At the Lordship Rec Festival in September was the recently formed Tottenham Food Co-op, which is organized and run by members of the Sustainable Haringey food group and the Back To Earth charity, with support from Broadwater Farm Community Centre. This not-for-profit food market aims not only to provide fresh locally grown organic produce, fair trade products and organic dry goods, but also to encourage people to grow their own food on allotments and gardens and swap or sell their surplus.

In the past few years the number of "farmers markets" has increased, but they now often include stalls with much imported, processed and non-organic produce. Now supermarkets have recently started trying to pass themselves off as local shops, impersonating the feel of a "market street" despite being the main cause of the demise of street markets and local shops.

The Tottenham Food Co-op is the opposite of this cynical commercialism. It promotes mutual aid, cuts food miles, and provides food that's free of pesticides, plastic packaging and the controlling influence of big business. The co-op is run by volunteers and sells food at Broadwater Farm on some Friday and Saturday afternoons. They are looking for more people to help make this a weekly event.

For more information, e-mail: tottenhamfoodcoop AT yahoo.co.uk

or visit www.sustainableharingey.org.uk (look under "working groups", then "food").