A community food club encouraging low cost healthy eating is proving to be a huge success to locals living and working across Halton.

 New Shoots has been selling affordable fruit, vegetables and salad at competitive prices for over 15 months. The project (from the local NHS Health Improvement Team, Halton Borough Council, Halton Housing Trust, Halton Community Development Team and Cheshire Probation Service) highlights the benefits of cooking and eating healthy produce by bringing down the costs direct to the shopper.

The New Shoots concept is simple. It provides good quality, reasonably priced fresh produce to local residents who live or work within Halton. We know times are tough, but eating a good balance of fruit, vegetables and salad doesn’t have to be expensive. New Shoots gives people the chance to buy some weekly fresh goodness at a fraction of the cost they usually pay.

The larger size £3.50 vegetable bag contains the basics of potatoes and carrots, something oniony and three other vegetables.

The £3.50 fruit bag has between 20 and 24 portions of fruit, ranging from the basics such as apples and bananas, to the more exotic pineapple and mango.

Reduced sized bags of salad, fruit and vegetables for the smaller household are priced at £2 per bag. Six free range eggs can also be bought for just £1.

The fruit and vegetables that are available vary depending on what is in season and all produce is sourced from local farms or markets.

Cllr Phil Harris, Halton Borough Council’s Executive Board member, Community Development, said:

We’re delighted that local people have embraced the healthy benefits that New Shoots offers. We know that it can be expensive to buy fruit and vegetables at times, but New Shoots offers the chance to try lots of different healthy foods at minimal cost.We want to give local people the chance to eat well and enjoy good health, and this scheme is just one of the ways we’re making it happen.

 

Malcolm and Brenda Tough live in Halton View. They were one of the first members to sign up to New Shoots. They said:

Share this post