right food. Barriers exist of many kinds, among them poor diet, ignorance, disability, poverty and location.  Any combination of these factors create the preconditions for what are sometimes called 'food deserts', those parts of both cities and the countryside where even those who want to eat the right food, and can afford to do so, still find it hard to find the right ingredients for their diet. Our work revolves around defining where barriers to access occur and systematically addressing them.  Over the years, we have developed an extensive range of projects and they include:
 
Purchasing and Distribution
Each day, our buyer travels to New Spitalfields Wholesale Market and purchases fresh fruits and vegetables to satisfy the needs of our diverse community.  Produce are then brought back to our warehouse by our drivers and distributed to various projects throughout East London.
 
Work in Schools
The bulk of our work is concentrated around schools where we provide the following services
·        buying and delivering provisions for Breakfast Clubs
·        supplying fresh fruits to nurseries
·        supplying fresh fruits to Fruit Tuck Shops
·        supplying fruit and vegetables for school lunches.
 
Social Food Outlets (SFOs) - Fixed and Mobile
CFE runs a network of retail Social Food Outlets and a Mobile Food Store. These projects are staffed by volunteers and they sell fresh fruits and vegetables to the community at affordable prices.
 
Healthy Eating in the Workplace
Working in partnership with public and private companies as well as voluntary and statutory organisations, CFE aims to promote healthy eating in the workplace by supplying fresh fruits to their employees on a daily basis.
 
Home Delivery Service (including online ordering)
CFE offers a free home delivery service to residents of Newham who are home bound, disabled, women who are heavily pregnant, and families with children under four years old.
 
Juice Bars
We provide freshly squeezed juices at community events throughout the borough.
 
Consultancy Service
CFE offers a range of consultancy services and training to organisations wishing to set-up community food projects.
 
 
National Training Programme for Community Food Workers (NTP)
In response to growing national recognition of our work in the community and to meet the demand to help create the conditions for developing enterprises similar to CFE in other parts of the UK, we have created the National Training Programme for Community Food Workers (NTP.)  The programme consists of seven units (including health promotion and running a social enterprise) and is accredited by the Open College Network, London Region.  Progression routes have also been developed with several leading universities.
 
Communications and Outreach
CFE recognised at an early stage that the mere distribution of affordable produce would not sustain the underlying purpose to promote the right to the right food. Effective communication and education is also essential to empower customers to act for themselves.  A key factor in our success was our decision to establish Social Food Outlets (SFOs) in schools. These provide us with an ideal means of reaching our audience. They set the purchasing process in an educational context, implicitly promoting the link between good diet and good health.
 
Evaluation/Impact:
An independent evaluation report was carried out on CFE and the services we provide for the period August 2004 - March 2006.  The figures below give a snapshop of the impact we have had:
 
NDC catchment area
·        2,748 customers purchasing goods from Social Food Outlets (SFO)
·        5,665 customers purchasing  goods from Mobile Food Store (MFS)
·        5,126 lunches served at over 50s clubs
·        4,000 vouchers redeemed by over 50s at the Mobile Food Store
·        2,000 bags of mixed fruit and vegetables delivered to over 50s
·        600 home deliveries
·        300 vouchers redeemed through the NDC Doctor Referral Scheme
·        over 150 residents participating in Cook & Eat Sessions and 250 enjoying communal meals.
 
Outside NDC catchment area
·        22,795 customers purchased goods from Social Food Outlets (SFO)
·        15,162 customers purchased goods from Mobile Food Store (MFS)
·        100,000 pieces of fruits were delivered to the workplace
·        60,000 pieces of fruits were distributed at various community events
·        80 home deliveries were made.
 
School- and pre-school children
For school and pre-school children, in the same time period, we delivered:
·        200,620 pieces of fruit to key stage 2 pupils
·        42,758 meals to Breakfast Clubs
·        113,600 pieces of fruit to toddlers groups
·        59,200 pieces of fruit to fruit tuck shops
·        28,000 meals, consumed by children attending After School Clubs
·        200 bags of mixed fruit and vegetables delivered to families with children under 5 years old
·        3,100 vouchers redeemed by families with children under 5 years old.
 
Contact
Community Food Enterprise Limited
Unit 4a
Thameside Industrial Estate
Factory Road
London
E16 2HB
Tel:020 7511 9014 
Fax:020 7511 9015
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank the following funders for their kind support:
East Thames Group; Tate & Lyle; West Ham & Plaistow New Deal for Communities (NDC); UnLtd; Big Lottery Fund; Esmee Fairbairn and Tudor Trust.
 
 
 
 
 
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