Locally sourced fruit and veg scheme encourages a cleaner way of eating

Back To Eden aims to bring affordable organic and locally produced food to Preston to encourage more organic eating.

The scheme began in September 2021 and offers pre-set certified organic fruit and veg boxes starting from £12 and additional add-ons like sourdough bread, milk, eggs and more all from local suppliers.

Founder, 29-year-old, Alina Belousova, said: “Our fruits and vegetables come from a family-run Lyncroft Farm in Aughton, bread comes from The Cherry Blue micro-bakery in Barton and raw milk and eggs come from JD & JS Sanderson & Sons from Preston. Orders get dropped off by the farmer, milkman, and baker once a fortnight in Broadgate at my house.”

When orders arrive, customers get notified by text when their box is ready for collection, and at a small fee, customers can request a delivery to Fulwood, Deepdale, Ashton, Lea, Cottam, Penwortham, Hutton, Longton, and New Longton. Back To Eden customers sometimes take part in delivering veg boxes to their respective areas in an effort to promote a healthier lifestyle to their neighbors.

Born in Riga, Latvia, Alina came to the UK in 2011, to study Events Management at UCLan, but after graduating decided to change career and work as a chef.

She said: “Back in the student days I learned about the importance of organic food and plant-based eating on our health and environment and was eager to eat more organically.

“But at that time UK shops didn’t have much organic food available and I resorted to well-known nationwide veg box schemes, but they were very expensive, traveled long distances, and were often not up to standard.

“Having been disappointed in the options available, I decided to start a scheme that would be more local and affordable than popular ones.”

Always on the lookout for new suppliers from the area, Alina wants to grow her business and get more locals on board. She said: “Finding local and organic producers isn’t always easy, so when the opportunity presents itself we want to add more wholesome food items to our scheme.

"I hope that in the future we can cover the whole of Preston. I believe that each city and town should have its own organic veg box scheme, as only then your food can be truly local, nutritious, and sustainable.

"We have started with Lyncroft Farm, who supply us with fruit and veg; Bell Fold Farm, who supply us with eggs and raw milk, and then after a long search for a good quality sourdough bread we added The Cherry Blue Bakery bread to our product line.”

You can order a veg box through their website: https://openfoodnetwork.org.uk/back-to-eden/shop. And if you have any questions: email, call or text Alina at [email protected] and 07522195051.

You can also follow Back To Eden on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/backtoedenpreston/ and Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/backtoedenpreston. Or subscribe to our monthly newsletter for zero-waste food tips, seasonal meal ideas,

updates and more: https://sendfox.com/backtoedenpreston.

Alina has also said she is planning on hosting healthy plant-based cooking and baking classes showing locals how they can cook cleaner.