The U.K.'s First "Social Supermarket" Fights Food Poverty

[eridani]

http://m.fastcoexist.com/3023483/the-uks-first-social-supermarket-fights-food-poverty

The Community Shop is more than a discount supermarket--it's a hub that provides everything from debt advice to cooking classes.

For someone struggling to afford basic groceries, a discount supermarket can help, but it still doesn’t solve the basic problem of food poverty. In the U.K., a new store is trying get a step closer to a real solution with the country’s first "social supermarket."

“We've had discount food stores on our high streets for a decade now, and haven't made any really significant impact on the lives of the people who live in the most vulnerable communities,” says Sarah Dunwell, director of environment and social affairs at Company Shop, the business that launched the new store. “We know that just having access to cheap food isn't enough.”

The social supermarket sells food for up to 70% less than traditional supermarkets, but also includes services like debt advice, addiction support, and other counseling. “Each of our community stores will also have a cafe and a cookery school onsite, and a very bespoke individual program for each one of our members, recognizing that the causes and the consequences of food poverty are complex and chaotic,” Dunwell says.

Some services come from the store’s own staff, while others come from nonprofits or governments programs that use the store’s cafe space. “It forms kind of a community hub that allows all sorts of other services to be delivered while people are here shopping,” adds Dunwell.

[Sienna86]

1. What a wonderful idea.

Would love to see this idea adopted by some group in the US.

[LeftishBrit]

2. Good. But it would be better still if the availability of decent jobs and a social safety net

fir for purpose prevented food poverty in the first place.

P.S. 20% VAT (sales tax) on most products doesn't help!

[Helen Borg]

3. I wonder ...

If they may not be VAT exempt, at least for services. Small construction companies are, for instance...

[LeftishBrit]

4. I would guess that this particular supermarket is probably VAT exempt, though I don't have detailed

knowledge about it.

What I meant is that it would be better not to have economic policies that encourage food (and general) poverty in the first place.

Since we do have them, it is certainly a good thing to have this supermarket.