Olive oil shipped by sailing boat to tackle toxic transport emissions will be on sale in Hackney

A Mare Street volunteer will sell “zero emissions” olive oil to Hackney – once it arrives on a sailing boat from Portugal.

The Nordlys cargo ship is due to get to Brighton on Tuesday to deliver 1,000 litres of organic oil harvested in the Faia Brava nature reserve.

Karen Luyckx, who works for the food waste NGO Feedback in Mare Street, will sell the oil for Sail Cargo SE, which will be sold at £54 for a five-litre tub in Hackney, Croydon and Brighton itself.

She said: “At Feedback we fight food waste.

“Powerful retailers cause food waste throughout the food supply chain by shifting risk back on the producers and farmers.”

She said Sail Cargo East was “part of the solution”, adding: “Fair dealings and a transparent supply chain are as much part of what we are trying to do as reducing transport emissions. There are no middle men or big retailers involved.”

Once it gets to Brighton, the oil isn’t quite zero-emissions any more: it travels to Hackney in a car. “Eventually, when volumes increase, London deliveries should be made via the Thames – that’s the dream,” said Karen.

Email sailcargose@sailboatproject.org.