Falmouth and Penryn are seeing some creative foodie collaborations as a result of the restrictions implemented because of the coronavirus pandemic.

One such covid-collaboration is the joining of forces of community hub, the Dracaena Centre with Sainsbury’s, Falmouth’s Rotary Club and Cornwall Community Foundation to get hundreds of food parcels out daily to those most in need.

Another example is Community Heart (Cornwall). Robin Markland set it up in 2018 and has used this platform to set up the local Facebook page ‘Covid-19 Mutual aid and Solidarity Falmouth and Penryn’ which continues to be the centre point of the local response.

Via this platform, Robin has so far administered 10,000 posts, many of which are local people appealing for help, such as the collection of prescriptions and within minutes, other members respond and help them out.

During the last month, Robin has also been fundraising for the Emergency Food Box provision, which has so far distributed one tonne of fresh, mainly Cornish-grown fruit and veg to those most vulnerable such as the elderly, disabled and those living in food poverty.

Robin said: “Community Heart responded on day one.

"Each box is enough to provide a small family with fresh produce for at least one week.

"We are working with local businesses and the Pennycomequick pub, situated on Falmouth Moor, has very kindly allowed us to use its premises as a distribution hub whilst Westcountry Fruit Sales has also been incredibly helpful and is supplying us with top-quality produce.

"We have also been working with local volunteers for the delivery of the boxes. I have personally delivered half of the boxes on foot as I want to gain a deeper understanding of the situation. I have so far delivered half of a tonne on foot using a small cart.

“People have literally been crying tears of joy and relief when I have delivered the boxes to their doors. The response has been so inspiring and I’m currently fundraising to fund more boxes beyond the next wave of distribution.

"The demand is huge but we are managing well with the resources we have. This really is an amazing community effort, with 100 per cent of funds coming from generous members of the public.”

Restaurant Nude Canteen has teamed up with Stones Bakery and zero waste shop, Un_Rap to create nutritious and sustainable food boxes.

Owner of Nude Canteen, Jess Haynes said: “What we absolutely love about Falmouth is the community spirit and neighbour-helping attitude. We wanted to do our bit to support.”

Also helping keep the Falmouth community fed, whilst safe at home and supporting local producers, is Fal Food Box Co, started by Louise Lane of Falfalafel which usually trades from Falmouth Moor.

Louise is helping people stay at home whilst staying stocked up with healthy food packages.

Other foodie initiatives from Falmouth include the light-hearted and community-spirited series of videos, Nick’s Community Kitchen by the executive chef at the Greenbank Hotel, Nick Hodges.

Filming every Monday, Wednesday and Friday via Facebook, Nick has been entertaining Cornwall with his live demos from his very own kitchen, often with the help of his children and wife.

Falmouth Business Improvement District (BID) manager, Richard Wilcox said, “We are very proud to be part of such a resourceful community and continue to be blown away by the kindness, resilience, solidarity, flexibility and innovation that all are showing during these unprecedented times.”