Grow Share Cook provides opportunities for households in Plymouth who are experiencing food insecurity and for those on lower incomes to improve healthy eating and cooking skills. The project also tries to address the issue of accessibility to fresh food through the three steps of growing, sharing and cooking.
Working in partnership with Plymouth Community Homes, Plymouth City Council and Livewell Southwest, Tamar Grow Local is supplying fortnightly bags of 5 different seasonal vegetables which are sourced directly from growers and community growing projects in the Tamar Valley and in Plymouth. Outside of the local growing seasons, bags are supplemented with British produce bought from a local wholesaler. A recipe sheet designed around the contents is included with each bag to help encourage participants to try out new and varied meal ideas.
There are also a number of volunteer opportunities at Tamar Grow Local for people to help grow food and deliver out the veg bags. If you would be interested in volunteering for Grow, Share, Cook, please email [email protected]g
Can we help you?
If you are experiencing food insecurity, are on a low income or know of anyone who you think would benefit from the project, please look through the project criteria below and fill out an expression of interest form. If you are filling in the expression of interest form on someone else’s behalf, please ensure you have their permission to do so and share their contact information, before you fill in the form.
Criteria
If you take part in the Grow, Share, Cook project, you will receive a bag of locally grown vegetables every fortnight for 3 months, with the opportunity to extend for longer. You will be able to go to cooking sessions which will teach you techniques for keeping costs low and getting the best out of your vegetables, at various locations around Plymouth, all for free.
To be eligible to take part in the Grow, Share, Cook project, you must:
- Live within the City of Plymouth
- Be experiencing food insecurity or be on a low-income (this includes people who work or have families)
- Commit to collecting your free vegetables from a nearby collection point (or provide a reason why you can’t)
- Not have taken part in Grow, Share, Cook before
- Fill out the entry, mid term and exit forms
If you, or the person you wish to refer, feels they are a good fit for the project, please fill out the Expression of Interest form below. It should only take a few minutes.
What to expect now?
Once you’ve filled in the Expression of Interest form, we will contact you. (If you are acting as a referee for someone, please also include your details, so we can update you with progress.)
If we have spaces on the project, we will ask you to fill in an entry form, before we send out your first free bag of vegetables. The entry form will let us know about any allergies and specific needs you have. It will also help us to know how best to support you throughout the project.
If you have any questions, you can contact us at [email protected]
Background
In February 2014, Plymouth applied to become a City of Service. Michael Bloomberg, the former mayor of New York, developed the Cities of Service model to encourage people in their communities to “do their bit” and to link the impact of volunteering to city priorities. Nesta, the UK’s innovation foundation, backed by the Cabinet Office, announced in 2013 that it wanted to bring Cities of Service to the UK. Local authorities were invited to bid for volunteering projects that addressed evidenced need in their area. Plymouth was successful in receiving funding over two years to deliver two specific projects – Energy Champions (to combat fuel poverty) and Grow, Share, Cook (to combat food poverty).
At the end of the 2015-16 round of Grow, Share, Cook:
• 23,360 meals were given to 1,611 people
• 85% of participants said they have a healthier diet
• 89% of participants said that Grow, Share, Cook has helped improve their cooking skills
• At the peak of the project, 100 families received free fortnightly fruit and veg boxes
• 216 pots and pans were donated by Plymouth residents in a pots and pans amnesty which were then redistributed to Plymouth residents in need.
Since 2014, Grow, Share, Cook has helped hundreds of households who have been struggling by providing fortnightly deliveries of fresh vegetables and free cooking sessions, with our March 2024-2025 cohort alone reaching over 60 households.
Other help
You can also find other information and support through the links below.
Grow, Share, Cook is supported by:
