Food glorious food!
It’s time to celebrate British food with the tenth national food promotion, British Food Fortnight, taking place from 17 September to 2 October 2011.
The promotion takes place during harvest time: when British food is at its most abundant and is a perfect time to think about how much of that food gets wasted.
Council recycling teams will be out and about giving help and advice on how to save money and reduce food waste over the coming weeks, especially at some of the county's big food events. They will also be giving away free copies of the ‘Eat Well, Waste Less’ recipe book.
As chairman of Oxfordshire Waste Partnership (OWP), Lorraine Lindsay-Gale is keen to make people aware of the impact food waste has on the environment. She says: “This is the perfect time of year to enjoy the plentiful British harvest, but we shouldn’t forget how bad wasted food is for our environment. It’s sad to think of all the time, energy and resources put into growing, transporting and storing food being wasted if it ends up in the bin.”
Council officers have also been working with local chef Ilja Harvey from Pudding Pie Cookery School to produce some new seasonal recipes and cooking classes. Ilja says: “To help inspire people to get the most out of autumn food long after the warm weather has gone, I’ve come up with some simple new recipes for pickles, jams and chutneys for anyone to try at home. We’ve also devised some new cookery classes and demos so people can come and learn how to get the most out of their food and save money.”
Classes are available on preserves/chutneys, jams and preserves, seasonal cooking and Love Food Hate Waste with discounts available for Oxfordshire residents through OWP. For more information email owp@cherwell-dc.gov.uk or call 01295 22 19 16.
Over the coming weeks, recycling teams will be at:
- Oxford Castle Food and Wine Festival, 17 and 18 September
- Tesco, Abingdon, 19 September 11am - 3pm
- Orchard Centre, Didcot, 20 September 11am - 3pm
- Thame Food Festival, 24 September
- Banbury town centre 25 September, 11am - 4pm
- Banbury Canal Day, 2 October, outside The Mill
The new recipes are :
