I think it's fair to say that the food larder has taken off in a way none of us could have envisaged!

We are regularly collecting from Tescos (Wellparks and Express), Stevie Bs, The Greenhouse, Four Seasons and The Plant Shed in Copplestone. It is stunning how much food - which would otherwise either go for animal feed or be land-filled - is being donated; hauls of 42 punnets of grapes, 60 heads of celery and a box of fresh turmeric root have been memorable! The most gratifying thing is that it is all being taken, some recipients have expressed great gratitude and many interesting conversations about wasteful lifestyles have ensued.

 Collections from the Co-op in the High Street are starting soon. The Co-op are keen to support us because our community venture with benefits to nutrition fits into their ethos and they also very generously donated a very large cheque for £150 to Sustainable Crediton to help us open a second larder outside the new café 'On the Green'. See the accompanying photo.

 A group of us is visiting the larder in Tiverton library to see how their fridge provision works and we shall be staying for lunch at the ReRooted café (run by Sustainable Tiverton) in St George's hall to sample their meals cooked from donated waste food… so we are exploring lots of ideas about ways to take our success forward.

 We are still expanding so any extra volunteer help would be most welcome. It's a really worthwhile thing to do…. and you get first dibs! Celery soup anyone?!