A VEG box scheme which puts people and the planet above profit is stepping up to meet a growing need in South East Cornwall.

The Keveral Community of Growers began in 1997 when a group of likeminded environmental activists living at a farm in Downderry decided to put their learning about permaculture into action.

Keveral is also a cooperative housing project, and at any one time there have been around a dozen families or individuals living on the farm. The aims of the group in the early days were to engage with local people about environmental matters, to produce healthy, nutritious food in a way that respects the planet, to sell produce at a price that was affordable, and to support local growers and families to live in a rural area and avoid having to commute to a big town or city for work.

The Keveral model is one of sharing and cooperating, and no-one is ’staff’ or ’the boss’– all crew members are self-employed growers and each contributes a few hours a week to administrive tasks, and to packing and delivering the veg boxes.

The veg box scheme is a social enterprise, meaning that each of the growers is paid for the produce they grow, and a small wage for their part in the admin tasks, but the project is rooted in a purpose other than profit.

Over the years, the scheme outgrew the available land at Keveral Farm and began working with organic farmer Jim Candy at Trereive, as well as investing in several large polytunnels enabling growing to take place all year round.

Today, deliveries cover an area from Plymouth across to Lostwithiel; eggs and fresh fruit can also be added to the weekly boxes. Keveral is working in collaboration with other veg box schemes such as Village Greens, which cover the Cardinham, Mount, St Neot and Warleggan area, and The Growing Project in Pensilva.

Since the coronavirus lockdown, the Keveral Community of Growers has seen demand for the veg boxes rocket.

’In the past month our customer base has more than doubled,’ said Holly Rowe.

’We have risen to the challenge, and we are honoured to provide this service, particularly at this time. It feels necessary more than ever, and the hard work is rewarded by the gratitude of our customers. Now we are extra busy sowing and planting for the coming season. I hope that beyond ’lockdown’ we can continue to look within our local communities, to support each other, and provide what we need.’

Bill Knight has been involved at Keveral from the start.

’We started the box scheme at Keveral Farm to support local organic growers, to get good healthy food, produced in ways that are good for the environment, to local people as affordably as possible and to create local employment. It’s a social enterprise, established to benefit our local community, and its great to see it supporting the local community through this challenging moment in time.’