Victory for Veg!

24 Jul 2013

Manchester Veg People is jubilant as its crowdfunding campaign to 'Get the Manchester Food Revolution moving’ has exceeded its £16,000 target!

This very modern form of fund-raising utilised a huge Twitter campaign, and mobilised bloggers and celebrity chefs to help spread the word over six weeks. The result: over 300 people from across the UK made pledges from £5 up to £1,000.

The overwhelming support and enthusiasm for the campaign has shown what an appetite there is for a fairer food system to thrive in Manchester.

Funds raised will allow the co-operative to buy much needed equipment, helping them to grow the capacity of the co-op and realise their dream to bring affordable, healthy and sustainable food to everyone – whilst also paying local growers a fair price for their produce. 

Veg People Co-ordinator Katie Brandon said: “We’re ecstatic that the campaign has hit the target. This funding will make such a huge difference to us, more storage space and our own van means we'll be able to supply even more veg and expand the season across University Catering outlets and in turn help more local farmers set up in production by paying them a living wage which is currently an issue in encouraging new people to the industry.”

Alexander Clark (DSE Sustainability Officer) added:  “This is a great opportunity for the University to show leadership in social responsibility by supporting local growers around Manchester and helping to increase the amount of organic produce grown across Greater Manchester, which in turn has a much lower impact on biodiversity and greenhouse gas emissions than conventional growing.

“We’d like to send out a huge thank you to everyone who has supported the campaign in a variety of different ways,” said Katie, “We really couldn't have done it without any of you!”

Look out for a shiny Manchester Veg People van emblazoned with donors names delivering food to the University Food On Campus and Food In Residence outlets within the coming months!

A list of members of the co-op can be found at Veg People