Fundamental Foods, an initiative run by The Pennypit Community Development Trust, has been supporting food and nutrition based projects such as Fa’side Lunchclub and Fa’side Fridge for three year.
When the current pandemic hit Fa’side, Fundamental Food alongside key partners such as East Lothian Foodbank, Fareshare, Homestart East Lothian, HeavySound CIC and the local community resilience teams, set up an Emergency Food Provision to tackle food insecurity.
The provision, alongside financial support given to each Community Council, was initially funded by Fa’side Area Partnership in an effort to set it up and ensure no members of the community for whatever reason were unable to access emergency food.
Bill Axon, Chair of Fa’side Area Partnership, said: “Tackling the impacts of poverty and inequality are our partnership’s main aims. Our partnership predicted early that this was going to be an issue in our area because of the updates and reports we receive from many sources including Fundamental Foods.
"As a result our members thought it imperative that we support this much needed provision. At present our Emergency Food Provision, being delivered from both St Martin's Church Hall and the Blair Halls in Tranent, are key at ensuring that we have the ability to support those who through no fault of their own are unable to access food at present or through changes in their circumstances cannot afford it.”
Ruth Davie, who is co-ordinating the Emergency Food Provision on behalf of the Fa’side community, advised that at present they are feeding over 100 households per day, six days per week.
Ruth, from Fundamental Foods ,said: “As we all tackle Covid-19, Fundamental Foods are leading on an Emergency food Provision to those in need in the Fa’side area. Vulnerable families, individuals and the elderly receive emergency food parcels every day which is delivered right on their doorstep!
"We could not tackle such an emergency without the ongoing support of our local partners, the community resilience teams set up by the local community councils, the wonderful volunteers we have either cooking or delivering the meals and the amazing community who have been providing us with donations and in kind support. We are providing hundreds of deliveries each day to those most vulnerable. Thousands of meals, food packages and toiletries are given out every week to those in isolation, low-come and facing financial difficulties, elderly and high risk individuals.”
The provision was visited on Friday 22 May by Bill Scott, Chair of the Poverty & Inequality Commission for Scotland.
Bill said: “I’m so pleased to have been able to see the Fundamental Food, food security project in action. The collaborative work being carried out by local workers, volunteers and local authority staff was inspiring, Their work and the community spirit so clearly in evidence is exemplary and a model that others would find rewarding to adopt.”