Eco Shops are wonderful little shops, based in schools and community venues across Middlesbrough and the wider Tees Valley. They are run by dedicated local volunteers for their local communities, being supported and overseen by Nine Yards.
They offer high-quality affordable produce for local residents, largely sourced from surplus food, at a fraction of the usual retail price. Some Ecoshops even offer produce locally grown, presenting food metres rather than food miles.
The surplus food they offer is perfectly good to eat but would otherwise go to waste, for example since it has seasonal packaging or because supermarkets have ordered more than they can sell. By redistributing this food, Eco Shops help local people aid the environment by preventing edible food from ending up in landfill.
The Eco Shop model has been co-designed by Eco Shop hosts, Nine Yards, FareShare North East and the Middlesbrough Food Partnership. While every Eco Shop follows the same core principles, each is shaped by the needs of its local community.
At the heart of every Eco Shop is a simple belief: good food should not go to waste.
Eco Shops aim to:
- Reduce unnecessary food waste by redistributing surplus food that is still good to eat.
- Challenge perceptions of surplus food and show its value.
- Raise awareness of the environmental impact of food waste.
- Give local people practical ways to help tackle waste in their communities.
- Inspire people to make the most of surplus ingredients through new recipes and ideas.
Together, Eco Shops are helping create a more sustainable, affordable and environmentally responsible food system.
Some Eco Shops accept Healthy Start cards, helping eligible families buy food and milk.
Many Eco Shops are also part of the Welcome to Breastfeed scheme, providing a welcoming environment for breastfeeding parents.
Visiting an ecoshop
Visiting an Eco Shop is simple. Just bring your own shopping bag and, for a small donation, choose a number of items from a changing selection of quality supermarket food.
Available items vary each week and may include:
- Fresh fruit and vegetables
- Store cupboard essentials such as packets, tins and jars
- Chilled and frozen food at selected locations
To find your nearest Eco Shop or learn more about the scheme, visit ecoshop.org.uk.
How Eco Shops began
Every year, the UK food industry wastes around 3.6 million tonnes of food. More than 2 million tonnes of this food is still perfectly edible – enough for around 1.3 billion meals.
In 2018, Park End Primary School in Middlesbrough partnered with Nine Yards (then known as Middlesbrough Environment City) to tackle surplus food by making it available to the families of pupils at the school.
Surplus food was supplied by FareShare North East, part of a national network that redistributes in-date, good-to-eat surplus food from across the food industry before it goes to waste.
The school’s ‘Eco Squad’ launched a weekly pop-up shop, which they named an Eco Shop. Families could collect 10 food items for a small donation, with some fresh fruit and vegetables available free of charge. Pupils championed the project’s environmental message by encouraging shoppers to bring their own reusable bags.
As the success of the Eco Shop model spread, more schools – including secondary schools – opened their own shops. Community organisations soon followed, creating opportunities for even more people to access affordable food while helping reduce food waste.
Many Eco Shops also began working with local organisations and customers to develop and share recipes, helping people make the most of ingredients they might not normally choose.
Today, Eco Shops continue to bring people together to tackle food waste, support local communities and protect the environment. They have become a popular and valued part of communities across Middlesbrough and the wider Tees Valley.
Want to setup an Eco Shop?
If you're interested in setting up an Eco Shop in your community, please contact us at ecoshop@nineyards.org.uk.
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