National Food Service branches work autonomously but guided by our principles. We work together to support one another and create resources that can be shared.
If you’re part of a food justice project, or you and a couple of friends want to start one, sign up and join in. You’ll become part of our collective effort, because we’re stronger together. You’ll be able to create the direction of NFS, share your knowledge, and be helped to make your project sustainable and user-lead.
To join as an existing project, or to start your own branch from scratch, follow this link.
Sharing some volunteer made food in Bristol.
Bristol
National Food Service Bristol are running community dinners supporting striking workers. If you’d like to find out more, become a member or come and eat with us please email bristol@nationalfoodservice.uk
Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Refugee Forum
We provide a food service for the refugee and asylum-seeking community in Nottingham which allows our clients to access hot food Monday – Friday, free of charge. Our food service is also available to the staff and volunteers at NNRF and local businesses, for a small fee of £2 a meal. We are non- profit kitchen and any money we do make goes directly back into the food bank service for the Anti-Destitution Project – a food bank service exclusively for refused asylum seekers.
Volunteers cooking at Foodhall
Sheffield
Sheffield is the birthplace of the National Food Service and hosted the first NFS Symposium. NFS Sheffield was based in the Foodhall project, in Sheffield city centre. Sadly, Foodhall has closed but it remains an outstanding vision of what NFS could be, and the pitfalls it continues to face.
Nottingham and the East Midlands
The Nottingham social eating network is an informal network, run by social eating spaces, for social eating spaces. They share best practice across the region and support each other and positively promote our network. They promote eating together in groups, food sharing, the use of surplus food, community cohesion and collaboration over food.
They provide not-for-profit social eating spaces across the city (and beyond).
Cooking at the first Falmouth Feast.
Falmouth
The Falmouth Food Co-op have started running community dining events in the city. They hope to take on a permanent venue to provide social eating every week.
Photo by Clare Randell Photography
Kent
The Umbrella Cafe CIC is a pay what you can community cafe, social eating space and social supermarket, located within Whitstable Umbrella Community Support Centre. They have been a community asset since 2015 and pivoted during Covid-19 to deliver a meals on wheels service to their local community. Now back open they serve all in their locality, support students with supported leaning needs and regularly collaborate with other community partners.
The Cafe has a strong waste not ethos and cooks mostly using surplus. They are supported by a small staff team and about 10 volunteers. To sign up to their social shop membership, get involved or find out more email talk@theumbrellacafe.co.uk.
East Glasgow
Meals Collective in Glasgow formed as a response to the Covid-19 crisis providing good, healthy, nutritious food for their communities. They believe that good quality food can play an important part in the Corona Virus resilience, since nutritious food supports a good immune system. They’ve grown from distributing 45 meals a week, to almost 150 and have distributed over 100 food parcels. To contact them please email mealscollective@gmail.com.
Cardiff
Wild Thing is a plant based cafe with social goals based at Cathays Community Centre in Cardiff. Wild Thing has re-opened and is continuing to run monthly community suppers and serves some pay what you can afford meals when the cafe is open Thursdays-Sundays. At the Community Centre is a free community fridge, which can be accessed by anyone everyday between 9am and 5PM. Wild Thing have taken on the operational duties of the fridge such as food sourcing and volunteer management. If you'd like to volunteer then please email lauren@wildthingcardiff.com During the Covid-19 pandemic Wild Thing ran a free emergency food project which provided 3 meals a days for 6 days out of the week, with a contact free delivery. Address: 36-38 Cathays Community Centre CF24 4HX
East London
The Gleaners is a cooperatively run, pay-what-you-feel community cafe based at the Hornbeam Centre in Waltham Forest cooking simple, tasty food from surplus ingredient
In response to the Covid-19 crisis they have turned into a community food distribution centre and are now supplying meals and essential groceries to those who need them in Waltham Forest. They are working in solidarity with everyone part of their community, in particular those hit hardest by the crisis. They are delivering on bike to those isolating and are open for collection every day from 12-3pm.
North East London
NFS London is a collective of London-based food-lovers, cooks, growers, activists and organisers. Most of our projects are based in North East London, especially Hackney.
We started with an emergency food provision service in North Hackney, organised by local residents in response to the COVID-19 crisis. Since April 2020, we have cooked and delivered over 24,000 nutritious, tasty vegetarian and vegan meals plus 3,120 grocery packages to people in need of access to food. While food aid was our starting point, our current activities work to promote community self-organising to achieve our long term vision.
We organise regular community meals, support local people to set up their own food coops, offer a listening, signposting and referral service and collaborate with researchers, artists and practitioners to explore how we build a just, sustainable food system in London.
Cambridge
Cambridge Community Kitchen is a food solidarity collective offering service and delivery of free, hot, plant-based meals, no questions asked, every Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday. Opened in November 2020 in response to rising food poverty during the COVID-19 pandemic, we strive as much as possible to build grassroots community power and resilience outside the pressures of capitalism and the state.