Online Ordering for 3rd – 7th Nov (Week 45)
Before we hit November, we’ve just time to shine a light on our cool feature this month in Cheshire Life and obvs in the process, embarrass our cheesy-smiling Sean! 😬😄
Our skipper’s from an estate called Blacon near Chester and after receiving The Soil Association’s Organic Champion Award in the summer, the BBC newsreader/freelance journalist, Beccy Wood was in touch for a chinwag about Cheshire’s organic scene in one of Sean’s fave local Macclesfield boozers, The Castle.
How Beccy was able to withstand listening to him waffle on for so many hours, we can’t understand but we think she’s managed to produce a great wee article that encapsulates much of the work that we do and there are shoutouts to some of the the great and many local businesses that we’re blessed to be able to work with.
If you fancy a read of Beccy’s article, you should be able to zoom into the image. 🧐
Dearest Organic Northerners, we’re only going to Westminster!
That’s correct, we’re not kidding! Not content by as busy as an avocado unionizing against brunch elitism, as one of the founding members of recently-formed UK Fruit & Veg Coalition, on the 25th November, we’re hosting an event in parliament and we have invited all of your MPs to join us for a complimentary organic lunch.
The event is the official launch of The FVC who representing organic and agroecological growers, have come together to lobby for more supportive policy from DEFRA and the UK’s devolved governments.
In order to encourage attendance, we’d be super appreciative if all of you guys could send an email to your local MPs that urges them to attend. The hope is that by our combined voices, we will be able to make the case about how well positioned organic, agroecological growers are to help deliver the food strategy (published July, 2025).
We want your MPs to become champions of all things organic and to help make assisting us in this cause as stress-free as possible, we’ve produced a standardised letter below that you could copy, paste and amend as necessary. There’s also a link to quickly locate your local MPs email address and info on what details to include to make sure your voice is heard and responded to.
It would also be very helpful if you would let us know any responses you receive from your MP, so we can track their interest in the FVC. Even if they are unable to attend on 25th, if they indicate that this is an issue they are enthusiastic about, we can then email them a copy of the “Growing Together” booklet that we’ve helped produce, that all who attend the event will receive. Please contact either rebecca.laughton@landworkersalliance.org.uk or jen.elford@sustainweb.org with any responses.
So just before we get onto the fruit and veg updates, as promised please find the link to the contact details for all the local MPs. And underneath between the black lines is the standardised letter that can be copied and pasted.
Dear [name of MP] MP,
I understand that you have been invited to a drop-in lunch on Tuesday 25th November, in the Jubilee Room in the Palace of Westminster (12-2pm), to celebrate the launch of the UK Fruit and Vegetable Coalition. I very much hope that you will be able to attend. As well as benefiting from a delicious lunch, you will have the opportunity to learn about how organic, agroecological growers, such as [name of your business], can help to deliver the national food strategy. You will also meet growers and participants in the Bridging the Gap project, which has been piloting interventions to make organic fruit and vegetables accessible to those on a low income.
We are all aware of the pressing issues arising from climate change, poor public health and our reliance on imported fruit and vegetables. The UK Government Food Strategy (July 2025), sets out an intention to create a “Good Food Cycle”, whilst also building the resilience of the UK food sector and improving its sustainability. Our customers understand that organic farming is a key part of the solution. Demand for organic fresh produce increased by 10.4% from 2023-2024, while the whole organic food and drink market has grown for thirteen consecutive years. Yet our sector is constrained from increasing production by lack of policy support, training opportunities and capital investment. The UK Fruit and Vegetable Coalition (UKFVC) is keen to work with Defra and other departments, to find ways to increase the capacity of the organic, agroecological sector to meet this growing demand, so that the environmental benefits of organic land management are realised here in the UK.
Please prioritise attendance at the UKFVC launch on 25th November, to find out how you can support us to play a more active role in creating a fairer, healthier and more sustainable food system.
Kind regards,
[Your full name] [Your full postal address] [Your phone number]
And finally onto the fruit and veg updates…
- Starting in the UK, Royal Oak has tundra cabbage, washed carrots, rumples kohl rabi, butternut squash and our first bags of sprouts of the season! They’ve also some sprout tops and butternut squash for us to go at.
- Elsewhere, Newfields has added some large purple haze broccoli, Fosketts has bunched carrots and lily rose spuds, Terry Simpson has some loose leaf spinach and Moss Valley has some curly kale.
- Staying in the UK, The Tomato Stall has added some more mini plum tomatoes to the list, Awen adds some golden beets, chioggia beets, leeks, winter rainbow radish and sprouts to their offering.
- Lastly on the UK veg, Flourish adds some rainbow chard, bird of paradise kale and white spider kale while Middle Ground adds some Jerusalem artichokes and loose rocket.
- On the UK fruit front, Oakwood has some Norfolk beefing apples, and both their dessert bramley and russet apple juice. Mole End adds some spartan apples to their list and Augernik has 10kg boxes of his red pippin apples, Saturn apples, walnuts and chestnuts.
- From Spain, Bioalgarrobo adds aubergines and cucumbers, Biovergel adds musque pumpkins and pomegranates, Cal Valls is back on the list with purple garlic and yellow onions, Camposeven adds mini romaine lettuce and Ecosur has green french beans.
- Elsewhere in Europe, we’ve added some more from Bio & Bio this week including red onions, red peppers, tomato vines and red basil. Gospa return with verna lemons and navelina oranges and Uni-Vert also return with a full offering including plenty of lettuce varieties, butternut squash, celery and fennel.
- On the wholesaler front, Zann adds bergamot, guava, kaki fruits, mangos and pomegranates while our top picks from Dynamis are the drinking coconuts, golden ball turnips, pink braided onions, padron peps, chervil root, chicory and purple artichokes.
- And lastly to line your pantry’s, there’s 6x500ml bottles of olive oil and blanched almonds available from Coato, cool kimchi from Loving Foods, withens pale from Little Valley and some lovely Christmas preserves from the guys over at Hembridge.
Before we sign off, we wanted to shine a little light on our lovely pals over at The Community Farm, near Bristol. They’re trying to raise £50,000 to keep their gates open and continue the brilliant work they do. For 15 years, The Community Farm has poured love and energy into growing climate-friendly food, caring for nature, and welcoming thousands of people to learn, connect, and take action for a better future. Now, after a sudden drop in grant funding, they’re at risk of closure.
They’re just over half way to their goal so if you’re able to and would like to donate then you can follow the link below.
Speak to you all again soon,
Sean, Cathryn, Mads, Alphin, Ell and the ON team x
Scottish miso, slowly made. 😌
You might’ve spotted some Slow Sauce samples in your orders this week – and good news, you can now order from today!
Slow Sauce is a fermentation project rooted in tradition, adapted to place. They make small-batch miso and shoyu using Scottish-grown gluten-free oats and British peas, aged slowly in oak barrels up in the hills of Aberdeenshire.
In their own words, they ferment slowly, seasonally, and seriously. No shortcuts. No imported soy. Just well-grown ingredients, wild weather, barrels, time, and care. And you can’t get better than that, can ya?!
Our Cathryn whipped up some very tasty miso potatoes for staff lunch yesterday – top notch stuff. We can’t recommend it enough! 🙌🏼