LOVE Food CIC has been set up and is run by me, Maresa Bossano.

I have been involved in the community and local food sectors for over 20 years. This has included managing the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) Network UK; running a local, organic, vegan café Moose’s Kitchen; coordinating the Food Co-ops project at Sustain and working with schools and hospitals on the Good Food on the Public Plate project. I worked as a Five a Day Co-ordinator for the NHS which included setting up Hastings Farmers Market and The Community Fruit and Veg Project, as well as supporting cookery groups, community cafes and growing projects, and I ran Food Vision a joint project between the Food Standards Agency, LACORS and the Local Government Association. I have also worked in fundraising and marketing for the Vegan Society and League Against Cruel Sports. In Exeter I’ve worked for Food Exeter, Better Health Exeter and Exeter City Community Trust / Wellbeing Exeter. I have been vegan for 30 years and have work as a chef in vegan and vegetarian restaurants since I was sixteen. I also have a Plant-based Nutrition Certificate from the Centre for Nutrition Studies at eCornell.

Our other directors are:

Rosie Blackburn

Rosie has been involved with local and sustainable food for about 20 years.  She started out organising farmers’ markets in Surrey. She worked for a number of charities focusing on projects that made access to healthy and sustainable food easier, and also worked for a number of animal welfare charities. She also spent a few years retailing ethically made products and worked as part of a city based worker cooperative selling wholefoods and plastic free products. She has now set up her own mobile plastic free shop – The Little Green Van https://www.thelittlegreenvan.co.uk/

Robin Van Creveld

Robin has worked as a Community Chef since 2001 encouraging people to cook healthy, fresh food and campaigning for a sustainable, ethical food system for us all. This has involved countless cookery demonstrations, workshops and cookery & training courses for thousands of people of different ages and abilities, from all walks of life. https://communitychef.org.uk/

Volunteers

We have a team of volunteers who help run our lunch club and other activities, including our regular volunteers Lisa and Ali. If you are interested in volunteering please get in touch or fill in our online form.

We also work in partnership with other local organisations, such as Exeter Food Action, Shillingford Organics and St Thomas Community Garden, who help support all our activities.