We’ve all been delighted with the addition of the new Farm Shop in Shrivenham this year. Something really positive for 2020! The team at Sustainable Shrivenham are huge supporters of shopping locally and plastic free packaging, and the new shop certainly fits the bill. As it is Plastic Free July this month, we decided to visit the shop to check out all of their plastic free packaging initiatives.
The Farm
Hinton Marsh Farm located just down the road from Shrivenham has been a family run business since 1956, they use traditional farming methods and slow growing animals and poultry, combined with being committed to the welfare of their animals who are fed with home grown cereal feed. Far from the factory farms that are causing such damage to the environment, as well as being very unethical with their animal welfare standards.
The Shop
Rebecca, from Hinton Marsh Farm is very conscious about stocking local products as well as supporting the community to be able to buy products with as little plastic packaging as possible. We shared a post on our Facebook group recently showing the meat wrapping that can be separated into a clean paper sheet for recycling and a compostable film that you can dispose of in your black bin. There are several other items in the shop that they have cleverly chosen to reduce single use plastics.
The Milk Bar
Full and half cream (non-homogenised) milk dispensers where you can refill your own bottles or purchase glass bottles from the shop to take home your milk in. The milk is sourced from Berkley Farm in Wroughton, so nice and local.
Refillable Olive and Rapeseed Oil
As with the milk bar you can refill your own bottles or buy a glass one from the shop.
Other plastic free packaging
The fruit and veg still poses a challenge as during transportation the softer produce needs protecting. The supplier who delivers the fruit and veg, therefore delivers the produce in plastic cartons, they are then placed into recycled cardboard or sugar cane tubs and paper bags and they take all of the plastic tubs back to reuse. The other issue is keeping produce fresh. Many of the veg items wilt very quickly when left unwrapped and so far there hasn’t been an effective solution other than plastic to keep them fresh for displaying. Watch this space…
But with the exception of those issues, much of the shop is stocked with glass jars, paper wrapping, cardboard tubs and compostable alternatives. All a huge leap in the right direction.
