Semi-Structured Interviews with Participants in a London Food Co-op and COVID-19 Shopping Service, 2021

This research draws on interview-based research that took place between May and June 2020 to capture the experience of staff and volunteers at a London food co-op that set up a shopping service for vulnerable people at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. As well as reflecting on the food co-op, what it is and their relationship to it, participants discuss the foundation of the shopping (shop and drop) service and their relationship to it. They also explore broader topics such as the wider impacts of COVID-19 on their own lives and life in the UK, their opinion on the governmental response to COVID-19, and their understanding of concepts such as mutual aid, cooperation and community, which became so prevalent during the pandemic.