by Sally Churchward.
Monday, October 14, will see the launch of a new pop up vegan cafe in Portswood, Southampton
Veg Out community vegan cafe will open its doors at 10am in the community room at October Books on Portswood’s high street. As well as spreading a vegan and environmental message, the cafe will provide a space to promote strong community links, combat loneliness and social isolation, reduce food waste, fight hunger and encourage healthy eating at low cost.
A large proportion of the fruit and vegetables used will be reclaimed food that local traders would otherwise discard. “Food waste is a huge environmental issue and by intercepting food in this way we hope to reduce some of this waste locally and be able to offer nutritious low-cost vegan meals,” said one of the team of volunteers who will be running the cage, which will be not for profit.
Customers will be charged on a ‘pay what you want’ basis and be invited to ‘suspend a coffee’ – pay in advance for a drink or meal for someone else who can’t afford it.
The Cafe will run every Monday from 10am to 4pm. Anyone interested in volunteering would be very welcome, with a variety of roles available. For more information, visit Veg out’s Facebook page or fundraising page.