Move over Macdonald's - at this Cowbridge drive through you can pick up your weekly food shop

A farmer's daughter and now a farmer's wife, Myfanwy Edwards has been involved in the Cowbridge Farmer's Market since it began in 2001.

Then, almost three years ago she started The Food Collective, an online farmer's market where you can order fresh, local food all produced within 30 miles of Cowbridge.

"I noticed that we had very few young families coming to the market. People who had children would say 'oh Saturday mornings don't work for us because we've got swimming and rugby and ballet'," said Myfanwy.

"More and more people were shopping online, so I set up The Food Collective as an alternative to the farmer's market, so that people who couldn't make it to the Saturday morning market had an online version."

The market opens online every Friday morning, and remains open until midnight on Tuesday. Customers can order anything they need to restock their kitchen – from staples like meat, eggs, and milk to treats like handmade fudge, ciders, and gin.

Producers then have Wednesday and Thursday to make everything to order, whether that's baking cakes or digging up potatoes. This keeps waste to a minimum.

Before the pandemic, customers would come to the town hall to collect their orders from each stall.

"I was very keen on the idea of people being able to chat about the food they're buying and seeing who's made it," said Myfanwy.

"Then I got the phone call that the town hall would be closing because of the pandemic, and we wouldn't be able to go there on Thursdays.

"So I went to Pete John in Arthur John's and asked if we could use his car park somehow. I hired a refrigerated van and I had all the producers drop the stuff off with me here and I just boxed up all the orders.

"I'm very grateful to them, because otherwise I would have been forced to close down."

This system quickly evolved into a drive through: Myfanwy bought a refrigerated trailer kitted out with shelving for all the produce to be boxed up in.

At 6pm on Thursdays, customers drive through one gate and have their orders placed in their car boot, before exiting through another gate.

"We can hand out 100 orders in half an hour that way, and vulnerable people who are shielding they don't need to open their window. They just hold up a bit of paper with their name, and we put the box in the boot. It really is a safe way for them to get fresh meat, bread and eggs," said Myfanwy.

This adaptation has helped The Food Collective triple their number of orders and still take on new food producers.

"A lot of these small producers were only selling in farmer's market, and because we could remain open during lockdown compared to others that couldn't, we offered them another outlet," said Myfanwy.

"We've got around 25 producers offering a really good range of stuff. They're all producers who make what they sell, with the exception of Awesome Wales, who are opening soon in Barry, because people couldn't get flour and sugar and dried fruit.

"I wouldn't usually take anybody like that on, but I did it as a service to people so that they could get virtually everything they needed.

"We've had to adapt really quickly, but we've been really busy and people have appreciated what we did," she said.

Myfanwy believes that one silver lining to take from the Coronavirus pandemic is realising how dependent we are on international produce.

"People can't get over how it's taken Covid-19 to bring to light how far some food travels," said Myfanwy.

"Suddenly things weren't available because they come from half way around the world. I think once they've tasted the local produce which is so fresh, they've tasted the difference and we've got people who have stuck with us to do the bulk of their shopping with us now.

"One funny thing is that we've really struggled to get hold of egg boxes because apparently the card pulp isn't made in the UK, and we could only get plastic ones which wasn't the route we wanted to go down.

"I had to send out apology slips in the egg boxes. In the start we weren't allowed to reuse packaging, but then we got told that card was fine to reuse. So now in the market, people bring their own egg box, fill it up and take it away.

"So, if there is a good thing to come from all this, it's the realisation of how dependent we are on cheap imported food, where perhaps the standards aren't the same. Let's support local businesses and keep the money in the community," she said.

Fresh, local food is Myfanwy's passion, and she wants to help local producers with The Food Collective.

She is also a key member of the Cowbridge Farmer's Market, also at Arthur John's carpark, every Saturday.

"We've had so many producers over the years, we've had so many great ones and some have gone on to larger platforms," said Myfanwy.

"We've also got customers that have shopped with us for 20 years or so, that are now our friends.

"Sometimes when you're stood in the cold and rain on a Saturday morning you think 'gosh there must be easier ways to earn a living' but I just love it all the same."

Find out more about The Food Collective and Cowbridge Farmer's Market .