Breakfast & Beyond - Episode 3:
Katie & Jamie Sawday of Fruutbox

 
 

Also available on Tune-in, Stitcher, Deezer and Public Radio

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In Episode 3 of Breakfast & Beyond I share breakfast with Katie and Jamie Sawday; Katie founded Fruutbox – a Cornwall-based, plastic-free fruit and veg box delivery service - with the support of her husband Jamie just over a year ago as a response to feeling that there must be an easier way to provide healthy, fresh, plastic-free food for their young family.  Having tried various other food box delivery services whilst trying to avoid the highly plastic options available through supermarkets, Katie decided to take the initiative and set up the service that she wanted for her family: fresh, seasonal, plant-based produce, plastic free, delivered at a fair price with a user-friendly online ordering system.

“We want to connect people with the food they are eating … sharing the story behind where and how it’s grown”

Our conversation covers the challenges as well as joys of setting up a business as a young family, how promoting plastic-free fruit and veg can have ripple effects through other areas of our lives, along with sharing a lot of love for purple sprouting broccoli… do join us for Episode 3 of Breakfast & Beyond.

Listen via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher & Tune-In

Breakfast: recipes, producers & growers …

Local link-up - referenced in Episode 3 …

Replenish - zero waste store · Rising Ground - Cornwall-based artisan coffee roasters · Hailer Media - supporting brands with creating considered content
Finesterre - sustainable outdoor clothing · Surfers Against Sewage - marine conservation charity · wearing organic pinafore dress by Pink Lemons Boutique

Sustainable living issue: single use plastic

Reducing the single use plastic used with our fruit and vegetables if a fundamental aim of Fruutbox. During our conversation in Episode 3 I share some pretty startling statistics regarding plastic use:

  • UK supermarkets use 114 billion pieces of throwaway plastic a year. It equates to more than 4,000 items of supermarket plastic, including wrappers, labels and containers, per household in the UK each year (iNews)

  • In the UK it is estimated that five million tonnes of plastic is used every year, nearly half of which is packaging. Plastic waste often does not decompose and can last centuries in landfill, or else end up as litter in the natural environment, which in turn can pollute soils, rivers and oceans, and harm the creates that inhabit them (House of Commons Library)

  • Packaging represents 67% of plastic waste in the UK (WWF)

  • There is more plastic in the oceans than wildlife (Ribble)

  • Only 1/3 of UK plastic is recycled (Ribble)

Sustainable Development Goals

The UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are 17 targets representing a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity by 2030. ‘Everyone is needed to reach these ambitious targets. The creativity, knowhow, technology and financial resources from all of society is necessary to achieve the SDGs in every context’ (UNDP). Translating these global objectives to tease out their relevance at the individual and small-organisational scale can inspire us to connect with these important global themes and consider what we are doing - and what more we can do - to make a contribution that supports our own work and wellbeing along with benefiting other people and the planet.

In Episode 3 our discussion referenced the following Sustainable Development Goals:

2 - Zero hunger - supporting healthy eating, and involvement in Healthy Start voucher scheme, supplying fresh fruit and veg to lower income families
3 - Good health & wellbeing - promoting healthy living by providing high quality fruit and vegetables - celebrating and educating about local, seasonal produce and how to cook it
12 - Responsible consumption & production - creating food delivery boxes that do not include single-use plastic; that are delivered in durable, returnable cardboard boxes made from 98% recycled material and that are 100% recyclable; working to reduce plastic further up the supply chain
14 - Life below water - reducing plastic (which can end up in the oceans) through their product, and the education messages that are shared about reducing and eliminating plastic that is part of their Fruutbox brand offering
15 - Life on land - responsibly sourcing ingredients from growers and suppliers for the fruit & veg boxes, educating about food production, and reducing plastic that could otherwise end up in landfill

 
 

Episode 3 Supporters

Episode 3 is brought to you with the kind support of two fantastic businesses that are based here in Cornwall but that reach way beyond the Cornish borders: Horizon Inspired and Lars & Margo. Details of both, including discount codes for listeners of Breakfast & Beyond, are given below. Enjoy!

Introducing Horizon Inspired …

 
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Joey Hulin, founder of Horizon Inspired, offers support and inspiration through her meditation courses, nourishing retreats, soulful poetry and mindful living books.

Joey has created two self-led online meditation courses so you can participate at your own pace, which means they are perfect for fitting in busy with lives:

From a personal perspective, Joey was my own first meditation teacher – helping me to bring greater clarity and presence into my life – and her calm, poetic, wise and humble meditations have been particularly helpful to me over this past year of lockdown, and remain a constant source of grounding for my day-to-day.

Joey is offering an amazing 50% off her online courses for listeners of Breakfast & Beyond. If you too would like to join Joey, and learn techniques of meditation and journaling, you can access the 50% discount code the website: www.horizoninspired.co.uk/breakfast   Thank you to Joey of Horizon Inspired!

Introducing Lars & Margo …

 
 

Lars & Margo are small batch coffee roasters based very near to us here in Cornwall.  The beautiful aroma of their beans being ground in the morning is my perfect kick-start to the day, and I loved using their Ugandan single estate in our coffees as we recorded this episode.  

Lars & Margo carefully select their beans from a network of farmers and co-operatives, and seek to bring speciality coffee to a wide audience in the most ethical and sustainable way possible, dealing directly with farmers to ensure they receive a fair price.

They have a fantastic selection of whole or ground beans available online, and if you’re in Cornwall you can pop into their lovely roastery in Liskeard to watch the process in action and pick up refills – they were even brave enough to welcome all three of our small and very excited kids, and taught them how to roast!  They’re basically very lovely people who make great coffee.

Lars & Margo are offering 10% off their coffee to listeners of Breakfast & Beyond, just head to their website www.larsandmargo.co.uk and enter the discount code ‘BREAKFAST’ – all capital letters - as you check out.  Thank you Lars & Margo!

Podcast recording: behind the scenes …

Thank you for listening!

Thank you for listening to Breakfast & Beyond: Conversations from Cornwall on Sustainable Living. If you enjoyed listening I’d love it if you could subscribe to the podcast, rate it, and share episodes with friends and family who you think would enjoy them. You can listen and subscribe via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Tune-In or wherever you find your podcasts.

I’d love to know your thoughts - please join the conversation and get in touch by email tia@botelet.com or instagram. Thank you and I look forward to sharing the the next episode with you!

The Breakfast & Beyond podcast is hosted at our home Botelet Farm in South East Cornwall, where my husband’s family have lived and farmed for over 150 years, and three generations still share the farmhouse today. Set in a peaceful valley upstream of Fowey, we welcome visitors to stay in historic cottages, and there’s a yurt for those who love to immerse themselves in nature.