London Food & Culture

What exactly is a Food Assembly?

The weekly King's Cross collection is as much about meeting your neighbours as it is food

Meeting in one of the nicest pubs in KX: the Food Assembly. Photo: KXFA

Every Sunday, the King Charles I – a character-filled community-run pub just off the Caledonian road – plays host to a weekly collection. Members of the Food Assembly, a Europe-wide initiative that allows locals to buy directly from farmers and independent producers in their area, pile in and out of the pint-sized pub to collect their weekly shop.

“Food Assemblies can be as much of an experience as you want them to be,” explains Shireen Jayyusi, the organisation’s UK manager. “They can be purely functional as you pop in, grab your items and go, or they can feel more like this, a community-oriented experience and a social event.”

There are 85 in the UK, with 13 in London. Each is held in a variety of venues, from community centres to delis, pubs to bakeries. “This is an amazing place,” continues Shireen. “The atmosphere in each is completely curated by the organisers; they turn it into whatever they want and whatever the community needs.”

The King’s Cross Assembly, like all of the others, is focused on connecting people with fresh local ingredients; however the added emphasis on connecting locals with other locals makes this particularly fun to be part of.


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Window of opportunity? Sara and Sophie. Photo: own

Sara Pupi who, alongside Sophie Stuckey, runs the weekly event, says that “the community aspect is key. It’s why I joined in the first place, and it is what we’re actively trying to encourage.”

Sara, who only recently moved to King’s Cross, “found it hard to meet people and to integrate into such a recently redeveloped area with so many new residents.” The Assembly was the ideal way to connect with people in a city that can be so hectic and isolating.

“It’s an on-going conversation between producers and consumers,” she says, “and nothing is hidden from sight.” The produce is tweaked depending on what the community needs, and “all profits go where they should.”

So Sara and Sophie take about 7%, a further 7% is kept for running costs and the rest, over 80%, is given to the producers. “Supermarkets can take between 15% and 50% of profits, and it’s this guarantee of a fair share and transparency that makes this scheme so important.”

In season. Photo: Andre Ainsworth

After starting in France in 2001, Food Assemblies have stormed to popularity, with over a thousand dotted across the continent. “This success doesn’t detract from the central focus,” explains Shireen, “all of the energy comes from the grassroots.” They are set up by locals, supplied by locals and brought by them as well. The international success is credit to growing awareness surrounding the need to consume like this.

The environmental benefits of buying local are well known, but the real significance of shopping this way is that there is “no waste, and food is made to order, so the farmers know exactly how much to make and bring it to the collection.”

Although farmers’ markets are a great step in the right direction as far as keeping it local and reducing waste, “a lot of food still gets thrown away at the end of the day,” Shireen says, “it’s such a shame seeing all that food getting marked down or binned.”

In a similar vein, Sophie points to how many producers utilise surplus and “rescued” ingredients. “One of our suppliers, Elysia, rescues coffee from Notes (based on nearby Pancras Square). If, during the roasting period, the beans are overdone by even half a degree, they get thrown away. Elysia takes these and uses them at the Assembly, allowing her to sell great coffee for a fraction of the price.”

A cheese stall at a recent KXFA. Photo: own

Sara and Sophie have been running the King’s Cross Assembly since last October: membership since then has doubled, as they hit the thousand mark last week. This is due to their spreading the word through social media, and the sense of community they have created in the area.

Last Sunday on our visit, the King Charles was filled to the brim with local buyers and sellers for a Cheese & Charcuterie Tasting Day. There was live music from local residents Bob Stuckey and Phil Grispo, the ales were flowing, and the burrata supply seemed unending.

Events like this highlight how effectively they offer us an opportunity to connect with our food, interact with the people who made it, and to socialise with far-too-distant near neighbours.

To join the King’s Cross Food Assembly head here (Membership is free). The collections take place every Sunday 1-3pm at King Charles 1, 55-57 Northdown St N1 9BL

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