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goosemoor organic produce |
Warfield Lane,
Cowthorpe |
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THIS WEEK'S FOOD: Read this week's newsletter, and see what's available w/c 29 Jan, PLUS what's predicted to be going in the vegeboxes Sign up to receive the weekly newsletter each Friday - Click Here
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Links to external info CAMPAIGNS: 28 Oct Save the Whales - sign the Avaaz petition by 29 Oct 25 Sep: Help Greenpeace Go Beyond Oil - contact your pension provider 24 Aug: Save our School Dinners - sign the Soil Association petition NEWS: Jun 10: Ban on killing whales was renewed with help of Avaaz petition Jan 10: Keep informed with Today's News published by the Soil Association every weekday May 09: Goosemoor finalist in Yorkshire Post Green Business award Mar 08: Goosemoor wins Best Green Business award! Mar 08: Goosemoor is the only Yorkshire supplier in Times Top 35! |
Every little helps.......
We believe strongly in supporting like-minded businesses who are concerned to reduce their own negative environmental impact, and we actively boycott the worst-offending companies who exploit the planet's limited natural resources for their own profit When looked at in isolation, some of the actions we take could be viewed as making a minimal difference to the state of the planet, but if EVERYONE in EVERY business and EVERY home did the same, we would not still be facing the ongoing crises of resource-depletion, waste disposal, climate change and world poverty If you buy your food elsewhere, please ask your current supplier for their assurance that they can match our commitment! Saving the EnvironmentRecycling & Waste MinimisationOur aim is to produce only one bin bag of real rubbish per week, which is less than half what the average household produces! Surprisingly we often achieve this in spite of taking all our own packaging back from customers To hit this target, we firstly reuse whatever we can, mainly cardboard boxes and paper sacks. We then recycle the remaining cardboard, plastic wrapping, vegetable nets, glass, wooden boxes, & metal In the office we use 100% post-consumer waste recycled paper, and recycle it only when it has been used on both sides. We use second-hand envelopes, and our pens & markers are refilled when they run out, rather than being binned and replaced TransportAir freight
However the arguments against air-freighting are not always clear cut: for example there are instances where air-freighting could have social & economic benefits, by allowing overseas growers to market their high-value but perishable produce to us in the UK In 2007 the Soil Association consulted licensees on whether air-freighted produce should be allowed under organic rules The consensus was that the Soil Association's standards should address air freight, but any action should not undermine the significant social and economic benefits that trade in organic goods delivers. In particular people commented on the importance of organic farming as a means of alleviating poverty and preventing environmental degradation in developing countries The conclusion was a 3-strand approach for future standards:
Deliveries to customers
We only turn on the chillers in the vans when we are carrying salads in hot weather, to avoid wasting fuel Many deliveries are matched with collections from suppliers, so that the vans don't travel home empty. Obviously these measures save us money, but also reduce pollution Staff travel to workGetting to work at Goosemoor from any distance away is not easy - the nearest bus stop is a mile and a half away, and the nearest rail station is 3 miles away However we do still actively encourage staff to avoid travelling on their own by car to work by paying a green travel bonus of up to £3 per day to anyone who doesn't require a car-parking space. This acts as a contribution either to the generally high cost of public transport, or to another driver's fuel costs, or just as a reward for working up a sweat on the bike! We also offer interest-free loans to staff wishing to convert their own vehicles to run on LPG, and once converted staff vehicles can be filled up on site at lower-than-pump prices (please note however that we do NOT sell LPG to the public). EnergyOur electricity supply comes from RSPB Energy which is largely hydro-powered.
Future plans include installing a larger turbine that would make us self-sufficient in electricity. Trading fairlyFairtrade
Each year the Fairtrade Foundation runs Fairtrade Fortnight to encourage consumers to seek out great food, and enable poor communities to regain their independence. More information about how Fairtrade works here Payments to suppliersOne of the characteristics of food-production is that effort and expenses are incurred early in the season, months ahead of the sale of the product Coping with this time-lag puts great strains on growers, particularly if the buyer of the crop then takes weeks or months to pay. Our policy is therefore to pay as soon after collection as is practicable, and for this reason suppliers are keen to do business with us, and in a limited market we are better able to secure produce than our competitors. BankingHaving applied strong ethical principles within our own business, we've no intention of letting unprincipled companies profit from our money, and so we only place funds with financial institutions who demonstrate a similar commitment to putting people and the planet before profit. Consequently Goosemoor's day-to-day banking is carried out by the Co-operative Bank, 41 Vicar Lane, Leeds, and other accounts are held at the Ecology Building Society and the Triodos Bank Charitable supportWe regularly donate food to St Michael's Hospice in Harrogate, Martin House Childrens' Hospice at Boston Spa, Wetherby, and the Salvation Army hostel in York. In the past we have donated money to Friends of the Earth, Amnesty International, Oxfam and Martin House Hospice. In previous years, the Goosemoor Festival and Open Days have raised money for the Soil Association, Garden Organic, previously known as the Henry Doubleday Research Association, and Equafor (a local charity supporting the Ecuadorean rainforest). |
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Send mail to
vegebox@goosemoor.info with questions
or comments about this web site.
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None of Goosemoor
imported produce is air-freighted, but travels by a combination of
overland and sea-freight
We run a fleet of
LPG vans which produce 20% less CO2 than petrol engines, zero
particulate emissions and 80% less nitrous oxide than diesel engines
We use low-energy light-bulbs and turn off lights when not
required; our computers switch to power-saving mode when not in use; we have a
small wind-turbine which charges batteries for use around the holding, and
solar panels which charge batteries to light some of our outbuildings
The Fairtrade Mark is an internationally
recognised standard which enables small-scale growers in some of the poorest
countries to receive a fair price for the goods they produce.