This greengrocer on wheels helps people afford food – but rising fuel prices make it hard to run

Liverpool is home to three of the 10 most economically deprived food deserts in the country, meaning communities across the city don’t have easy access to fresh fruit and vegetables and often pay a premium on basic essentials. Recent research just published puts Liverpool in the bottom 10 places to be a child.

At Alchemic Kitchen we work to change that. One way we do that is through the Queen of Greens, a greengrocer on wheels which visits 23 stops across the city packed with healthy, affordable and fresh produce. A core part of our audience are young families with children under four.

We’re incredibly proud that the Queen of Greens offers people choice, flexibility and removes barriers to good food. However, our work is struggling as the cost of living crisis not only puts additional pressure on our customers, but also on the way we work. The challenges the Queen of Greens is facing show how global crises are affecting the hyper local. Although we aim to alleviate food insecurity, we can’t deny that we are feeling the effects of this insecurity ourselves.

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In the past year alone, our monthly fuel costs have gone from an average of £220 to £400, an 81% increase. There is also volatile pricing for fruits and vegetables as world events affect trade and access. As an example, the day after Donald Trump declared war on Iran, a box of tomatoes from our wholesale market went from £8 to £22. We have to absorb this cost on the Queen of Greens, as we know the communities we serve can’t pay a premium price on the produce we provide.

As with many other small CICs and charities, we operate from a place of precarity, relying on donations, funding and voucher schemes to supplement the sales made on the bus. Although our prices fluctuate with seasons, availability and circumstance, we always offer the lowest price possible to our customers. Voucher schemes, while necessary and incredibly helpful, often don’t meet the rising costs of produce.

Healthy Start vouchers (which can be used on the Queen of Greens) increased by just 40p this year from £4.25 to £4.65. While this voucher is a lifeline to many and allows families to buy fresh fruit and vegetables for their children, rising food prices mean the vouchers don’t stretch as far as they used to so families receive fewer items for the same voucher value. This again means that those most in need of fresh food are the hardest hit by rising prices.

Not only does the cost of living crisis affect our customers, it affects our day to day running. We have been told the crisis is not going anywhere soon, with additional costs to electric, gas and fuel expected in the coming months. The organisations set up to support  under-served people shouldn’t be the ones shouldering extra costs, but despite the pressure, we must continue to cover these costs to ensure our support reaches those who need it most.

At the Queen of Greens, one way we are having to secure our future is by crowdfunding to buy a second bus. Without two buses on the road we can’t reach all 23 of our stops meaning families are at risk of losing reliable access to fresh fruit and vegetables. Crowdfunding is the fastest and most direct way to keep the Queen of Greens running, but it relies on community support, and in already tight purses it can be difficult to find the extra to donate to causes such as this.

Even with the challenges, we continue to expand what the Queen of Greens offers. This week we have been able to start new stops as part of the SCHOUSE project in partnership with the University of Liverpool. This project has added additional stops in social housing estates to measure what positive effects the bus will have on people’s health and wellbeing.

We have also started new stalls at hospitals across the city, providing access to fresh fruit and veg directly to patients, staff and visitors. We are passionate about ensuring that people across Merseyside have access to good food but support is needed, not just from our customers and friends through our crowdfunder, but wider support from the government to ensure that food access and affordability is a priority.

You can donate to the crowdfunder to help keep Queen of Greens running here.

Do you have a story to tell or opinions to share about this? Get in touch and tell us more. 

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