The London ‘people’s pantry’ where a week’s shop costs £3.50

A stone's throw from well-to-do King's Cross lies a community hub bringing people together through food

On a sunny Thursday morning in September, the Pantry in north London is buzzing. Customers browse the wooden crates for celeriac and butternut squash; one picks up a tin of organic tomatoes and pops it in her basket. The smell of rich mushroom soup wafts through the air.

But this is not a luxury food shop with prices to match; it is a people's pantry" on an estate that may be a stone's throw from the high-end retail outlets of King's Cross but feels a million miles away.