What should and could York do with 10,000 or so spare apples each year?
That’s the unusual question being posed this weekend – and ideas from local people are invited.
Edible York has run the Abundance project since 2012 with the help of dozens of volunteers, picking and redistributing locally-grown apples that would otherwise go to waste.
Volunteers and local groups have picked between one and four and a half tonnes a year in recent years, with an average of more than 6,500 apples to a tonne. Edible York has then redistributed the fruit to local community centres, food projects, foodbanks and others. It has also run events including apple juicing sessions and a big Community Apple day.
However, some recipient projects now receive some fruit from supermarkets, and redistribution has sometimes proven tricky, so organisers are looking for new ideas.
A meeting will be held from 12.30pm to 1.30pm on Saturday 7 June at Tang Hall Community Centre to discuss next steps and priorities for this year’s harvest and beyond.
Picks in previous years have been from a mixture of public sector land, trees outside local businesses, private gardens where homeowners have got in touch, and larger sites such as the old Clifton Hospital orchard beside the Dormouse pub.
A member of the abundance team said: “We have this amazing local, fresh, and pesticide free local fruit. It seems crazy to be importing fruit from Chile and South Africa when we have crates and crates of apples available right here on our doorstep, that would otherwise just fall on the ground and be wasted.”
Anyone with ideas or suggestions, or who might be interested in getting involved or receiving or distributing fruit can attend the meeting on Saturday, or email abundance@edibleyork.org.uk