Waste Not Want Not - Training in Manchester

Trafford Hall Training
Waste Not Want Not - Starting Your Own Community 'Waste' Project

11-12 April 2016

Trainers - Real Junk Food Manchester

§ Turning seasonal gluts in to beautiful products like jams, chutneys, pickles, and sauerkraut is an age old skill. The modern twist is taking food that would otherwise go to waste from the food industry, and using it to start a social enterprise or community project.


The Real Junk Food Project does just this, sourcing food that would go to waste from supermarkets, wholesalers, restaurants and many other sources, cooking it up into healthy nutritious meals, and serving them to anyone and everyone on a pay-as-you-feel basis.


With over 100 neighbourhood level projects operating around the UK, the Real Junk Food Project Network demonstrates a number of ways that local people can come together to reduce food waste, support local people in accessing food, and offer training and work opportunities.


Over two days, this course takes participants through the basics of;


§ an introduction to food safety issues


§ starting a social enterprise – the process of forming a legal organisation, setting up a bank account, social media and generating interest


§ Sourcing food that would otherwise go to waste


§ Finding premises


§ Different project models – from making preserves to running a community cafe

This course is £50 for the first volunteer booking and and £20 for each subsequent volunteer booking on from the same group.

Click here for MORE INFORMATION

Click here to APPLY FOR SPACES


The cost of all courses includes en-suite accommodation, and all meals and refreshments during your stay.


Help with travel costs is available for those travelling long distances - please ask for more information. Pre-night B&B is also available for anyone who wishes to travel the night before the course.

For more information on this course, or to book spaces, contact Gary Dutton on (01244) 300246, or by replying to this email.

Deal 'Gardening Question Time' Tuesday 29th April

Deal With It are organising a Deal 'Gardening Question Time' on Tuesday 29th April at the Landmark Community Centre doors open 7pm for a 7:30pm start.

The idea of the evening help anyone who wants to grow fruit and veg how to get off to a flying start or those of us who do it but want to improve

The format will be informal one with the emphasis on sharing and swapping ideas and knowledge.

None of us are 'experts' but we been amazed when people come together the richness of the knowledge in our community. Its about passing those skills on

Ignorance is Welcome :)

Deal's first 'Seedy Saturday'

The weather was kind to us for today's first 'Seedy Saturday' at the Landmark Community Graden.

 Lots of people had donated seeds, plants, compost and the kind folk at 'Buster's Bits' in St George's Walk also donated a number of seed kits and Chris from 'need for seed'.

We took £40 in donations which will go directly to support our 'Grow Deal' work.

Imogen brought her cute wood burner which added to the atmosphere. :)

Many thanks to everyone you donated seeds. Special thanks to Tracy, Imogen, Adrian and Sue, Sarah and Steve for helping to organise and volunteering on the day.

We plan to make 'Seedy Saturdays' a quarterly event at the Landmark but to reflect the seasons.

Next one will be on Saturday 24th May 11am-1pm

Crowd fund raising in Deal for a healthy diet ....

Can you help us change the eating habits of East Kent?! When Chequers Kitchen Cookery School opens alongside the Restaurant in April there will be cookery courses for all tastes and skill levels. We are so looking forward to it! But what you may not know is that we are now a community interest company and behind the scenes we are on a mission to help disadvantaged people in our community to access a healthy diet. The profits from Chequers Kitchen Restaurant and Cookery School will be used to support free and subsidised cookery lessons for young parents, disadvantaged children, carers, people with mental health problems, young people in care and others who are severely disadvantaged in our community. We need to raise a further £10,000 to build and equip the cookery school. And we are asking for help from our friends, customers and all who share our vision of helping people access a healthy diet through knowing how to cook from scratch, regardless of their circumstances. Please have a look at our crowd-funding campaign and the 'Perks' on offer in exchange for your support. If you would like to help us reach our goal we will be very grateful. If it's not for you, thank you anyway and please consider forwarding this message to any colleagues, friends, family or businesses who may share our passion and perhaps like to get involved. Many thanks. With best wishes from all at Chequers Kitchen including Pieter, Stephanie and Gary

What is Crowd-Funding?   Crowd-funding is a way to raise funds to support a project. It's as simple as that. We are using a platform called Indiegogo but there are many others around, some of which specialise in particular types of project.   We decided to run a crowd-funding campaign as an opportunity for our friends, customers and local businesses to get involved. We know there is lots of support for what we are doing at Chequers Kitchen and the crowd-funding approach lets us 'reward' our supporters in fun ways.   We have until March 17th to raise our funds. Have a look at the Perks and see what you think. You can suggest additional Perks if you like - we can have up to 20 at any one time!   Thank you for your interest and do get in touch if you have comments, questions, suggestions for us. We're on 01304 362288 or you can email us ay Pieter@chequersrestaurant.com   Here's our campaign!

Gleaning at Broadstairs this week ...

We have received the following request and so are passing it on in case you want to be involved. Apologies for the short notice.

Sat 1st Feb there is a "gleaning" day in Broadstairs where hopefully tonnes of brassicas will be picked, that would otherwise have been destroyed or wasted. All the food picked will be going to charities dealing with food poverty via FairShare in London.

If you want to get involved please contact martin@feeding5k.org  as soon as possible.

For further info: www.twitter.com/#!/Feeding5K  Facebook.com/feeding5000 or www.feeding5K.org

Thanks to Transition Whitstable for this .....

Community Supported Agriculture Conference ....

Join us for the 2013 community supported agriculture (CSA) national conference... View this email in your browser

Community Supported Agriculture National Conference and Network Launch Tuesday 3 December 2013 9.30am - 5.30pm The Subscription Rooms, George Street, Stroud, GL5 1AE Evening social at Stroud Brewery   Farm walk - Wednesday 4 December 2013 9.30am - 2.00pm Join us for the 2013 Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) National Conference, where we will bring together CSA enterprises and practitioners from across the UK. We will celebrate the growth of CSA over the past few years and the launch of the new CSA Network UK. The main day will provide interactive learning opportunities and the chance to shape new regional support networks. We will share innovative grassroots solutions that have been developed by projects in the UK and further afield. There will be workshops on governance, market collaboration, managing volunteers and setting up a new CSA project. In the evening we will meet up for organic sourdough pizza at the award-winning Stroud Brewery. After Tuesday's main conference on Wednesday morning we will head to Stroud Community Agriculture for a farm walk and lunch. Book your tickets now Conference - £12 plus VAT Evening - £7.50 plus VAT Farm walk and lunch - £6.50 plus VAT For more information and to book your tickets: http://soilassociation.us7.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6c7a048afe5db63ba5234185f&id=4b6e75dcbc&e=02b38ecbee To find out more or if you would like to book a trade stand: Rachel Harries mailto:rharries@soilassociation.org?subject=CSA%20national%20conference 0117 987 4601

Gleaning in Kent this Saturday

Calling all glorious gleaners around Kent and London!

Gleaning day this Saturday 12th October 10am-5pm (TBC):

Hi everyone! As the new Kent coordinator for the Gleaning Network UK, I invite you to join us for an idyllic day on a farm near Canterbury in the Kent countryside, saving literally tonnes of delicious fresh pears that would otherwise have been wasted. All the produce will be going to charities dealing with food poverty via our good friends FareShare.

Travel expenses are covered for those travelling from Kent, London and nearby - just check with us first!

Over the past year, the Gleaning Network has already saved 32 tonnes of fresh fruit and veg for food poverty charities, across 16 gleaning days with nearly 200 volunteers.

Please join us in the fields!
If you can make it, please email eugene@feeding5k.org, and confirm whether you can make the whole day, and send me your phone number, and where you'll be travelling from (e.g. Canterbury, London etc.) so we can group you with fellow travel companions.

We'll then send you finalized details closer to the time. Please get in touch asap so we have an idea of numbers. The more people we have, the more of those 1,000s of pears we can save for charity! Also, please do check whether you can make it, as lots of drop outs at the last minute can jeopardise the gleaning day going ahead!

Please spread the word to your friends and networks, and do recommend any groups you think we should get in touch with!

We're also looking for a driver to transport the produce from the farm to FareShare in London - if you'd be interested in driving a van (normal driving license required) for the day, then please get in touch!

If you can't join us this time, watch this space - we'll have more gleaning days coming up over the next few months! If you have friends who are interested in signing up to our gleaning list, which means they'll get notifications like this one when gleaning days are coming up, please get them to sign up here.
See you in the fields!

Many thanks,
Eugene Nulman
Kent Gleaning Coordinator

http://www.feeding5k.org/
http://www.tristramstuart.co.uk/

Follow us @
www.twitter.com/#!/Feeding5k <http://www.twitter.com/#%21/Feeding5k>
https://www.facebook.com/feeding5000
http://www.feeding5k.org/

Haven't signed the Feeding the 5000 pledge yet? Go to http://www.feeding5k.org/ and make your voice heard!

What is Gleaning?
Gleaning Network UK, recently featured on BBC Radio 4's Food Programme and Al Jazeera, and organised by Tristram Stuart and Feeding the 5,000, is an exciting new initiative to save the thousands of tonnes of fresh fruit and vegetables that are wasted on UK farms every year. Farmers across the country often have no choice but to leave tonnes of their crops unharvested and get ploughed back in the soil. These crops often cannot reach the market either because they fail to meet the retail strict cosmetic standards or because of overproduction.

We coordinate teams of volunteers, local farmers and food redistribution charities in order to salvage this fresh, nutritious food and direct it to those that need it most, such as homeless hostels and charities. To date, we have salvaged several tonnes of excellent unmarketable British produce, including apples, cabbages, cauliflowers, spring greens and kale, and redistributed them to charities such as FareShare and the Best Before Project.

Here's some more info, our video, and pictures of our last gleaning day.

Wild Food @ the Chequers this Saturday

Wild Food

Free demonstration, Sat 15 June, 1.30pm

Drop by to hear about - and taste - some of the wild foods and edible seaweeds available to gather around Deal.

Lucia Stuart of The Wildflower Kitchen will be demonstrating some of the simple but delicious recipes she prepares from plants gathered in the hedgerows and on the coast.

The demonstration is free so just drop in - no need to dine, it's open to all including children.

Foodie Demonstrations at the Chequers 17th May

It's a Revolution!

Free Demonstrations All Day

Friday 17th May

Food Revolution Day is on its way and we invite you to celebrate with us. Food Revolution Day is all about the joy of real food and cooking from scratch.

  

Drop in the The Chequers to enjoy our free demonstrations on the hour, every hour, from 11am to 2pm.

  

Pieter will show you how to make ciabatta bread; Ralph Cade of Greencades will talk about cooking with spices and demonstrate some magnificent marinades; the lovely Lucia Stuart of The Wild Flower Kitchen will share her passion for wild food and teach you how to gather plants and shellfish around Deal and East Kent; Keiran Renihan of The Choclution will demonstrate chocolate making and give us some excellent health reasons for making raw chocolate a part of our daily diet.

  

There's no need to book, you don't have to dine or even have a drink - just join us for the fun and the fascination and to learn something wonderful on Food Revolution Day!

If you want to catch a particular demonstration or talk, give us a ring on 01304 362288 to get the running order!

Fancy a bit of Gleaning ....

Gleaning day coming up on Friday 10th May:

On Friday 10th May, the Gleaning Network will be heading down to a farm in Broadstairs, Kent to harvest tonnes of cauliflower and save them from going to waste, redistributing them to food poverty charities. We need volunteers to help harvest the tasty produce! Join us for an idyllic day on the farm. Contact martin@feeding5k.org to find out more, sign up to volunteer, or help coordinate. The day will be roughly 10am-5pm (TBC), and travel expenses are covered for those travelling from Kent. If you can't join us this time, sign up to our gleaning list and we'll let you know of all future gleaning days. Also, let us know if you'd be interested in coordinating gleaning days in the future,as we have loads of gleanings days planned in Kent over the next few months. Join the Arable Spring!

What is Gleaning?

Gleaning Network UK, recently featured on BBC Radio 4's Food Programme and Al Jazeera, and organised by Tristram Stuart and Feeding the 5,000, is an exciting new initiative to save the thousands of tonnes of fresh fruit and vegetables that are wasted on UK farms every year. Farmers across the country often have no choice but to leave tonnes of their crops unharvested and get ploughed back in the soil. These crops often cannot reach the market either because they fail to meet the retail strict cosmetic standards or because of overproduction.

We coordinate teams of volunteers, local farmers and food redistribution charities in order to salvage this fresh, nutritious food and direct it to those that need it most, such as homeless hostels and charities. To date, we have salvaged several tonnes of excellent unmarketable British produce, including apples, cabbages, cauliflowers, spring greens and kale, and redistributed them to charities such as FareShare and the Best Before Project. Here's some more info, our video, and pictures of our last gleaning day. The movement is gathering pace, and we're rapidly expanding into a national network, with a hub now launching in Lincolnshire and Norfolk, encompassing Peterborough.

See you in the fields!

Many thanks,

Martin Bowman
Gleaning Co-ordinator
http://www.feeding5k.org/
http://www.tristramstuart.co.uk/

Landmark Garden update

Our volunteers braved the arctic conditions today in Deal to get some of the beds serviceable at the Landmark. Well done all.

The group is meeting up on Weds afternoon from 2pm and Sat Mornings from 10am.

Hope to have another digging session for the main beds next Saturday plus we have some compost arriving to mulish the beds.

Please contact Rosie or Vicki if you want get involved

Cooking from Scratch at the Astor

Cooking From Scratch in Deal

The Astor was the place to be today if you wanted to savour a great variety of local food from the best school food (ever!), the most eco-pizza's produced in Deal, Cycle-powered Smoothies,a taste of wild food from our coastline and sublime chocolate.

Deal With It stall was busy with a lot of interest in our 'Grow Deal' initiative and all the other things we are doing. Thank you to our volunteers Charles, Vicki and Steve for running the stall.

It was a busy event with  several hundred attending and lots of hands on cooking for kids and adults. Local veg box scheme was there as well

The event was organised by Deal's own School Meals local enterprise - Whole School Meals - who is own by local schools, produces the food in the town with fresh fruit & veg and uses locally sourced produce.

Well done Stephanie and her team for organising

Cooking from Scratch at the Astor - 9th March

Deal's own school meals social enterprise, WholeSchool Meals is running a 'Cooking from Scratch' day at the Astor on Saturday 9th March.

The day will be a mixture of demonstrations and talks on to get started cooking, on a budget and using fresh local produce

Its all free...

If you have any questions please contact us by telephone on 01304 611010 or by email to
steph@wholeschoolmeals.co.uk.
www.wholeschoolmeals.co.uk

Seeding plans for community garden at Deal station...

Sarah & Alan from 'Grow Deal' with Harry from Platform 1

Calling all Gardeners: Plans for Community Garden at Rail Station”

Deal With It is hosting a gathering of gardeners on Saturday 13th October, to look at a number of ideas to get Deal Growing including a possible community garden at Deal Railway Station.

Sarah Gleave, meeting organiser said: “Wouldn’t it be great if everyone arriving at Deal station next year, saw some burgeoning, beautiful and edible planters and a little community garden?

We hope to form a group of volunteer gardeners over the winter to make this a reality, following some very positive discussions with Southeastern Rail.

The purpose of the gathering is to see whether we have a critical mass of people who want to be involved and to develop our plans.”

Deal With It’s ‘Grow Deal’ was formed to support initiatives in and around the town to encourage all things related to ‘local food’; from growing veg & fruit in containers, gardens, garden share, allotments and the skills to cook and preserve food.

If you are interested in coming to the ‘gathering’ or getting involved please contact Sarah on 01304 – 389553 or email at food@dealwithit.org .

Deal With It - Food Group meeting

Deal With It's food group 'Grow Deal' meet tonight. If you have never been before these meetings are was jam- packed with favorite recipes still on the vine with their own stories, Rosie's Jam and Tina's preserves, Sarah's flans and discussion on all things foodie.

Tonight we had Sally from www.Fresh-Vegbox.co.uk showing and talking about the local food that is delivered straight to your door (01304 331729). Good discussion on why there is so little demand for organic veg locally.

Stephenie shared with us the plans around the CIC Keen 2Cuisine based at the Chequers Pub on the Ancient Byeway between Deal & Sandwich. - They are doing some posh food classses at present but hope open a wider cookery school soon ... see www.wholeschoolmeals.co.uk/keen2cuisine or ring 01304 362288.

The Deal Volunteer Centre are looking for recipes for  a local recipe book http://www.doverdistrictvolunteering.org.uk/

John from Deal Foodbank talked to us about how the local foodback hopes to launch in Nov with its aim to support people in severe need with three days with food....again had a good discussion on the links from some of our ideas and the needs of people the foodbank are trying to assist. Not as we need reminding ... but what a great and kind community we have here in Deal

Annie and Steve are hoping to organise a Jam making day at one of the schools in Nov one weekend

Sarah outline the plans for a community garden at Deal Railway Station - there will be a gardeners gathering on Sat 13th October at 2:30pm at her house - please contact her at food@dealwithit.org

Ideas on foragering on coastal and country and a great jam community fest

Grow Deal meeting - 26th Sept

The next DWI meeting will be on Weds 26th Sept at 7:30pm -

This months meeting is our food group 'Grow Deal' : HOME-GROWN AND HEDGEROW 

Celebrating local and fresh food:  A swap-shop evening of preserves, any fruit and veg you gardeners have a glut of, and favourite recipe's - also offering an up-date from local veg box suppliers, cookery classes, plans for a community garden in Deal, garden shares and info on the local foodbank.


All welcome


Dealabilty, Victoria Rd, Deal

The Chocolution has started....

Deal’s own local community chocolatier, ‘Chocolution’, is launching a real chocolate bar this week with one ‘Willie Wonka’ style Golden Ticket hidden amongst the limited first edition.

The ‘Golden Ticket’ for the lucky purchaser will get them free entry into the fabulous Smugglers Records’ Festival which starts this coming weekend.

Chocolution's founder Kieran Renihan is active supporter of Deal With It and has developed his social business by building on it ethical and sustainable foundations:

He has direct trade relationship with Cocao producers in Ecuador, sells direct to the consumer or thru local independent Deal shops, creates his wares in pop-up kitchens in churches and schools and does lots of educational work in schools on what real chocolate is and where it comes from.

Will from Smugglers with Kieran

Kieran also prides himself on the raw quality of his chocolate which means little added fat but retaining its healthy minerals.

He hopes later in the year to use his skills to inspire local unemployed people in the possibilities of a chocolate future.

The limited edition bars are available at Peppers, Allotment, Borough Wines, Astor and the Black Douglas

 For further information please see Chocolution’s website at thechocolution.com.

For more information on this week's Smugglers Records’ Festival see www.smugglersrecords.com.

Grow Deal!

Deal With It are doing a bit of sowing this month. 

We want to encourage as many people as possible to have a go at growing their own fruit and veg.

Adrian and Sue as part of SEAS Open Studios (part of the Deal Festival) have a 'Open Garden' to show people how easy it is to grow in containers of odds bits of land (see more here)

This is part of our Local Food theme and the idea is over the next few month we will get together in gardens and at our garden shares to demonstrate the practical steps in growing your own and the options & positive impacts this can have on local community

TT Faversham - Local food Report

Our colleagues at Transition Town Faversham have been working with Protect Kent to produce a report on how local food is working in their community ... some food for thought for us in Deal?

From the TTF website at http://ttfaversham.wordpress.com

 From Field to Fork: Faversham

by ttfaversham on May 28, 2012

The Campaign to Protect Rural have just published a fantastic report ‘From Field to Fork: Faversham’ about the local food web of Faversham.
The report is a heartening read; there is so much to be proud of within the town and surrounding area!
Key Facts about Faversham’s Local Food:

• Local food is abundant and accessible in Faversham – there is a huge amount of food grown locally to Faversham.
• There is a strong public demand for local food. 39 outlets out of 58 sell local food in Faversham. Annual sales of local food are estimated at £1.2-2.8 million!
• Local food supports local jobs. The report estimates that about 160 jobs are supported by the sales of local food in the Faversham area. In addition to this there are a further 250 jobs supported at the suppliers.
• Food contributes to the character and identity of our town. People are proud of Faversham’s local produce.
• The quality and freshness of local food is the main reason people buy local food. People also like the personal service they receive from local businesses.
• Local food strengthens our community. When people shop at local food businesses they talk to the producers. They also talk to people they know or neighbours whilst in town shopping locally.
• The town is aware of its local farming heritage and so local food contributes to a sense of community and belonging.
• Local food businesses use other local businesses – local hardware shops, local solicitors, local accountants etc.
• Local food businesses have a strong commitment to saving energy and reducing waste. There is often less packaging and waste from local food businesses.

It is great to see so many local shops, producers and residents featured or named in the report. Transition Town Faversham are proud to note that many of our members volunteered to be interviewed for this project and many of them were also featured in the case studies of the report. We would like to draw particular attention to Bridget Neame and her month of eating locally featured on Pages 10 and 25 of the report. The Group is also delighted to be featured as a case study in itself on Page 9 of the report. You can find out more about our Food Group here. Looking to the future, the report gives recommendations to different groups within the town. These are summarised below.
Key Recommendations:
Swale Borough Council should ensure strong and effective local planning policies are in place to:

• Maintain and strengthen Faversham’s retail diversity through a clear ‘town centre first’ approach to develop the vitality and vibrancy of the centre.
• Ensure the need for new retail space is objectively assessed using independent evidence.
• Set an appropriate size threshold for new stores above which they will be assessed for their impact on the town centre, on the economy of the rural area and on local food production.
• Support the growth of new local food outlets such as the farmer’s market, the community gardening and the allotments.

The public sector, including local councils, schools, and hospitals, should buy more sustainable local produce.
Local food business should work together to:

• Improve the marketing of local food so shoppers can identify local food and understand its benefits. The follwing would help: trying to overcome perceptions that shopping at local food businesses costs more, offering more information on who produced the food, where and how, holding local food tastings and events, developing ‘local’ brands.
• Explore and support local food initiatives to reduce costs and increase access to local food, such as co-operating to form a local food distribution hub.

The community should (we all should!):

• Shop widely to encourage a variety of local businesses and local food.
• Buy local food through local shops, markets and delivery schemes.
• Ask where the food we buy comes from and how it’s produced.
• Contact local planners and councillors to encourage them to support local food businesses. Start by sending them a copy of this report and asking them how they intend to use it!

Transition Town Faversham supports the findings of the report. We also think it is a fascinating and overwhelmingly positive report about our town. We urge you all to read it and follow the recommendations! You can find the full report here.

Local Deal Author's 'Eating Flowers' cookbook

Local Deal Writer, Lucia Stuart, has written a beautiful hand illustrated nature cookbook 'Eating Flowers'.

Lucia speaking about her book "Eating Flowers is a truly original book encouraging adults and children to enjoy nature and its properties. Colour photographs and lively illustrations show how to source and identify the plants throughout the months and then use them in simple and delicious recipes.

As a professional cook, artist and nature lover I have combined my skills to inspire readers to understand and engage with nature’s bounty. 

To name something is to love something and if it is of practical use to us, we will love it even more.

Both wild and garden plants have boundless culinary and medicinal properties. I see my book as a pretty,  ‘manual’ "

full details at http://www.eatingflowers.com - price £7.99 - Book Launch at the Black Douglas on Sunday 4th Sunday 3-5pm