Infinity Foods (Brighton’s thriving community grocery)

Infinity Foods in the city of Brighton has been around since the 1970s. Democratically run by its workers, it offers a huge range of organic fresh produce, in-store baked bread, vegan groceries and natural beauty and cleaning products, along with a wholesale division.

Many items are sold in refill containers, so bring along clean dry containers to fill up, saving you money as well as packaging. The shop also avoids selling items made with palm oil.

There is also a Community Card, which gives discounts to regular customers. A portion of profits are donated to local charities, usually ones to protect Sussex wildlife or to help poverty and homelessness in Brighton.

Only assistance dogs permitted (due to food being at nose level!) 

If buying plants or flowers, read up on pet-friendly gardens to know what to avoid.

Why are there so many vegans & vegetarians in Brighton?

Brighton has one of England’s highest percentage of vegans and vegetarians. And so obviously it has more vegan eateries to health shops. There is a vegan shoe shop!

The culture likely stems from the fact that it is a very liberal-minded place – very friendly to artists, musicians, gay people and anyone who doesn’t follow the set pattern of ‘get married, have two children and eat meat’). It elected England’s first-ever Green MP (and still has one) and the two major universities nearby means it has a young population. And we know that the new generation is a lot healthier and greener than the last one.