Fresh Street Community

Fresh Street Community is a Food Sytems Equality (FoodSEQual) Health  project studying different ways to help communities access and afford good quality fresh fruit and vegetables. Fresh Street Community focuses on the role of community hubs as centres for health and social connectivity and support, providing a point to buy fresh vegetables and fruit, but also to access wellbeing, healthcare and social activities that provide more wide-ranging support for local communities.

Using our research funds, this scheme offers Fresh Street vouchers to all households on streets near community centres in Reading and Plymouth. Fresh Street Community provides non-means-tested vouchers for purchasing fruit and vegetables at a bespoke stall set up as a social enterprise at local hubs. The intervention tackles both access to, and affordability of, fresh produce in two locations (Whitley, Reading and Whitleigh, Plymouth), and explores the benefits of social connectivity with access to wellbeing and healthcare, which are provided alongside the fruit and vegetable stalls.

In each area all households in each street are included regardless of household size, type or income. Vouchers can be used for locally supplied fruit and vegetables at their community centre. This supports local suppliers and makes fruit and vegetables more affordable and available in each community.

Fresh Street Community is enabling local communities to afford and access fruit and vegetables and supporting the local healthy food economy, community centres and social cohesion.

We work with local stakeholders to develop and feasibility test the Fresh Street Community model in their community. Together we explore its impact on food insecurity and inequality in access to affordable fruit and vegetables and its value to the many community and place development strands in each community relating to group development, volunteering and wider wellbeing and community cohesion initiatives.

Additional sites are being developed in other areas of the UK with high levels of food insecurity and low diet quality including Manton in Nottinghamshire.

Fresh Street Community – Reading

Fresh Street Community was launched in Reading in November 2023. at the Whitley Community Development Association (WCDA) hub.

On Saturday mornings the WCDA team set up the fresh fruit and vegetable stall outside the community hub with fresh fruit and vegetables are supplied each week by local fruit and vegetable wholesalers Belchers & son.  The fruit and vegetable stall is open to everyone on Saturdays from 930am-1130am. Cash, card and Fresh Street vouchers are all accepted.

Following the end of BBSRC funding, the fruit and vegetable stall and household vouchers are currently supported by Reading Borough Council.

Since November 2023 Fresh Street vouchers (£10) are delivered to households in four streets near WCDA. All households are eligible. The vouchers (plus recipes) are delivered to household doorsteps every two weeks. From June 2024 the scheme expanded to six more streets near WCDA.

Almost half of all households are using the vouchers and the stall is a popular place to be on a Saturday morning.

“it’s a chance to get to know my neighbours”