From the Ground Up is Kingston's own organic veg and fruit 'bespoke' box scheme that brings affordable fresh organic food to the Royal Borough of Kingston. Dissatisfied with the high cost and poor availability of organic food in the area, members of Transition Town Kingston's food group took action and started a not-for-profit box scheme based on these principles:

• Provide a large variety of fresh produce from certified organic suppliers
• Sell food at or near wholesale prices
• Offer food that is seasonal and local when possible with preference given to UK suppliers (we also source from Spain, France and Italy)
• Support local producers of organic or natural food products when possible
• Engender a sense of community by having designated locations for meeting, working and collection of orders

Why our prices are so affordable...From the Ground Up offers exceptional prices to you because we don't hire staff - volunteers manage the box scheme - and maintain a minimal infrastructure as a collection scheme - we ask our customers to pick up their orders rather than deliver them.  If we needed to employ people, rent vans, buy petrol etc prices would climb, climb, climb. Therefore we rely on the generosity of our supporters to help us with packing customer orders and to pick up their food at one of our two venues in Central Kingston and Surbiton.  

If you are interested in our weekly service, please visit our online shop and register.  In the Shop is a wide variety of certified organic fruit and veg, organic breads, locally produced artisan bread, honey and preserves - all natural.   You can choose from a pre-selected fruit or veg box or buy items individually.  There is no minimum in amount of money spent or time commitment.  We do ask for your assistance now and then to help us stay alive...

Interested?  When you register, you will receive an email on Monday's late afternoon (unless it is a bank holiday) announcing the opening of the Shop.  You have until 10am Thursday morning to make your selection before the Shop  closes.  The only thing you will need to do is pick up your food at the designated location - couldn't be simpler.  For more details on the ordering process and venue location just click here.

Want to help bring affordable organic food to our communities?  From the Ground Up has flourished over the last 2 years due to the generosity of our supporters.  But we still need more volunteers to keep us going...we welcome all sorts of assistance...please read here for more details on how you can assist From the Ground Up and the benefits you would receive.  

Urban Agriculture at Work:  Cultivate London - FGU's new local supplier of salads and herbs

Starting 12 May, FGU is delighted to offer in its Shop luscious salads and herbs from Cultivate London - a charity and social enterprise that trains unemployed youth in horticulture on two abandoned lots in Ealing and Hounslow.  

Cultivate London has three main objectives:

1) To generate training opportunities and jobs for unemployed young people aged 16-25 in practical horticulture

2) To convert derelict and vacant land across London into productive food growing space

3) To increase the amount of local and organically grown produce consumed by Londoners

We are delighted to support Cultivate London.  Please look for salad and herbs labeled with Cultivate London.  The quality is superior and we are proud to support such a great initiative.  

Ed Davey, Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change Visits FGU

Ed Davey, visited FGU on 5 May, interested in seeing Kingston's only community veg box scheme in action.  He was impressed. What was planned as an hour's visit extended to close to 90 minutes (and he even missed getting a parking ticket).  Ed met the FGU team and listened to FGU's ideas for branching out to other communities within the RBK.  He even had time for a radio interview with Kingston's Green Radio station 87.9FM.  Maybe Ed and family will register and shop with FGU!!!

Changes to the FGU Loyalty Scheme - Earn Discounts Faster

We understand that people are busy on Saturdays and cannot always commit to as many helping sessions as they would like.  We hear you and have changed the guidelines of the From the Ground Up (FGU) Loyalty Scheme to accommodate more people.  Effective 5 May, the FGU loyalty scheme will look like this...

1) For each session you have offered your time either in assisting with the preparation of customer orders (3 - 3.5 hours on a Saturday morning) or helped promote FGU at an event, you will receive £2 off your next FGU food order.  For most that is a healthy 12 -15% discount.  For some, it is a 25 - 30% discount!

2) If you want to step up to the role of Morning Lead (see Get Involved section) you will earn £4 off your next food order...WOW!!

If you are inspired, which we hope, we now have an online sign up rota that should take you no longer than a few minutes to use.  The directions for use in the Get Involved section. 

Turning Two and Still Kickin'

From the Ground Up will be two on the 10th of March.  Why not kick up our heels and help us celebrate during our Spring / Birthday fete on Thursday evening, 22 March.  Come collect your orders at the Kingston Environment Center between 7:30 and 9pm and meet the FGU team as well as John and Mike who supply our natural honey and Igor of Ruben's Bakehouse.  To order, please visit our online shop 

Online ordering is here!

From the Ground Up will be taking orders on the web through its new online shop.  You will be able to register straightaway - just click here to visit the shop and go to 'Register for Account'.  If you already registered, then you can just go directly to the shop.  If you are having a problem, please send us an email at fgu@ttkingston.org.  

Local Artisan Organic Bread Now Available

In its quest to offer local products, From the Ground Up is delighted to sell organic artisan bread from Ruben's Bakehouse of Ham.  Igor, Breadmaker and student of Master Baker Emmanuel Hadjiandreou has recently made the step from baking artisan breads as a hobby to making it his new career.  As a Real Bread Campaigner, Igor bakes his artisan bread from his home using mostly organic ingredients, no additives or processing aids, and hand shapes each loaf.  He is passionate about producing top quality breads and particularly loves baking the traditional ones, such as the sourdough and cottage loaves we are offering in the FGU Shop.  He also bakes Italian style breads (e.g. ciabatta), spelt and gluten free bread varieties that will be in the Shop soon.   

From the Ground Up welcomes Ruben's Bakehouse to our family of local organic and natural suppliers.  We are looking forward to the quality and varieties of bread it will be introducing over the next few months.  This bread, in addition to the selection from Flour Power City, offer you a wide range of fresh organic bread that is hard to find elsewhere.  The artisan bread can be found in the FGU Shop under the category of Baked Goods, Artisan Bread.

Weekly Service and New Collection Point at The Lamb, Surbiton

With the 22 October collection cycle, From the Ground Up will start providing you with affordable organic fresh produce, breads, jams and cheese on a weekly basis.  We now have two collection venues - The Lamb Pub in Surbiton and the Kingston Environment Centre - that will serve as pick up points for your orders on alternating Saturdays.