City food news 30 lo

City

FOOD News

Issue 30 / Spring-Summer 2014

www.bhfood.org.uk

In this issue•The future of allotments

•Get freezing this summer

•Easy lunch recipes

•Indoor edible gardening

•Orchards without borders

•And for more news, issues,events near you

Amex staff volunteering at StanmerCommunity Garden Group

2 3bhfood.org.uk

One the best bits about being theDirector of the Food Partnership is thatyou are never more than a metre awayfrom someone who can help you withfood advice … nutritional facts, tips onwhat to plant when, foraging ideas,recipes, good books, and opinions onthe good, the bad and the ugly when itcomes to the way that food isproduced, consumed and disposed of.

This edition of City Food News is forpeople who work in places where allthis isn’t on hand, and considers howto get a range of good food habitspassed the office door.

Articles include information abouthow to set up a workplace compostingscheme, to turn that mountain of teabags and banana skins into black gold,how digging can build a productiveworkforce, and a fact about bacteria onoffice desks that might make you thinktwice about where you eat your lunch!

We also look at how largerinstitutions in the city can makesignificant changes to the local foodsystem by changing their purchasingpractices.

And it’s not just large caterers thatcan make a difference with the foodthey buy. At the Food Partnership wehave a sustainable food buying policythat covers everything from the foodwe cook at events to the milk we put inour tea. You could do this too.

Some of my favourite office basedfood activities have been a lunchtimesoup swap (everyone bring in some

soup and then eat each others), theSpring Seedling Swap (8th May thisyear at Preston Park Demo Garden),and the weekly chance to discusswhich option to go for from the FridayStreetDiner.

As part of an overall review of ourcommunications, we will only be doingtwo magazines this year, but you canget all our latest news and eventsthrough our fortnightly e-newslettersand on our website.

And as for working with all of thosefood experts, the downside is theysometimes tell you what you don’twant to hear… I was most upset to findout that Jaffa Cakes don’tcount as one ofyour five a day!Vic BorrillFoodPartnershipDirector

Welcome

city food news

4

8

12 14

10

11

16 21

22

24

18

News

Growing for well-being

Lifting the lid

on food aid

Indoor officeedibles

Free workplace

health checks

26

Cutting foodwaste at work

27Events listings

Dining ‘al desko’

Reviews

Composting adviceRecipes Business lunch

Orchards

without borders

15

Get freezing

5bhfood.org.uk 4

The Good Food Grants, now in itseighth year, has just awarded £16,200 to 24 different Brighton &Hove projects.

This year grants were made toprojects that help alleviate foodpoverty and celebrate the culturaldiversity in the city.

Some of the funded projects thisyear included Brighton Women’sCentre, The Carer’s Garden and theMigrant English Project.

“The money from the Food Partnership

is going to enable our fledgling project

take a massive leap forward. We are a

group of parents with disabled children

who are setting up a group to enable

others like us to be part of an

allotment. As any parent knows,

getting time to manage an allotment is

hard, but when you have a child with

significant special needs, committing

to an allotment alone is impossible.

Our aim is to provide a

supportive and rewarding space

where parents and carers can

meet, get some fresh air and

exercise, and grow produce for

themselves and their

families.”

Medeni Elwick, Magic Garden

“Food plays an important part

in Rwandan culture during the

(genocide) commemoration period. The

grant from the Food Partnership will

make a massive difference. It will allow

children to take part in fun, educational

and meaningful projects and will help

their parents deal with the social

isolation that many experience during

the anniversary period. It will give

people the opportunity to discover and

rediscover the value of Rwandan

ingredients, recipes and cooking

techniques that can be found locally yet

are rarely used in European cuisine.”

Vivenie Mugunga, Rwandan YouthInformation Community

If you are part of a group, organisationor business and need our support goto www.bhfood.org.uk/organisation

Local food projects get£16,200 boost

Expanding ourmuch-lovedDemo GardenIf you’ve been to Preston Park recently you may havenoticed some changes to our Demo garden. Work hasbegun to expand the garden to double the original size.

The new area is loosely based on a Forest Gardenwhich, through layered vegetation, mirrors a naturalecosystem. Although there is work early on to plant,nurture and maintain it, once established, this systemneeds little work. Annual pruning and light weeding isusually enough to support permanent plantings.

Within the next year the volunteers at the gardenhope to be harvesting raspberries,boysenberries, alpinestrawberries, as well asherbs, globe artichokesand apples and pears inthe years to come.

Other features of theexpanded garden include agravelled path, and highlevel beds allowing wheelchairusers and those with bad backs to experienceplanting and harvesting from accessible spaces. Newseating has been designed with wildlife habitats inmind such as logs under benches to encourage somebeneficial insects to spend time in the garden.

Joinone of our

regular volunteersessions onWednesday

mornings 10am-1pm

city food news

News

Our SpringSeedlingSwap isback

Our ever popular springSeedling Swap is backthis year. Come along onSunday 18th May,11am-2pm at our DemoGarden in Preston Park.The event is organised incollaboration with theBrighton OrganicGardeners Group(BHOGG). It’s a greatchance to swap or buyyoung plants for yourgarden. There will alsobe lots of family-friendlygardening activitiesincluding compostingdemonstrations andseedbomb workshopsthroughout the day.

Community allotment project Plot 22 has receiveda Good Food Grant to cover their core costs

“We care passionately

about the quality and

freshness of the

ingredients we use. The

awards we have

received provide

assurances to our

customers, suppliers and

stakeholders that

sustainable food remains

at the top of our

agenda”

David Hicks, Head ofHospitality,University of

Brighton

Uni dishes up better foodThe University of Brighton has achieved the SoilAssociation bronze standard Catering Mark formany of their services including their largest halls ofresidence and conference facility.

The catering mark is an independent endorsementthat the university is taking steps to improve thefood they serve including using fresh ingredientswhich are free from undesirable additives and betterfor animal welfare.

The achievementcompliments BrightonUniversity’s pioneeringwork to develop asustainable food policywhich includes MarineStewardship Councilcertification for theirfish and organic milkserved across all outlets.

Food businesses shake up London RoadThe finishing touches are being addedto the new Open Market on LondonRoad which plans to open Monday toSaturday from May. Expect fresh food,locally sourced goods and regularevents.

You may see some familiar faceswhen visiting the new market. TheFood Partnership has joined forceswith seedbomb expert and authorJosie Jeffery to take a unit at therevamped space.

The ‘Foodshed’ will be a space thatshowcases local producers and aimsto inspire and educate shoppers with

pop up talks and demonstrations. ‘hiSbe’ the supermarket that shows

us ‘how it should be’ also launchedback in December. The store stockslocal, seasonal and ethical food whilsttrying to reduce waste and keep goodfood affordable for everyone. It’slocated on York Place, near St. Peter’sChurch and is open seven days aweek.

That’s two new exciting and eagerlyanticipated ventures adding to therange of options for city residentslooking to buy better food.

7bhfood.org.uk

Hitting healthyeating goals withthe AlbionThe Food Partnership has teamed upwith Albion in the Community, thecharitable arm of Brighton & HoveAlbion Football Club to promotehealthy eating and help city residentsmanage their weight.

New funding, provided by the CityCouncil’s Public Health team, will allowus to further develop our HealthyWeight Referral Service for the nextthree years. This includes the popularShape Up adult group sessions, FamilyShape Up for 6-13 year olds and one-to-one weight management clinics.Last year 762 city residents who wereabove their ideal weight were referredto the service.

Albion will run a Shape Up sessionfor men at the Amex Stadium and ZipZap clubs – healthy and fun activitysessions – for 5-7 year olds in schools.

Allotmentstrategy launchedA new allotment strategy for the cityhas been launched by the City Counciland Allotment Federation. It includesvarious new initiatives aimed at makingthe city’s allotments more enjoyable,inclusive, sustainable and affordable.

Some of the key recommendationsof the strategy are:

• Better communication with those onthe waiting list

• Faster letting process for empty plots• More training and support for new

plot-holders• Exploring additional sources of

revenue to keep rent rises down• Making allotments accessible to

everyone• More site participation including

open days and tool share schemes• Increasing biodiversity on site

including rainwater harvesting

These recommendations will begradually introduced, according to aten year action plan. www.bhaf.org.uk

6 city food news

News

9bhfood.org.uk 8 city food news

Seeds ofsovereigntyA film from the Gaia foundation andAfrican biodiversity network incollaboration with MELCA Ethipoiaand GRAIN.

For thousands of gardeners across thecity, Seedy Sunday marks the start ofthe growing season. But this year therewas an air of uncertainty, as it wasannounced that it could be the lastever Seedy Sunday due to the New EUlegislation that threatens to ban savingand swapping seeds and growingheritage varieties.

Seeds of sovereignty is a short film setin Africa featuring stories of fear and ofrevival. Farmers tell us how theyworship, honour, grow, save and cookthe seed using knowledge handed downthrough generations and how theyobserve natures patterns; “when theants come out to collect their food, weknow that is the time toharvest our seeds” saysDr Million Bilay (AFSA).The film raisesawareness of howimportant seedsare for the survivalof the world andspeaks of the effectsof the introduction ofHybrid seeds. Seedsare at the epicentre of ourlives and they carry our culturesand traditions within their tiny jackets.www.seedsoffreedom.info

shopping guide – there are plenty ofthem out there already – but we didwant to cover some pioneeringproducers who are doing thingsdifferently. One that stands out is aCommunity Supported Agricultureproject in Chagford, Dartmoor. It’s acommunity garden where everything isdone by horse power. They run a box-scheme where you pay up front andinvest in the risks and rewards of thegrowing season. You are also expectedto help out with the horticultural tasks.It’s still early days and small scale –providing food for 40-50 people – butI’ve seen it in action and it’s a reallypioneering approach andtremendously inspiring.

Do you see any links between theissues that you cover?At the root of all this is the modernindustrial farming system and the scaleon which everything is beingproduced. It’s hugely problematic onjust about every level and in moreways than we think. The soya farms inSouth America leave an obviousfootprint but we don’t always see theother effects. For example people wholive near mega-farms in both the UKand developing world are sufferingfrom pollution and conflict. It’s noteasy to overcome but there aredefinitely solutions and inspiringproducers who are showing how thingscould be done.

The Ecologist Guide to Food is outnow. You can read excerpts from thebook on the accompanying blog.www.forkedmagazine.org

New book lifts thelid on modernfood systemThe Ecologist Guide to Food is apowerful new book that exposes theoften unpalatable truthsbehind our everydayfoods. We caught upwith Andrew Wasley, theBrighton-based journalistbehind the book, to findout what’s contained inits pages.

Where did theinspiration for the bookcome from?The supermarkets havemade us obsessed withcheap food but this isoften an illusion as mostitems have a hidden costbehind them. Wewanted to put out aguide to the real costof food. The bookbrings together manycomplex issues in oneplace in an accessible way. So it’sdesigned and written with the purposeof introducing people to the issues andcan signpost them to more in-deptharticles and campaigns if they wantmore information.

What do you hope the book willachieve?The modern day food system has three

big impacts; damage to theenvironment, animal welfare andhuman victims. Most people in thiscountry are aware of factory farmingand its effects. But many have beensurprised by some of the other storiesin the book, particularly around thehuman cost of food production. We

wanted the book tohighlight these issues thatare less well known – notin a preachy way but toput the facts out thereand help raise the alarmabout some of this stuff.

Did any particular storystand out as the mostshocking?A lot of the tinnedtomatoes that end up onour supermarket shelvescome from farms thatare blighted by slave

labour in SouthernItaly. Migrant workersthat pick thetomatoes there arevulnerable toexploitation and do

not have a voice. The use of slavelabour, particularly in harvesting thefood we eat, is a global phenomenon.From the salad fields in Kent to thedeveloping world. It’s a good exampleof the issues lurking beneathseemingly innocuous food stuffs.

And what was the most inspiringalternative?The book is not meant to be an ethical

ReviewsReviews

“this is a guideto the real cost

of food”

Recent evidence has shown that gardening andoutdoor activities are very beneficial to yourphysical and mental-well-being. The recentallotment survey showed that 93% of allotmentholders felt that having an allotment improvedtheir mental health and provided stress relief.

The Harvest evaluation showed that peoplewho gained most from volunteering atcommunity gardens were unemployed, or hada physical or learning disability, or a mental health issue.

Three projects in the local area workspecifically with vulnerable groups:


FoodGrowing

Orchards without Borders is ajoint project between fruitgrowers in Sussex andNormandy. Anne-Marie Bur,Project Coordinator, explains:

Sussex was once awashwith orchards –professional fruitgrowers reached theirheight in the latefifties but longbefore that, mostfarms and gardenshad an orchard largeenough to supply thehousehold with apples,pears, plums andcherries. And fruit wasn’tjust confined to rural areas. Ispoke to a gentleman recently inMouslecoomb who remembersscrumping his fruit from nurseriesnearby. Most urban gardens had atleast one apple tree and greengrocerswere often supplied by local growersrather than fruit grown far away.

However, over the years, thecommercial orchards have died outafter the market was flooded by cheapimports from across Europe. Many ofthe skills associated with growing,storing and cooking apples have slowlydisappeared.

In Normandy, orchards are still much

more a feature of the local landscape,economy and food culture. But Franceshares similar concerns about the needto preserve local fruit varieties and thecultural heritage associated withorchards.

Last year, Brighton & HoveFood Partnership and

Brighton PermacultureTrust linked up with an

environmental centrein Normandy toshare skills andknowledge. InFrance we learnthow to make an

apple and camemberttart and about other

ways to use apples incookery that you wouldn’t

expect. We learnt how applesare gathered from the ground, rarelyfrom the tree – it’s quicker and ensuresripeness – and how sheep are used aslawnmowers and to hoover updamaged fruits that may harbour pests.

In exchange, we have shown the Frenchhow to create school and communityorchards and new trees have beenplanted on both sides of the channel.

If you want to know how applesbegan, come along to a screening ofthe documentary The Origins of theApple at 7.30pm on 31st May at theBrighthelm Centre.www.brightonpermaculture.org.uk

Sharing knowledge withFrench fruit growers

Growing for Well-being

Richardson’sYardIs a new urban growingproject based at theshipping containerhousing project atRichardson’s Yard, nearPreston Circus.Residents, who wereformerly homeless arenow involved in regularfood-growing sessions inthe yard.

The GrowProjectGrow is an eco-therapyproject which takesgroups of people toSaddlescombe Farm onthe South Downs Way.Recently the projectreleased a report, on the‘well-being benefits ofnature connection forpeople with experienceof mental distress’. Thenext eight week sessionstarts on 22nd of May.Visit the website formore/to joinwww.growingwellbeing.org.uk.

Roots toGrowthHave six acres inWashington, WestSussex, which is beingturned into a therapeuticgardening centre andmarket garden, workingwith groups ofvulnerable adults fromBrighton & Hove. Theyare currently looking fortrustees, friends andvolunteers. Contact Zoeor Ben for [email protected]

they’re cheaper than preparing freshlycooked food.

It is surprising that there are citizensin a rich Western country unable toaccess affordable food that allowsthem to meet the needs of a healthylife. This is a structural issue, and itrequires long-term solutions.

Our research indicates that turningto food aid is very much a last resortfor people in need. We looked at whathad driven them to this position.Organisations at the front line –referrers (e.g. Citizens AdviceBureau) and providers (e.g.Trussell Trust food banks) –report a range of reasons.

Benefit sanctions andbenefit delays tend tobe cited as themost prominenttriggers, butongoingproblems of lowincome,indebtednessand rising food(and other) costsare alsoimportant drivers.

We found noevidence to support theidea that increased food aidprovision is driving demand andcrucially our report found that food aidproviders across the UK are vulnerableto not being able to meet existing orrising demand. Food banks and otherinformal forms of food aid aredependent on volunteers and fooddonations – which may not be enough

to meet rising need. In addition, our research showed

that volunteers put all their energy andresources into collecting, sorting anddistributing food for people’simmediate needs. This focus leavesvery little spare capacity for developinglong-term solutions to household foodinsecurity.

All the evidence points to the needfor everyone involved in making surepeople are getting enough to eat –

government, charities andbusinesses – to focus on

the short AND long-termcauses of food povertyin the UK.

These ‘root causes’include incomes that areinadequate for

essential householdneeds, rising food(and other) prices,and lack ofaccessible shopsstocking affordablefood for health.

These issuesrepresent a tough

political challenge forany government, but we

believe that by learningfrom our report, and from

listening to those who are sufferingfood poverty, this government canmake real progress in banishing thespectre of hunger that stalks manythousands of people in this countryevery day. By Liz Barling, Food Ethics Councilwww.foodethicscouncil.org


Feature

Increasing numbers of peoplein the UK have resorted tofood banks over the pastcouple of years. This trend hasbeen well documented bycharities like the Trussell Trust,Oxfam and Church Action onPoverty. The ensuing mediaattention means that foodpoverty is now firmly on thepolitical agenda.

Brighton-based Food Ethics Council hasrecently published a report whichhelps improve the understanding ofthe ‘food aid’ landscape in the UK.

Informal food aid has existed in

various forms in the UK for decades.However, its scale and visibility is,undeniably, growing.

Is that because the problem is gettingworse? Or is it because the media andMPs have hijacked food aid to scorepolitical points about other societalissues? Most likely it is a mixture of thetwo, and our report, published inFebruary this year, has been at thecentre of that political game.

This is disappointing, to say the least.People who access food banks arestruggling and their plight should notbe subject to political ya-boohingacross the dispatch box. Food povertymeans parents forced to choosebetween heating and eating, or buyingtheir children chips for tea because

ELIZABETH

II D

EI GRA REGIN

A F

ID D

EFNew report lifts lid on risein food aid

cookery

I’ve recently become obsessedwith freezing food, in boxes,with labels, and dates. One ofmy recent cookery groups saidthat this has reached the levelwhere my catchphrase is“ooh! You could freeze that!”

Why it’s great tofreeze your lunch,• Love food hate waste – Making your

own ready meals makes a virtue ofhaving leftovers or veg that’s aboutto go off – old vegetables make greatsoups and stews which are theperfect to freeze. And a frozen soupwon’t leak into your bag on theway into work.

• It’s cheaper – Make the most ofingredients when they’recheap and in season. Usequality meat on special offerto make a stew or bolognaiseand freeze it with mashedpotato or cooked pasta tomake your own ready meal.

• It’s quick and easy –Apparently it’s called ‘batchcooking’. Cook for a couple ofhours at the weekend to makelarge quantities of a couple ofthings and then freeze them inindividual portions to last all week.

Frozen ready meals seem to be verypopular in the Food Partnership office– here are some other tips from us:

• If you have two or three cookedthings leftover you can put them inthe freezer in same box to make amore elaborate ready meal.

• Cook extra for frozen meals andregularly do a freezer stock take.

• Think about when you are going toeat something before defrosting it.

14 city food news

Cookery

Do you eat ‘al Desco’ instead of al Fresco? Lunchat your desk or ‘desk dining’ as it is morecommonly referred to, has increasingly becomethe norm in many workplaces, with a startling60% of workers choosing to eat at the same placethey spend their whole day working.

Only one in five people in the UK now take thetraditional lunch hour, with the vast majorityoften having less than half of that.

But did you know that your office desk typicallycontains 400 times more bacteria than the seatof your toilet? Yet only 22% of workers say theyclean their desk before eating.

Apart from not taking time to enjoy thewonderful lunches you bring with you to work,desk dining usually means you are focused onwork or a computer screen. It is also anotherhour that you are not moving around andgetting that heart pumping.

Take your lunch away from your desk to eatand enjoy – if the weather is not good then usea communal space with your colleagues.

Get freezing this SummerBy Anna Schwarz, Community Cookery Worker

Dining atyour deskBy Alan Lugton, Community Cookery Manager

Sophie’sMicroAdventuresto get outof theofficeLunch outside providesfresh air, sunshine(sometimes) andvitamin D – great formy bones. Arranging tomeet someone forlunch in a green spaceor the beach means Ihave a good reason toget away from thedesk. Book in to yourdaily work plan, evenjust a 10 minute stretcharound the block. Afriend of mine evensuggested going on amicro adventure,seeing how far you canget or what excitingthings you can see ordo in your lunch break.That’s the first step, thesecond step is seeingwhat you can do beforeyou go back to workthe next day – anyonefancy camping on aschool night?

15bhfood.org.uk


Cookery

Ingredients – Makes one lunch• 100g Cooked Pasta• Olive Oil • Pesto• Rocket leaves or Mizuna• Mushrooms• Courgette• Cherry Tomatoes

Method 1 Cook the type of pasta you prefer in

boiling water for the recommendedtime on the packet.

2 Drain pasta then place in a largebowl and drizzle over the olive oil.Coat the pasta and allow it to cool.

3 Add a little oil to a frying pan andplace on hob until it is at a very highheat. Cut the courgettes andmushroom into thick slices and place

them flat on the pan and allow it tosear the underside until goldenbrown. Then turn them over and searthe other side. Leave aside to cool.

To assemble1 Add a dollop of pesto to the cooked

pasta and mix in well. Add otherchopped herbs or spices like harissafor an extra kick.

2 Mix in the vegetables. This is a greattime to add any leftover vegetableyou want to use up – you can alsoconsider adding feta cheese chunks,chickpeas or diced chicken for moreprotein.

3 Finally cut the cherry tomatoes inhalf and gently mix in along with therocket for that peppery flavour.

4 Keep chilled until you are ready to eat.

Ingredients – Serves two• 3 Free range eggs• 125g Parboiled potatoes• 75g Peas or broad beans• 75g Courgette• 2 Spring onions• 1 Clove garlic• 2 Tbsps olive oil for cooking

Method 1 Heat a large heavy bottomed pan

and add one tablespoon of the olive oil.

2 Gently fry the sliced spring onionsand potatoes for five minutes.

3 Steam the peas or broad beans andcourgettes until tender and add withthe garlic to the onions andpotatoes. Cook for a further twominutes.

4 In a large bowl beat the eggs untillight and fluffy.

5 Add the cooked vegetables to theeggs and season with salt andpepper.

6 Using the same pan, heat theremaining olive oil and add themixture.

7 Cook gently for about five minutesuntil the egg starts to set. Hold aplate over the tortilla to flip it over,slide back into the pan and cook fora further three minutes. Or place thepan under a hot grill to cook the top.

8 Serve hot or cold with salad.

Pasta Vegetable Salad Spanish Tortilla

We spend anaverage of

£58 per monthon work

lunches. Theserecipes arecheap to

prepare andgreat for usingup leftovers

More tips:• Have a cook book

swap at work. The

more recipes we

master, the more

varied our lunches can

be, and the better we

are at using up our

food at home.

• Organise a group lunch

in your office. Share an

invitation with your

colleagues and find a

sunny spot.

Staff restaurants, as many companieslike to describe them now, can act asthe social hub of any business, bringingpeople together from different parts ofthe building to mingle and eat. Thesheer volume of dishes servedeveryday also means that they can

have a huge impact, even when onlymaking small changes to the way thatthey source their ingredients, or thenutritional content of their meals.

The University of Brighton is leadingthe way in serving sustainable food inthe city. Catering for 22,000 studentsand 2,500 staff, they are committed tosupporting local producers andretailers and serve only organic milkand sustainable fish. All catering team

members have attended nutritionalworkshops and attained the Food

for the Brain award – so theyknow just what the students

need come exam time.Menus include a wide-

range of vegetariandishes and they activelypromote the benefitsof meat reducing dietsfor both personalhealth and theenvironment.

Many othercompanies are alsoadopting new practices

for their workplace food.The menus at Bupa

International all identifythe calories, saturated fats,


sugar and salt in each dish served,so their staff can make aninformed choice about the foodthey buy. They also produce aspecial ‘Bupa Energy Bar’ onsite, giving staff an energyboost with far fewer caloriesthan many high streetalternatives. Regularawareness raising campaignslike Fairtrade Fortnightcompliment the practicalmeasures adopted like onlyserving free-range eggs andsustainable fish.

The city’s digital businesses are usingfood to bring teams together andboost creativity. Digital Consultancyfirm NixonMcInnes eat breakfasttogether as a team every Monday.Everything is bought in from hiSbe (thenew independent supermarket onLondon Road), so it’s all local, ethicaland sustainable. There’s also a fullystocked fruit bowl, ad hoc sweets andbeer and crisps for the Friday meeting! In the Public Sector, Brighton & HoveCity Council – one of the largestemployers in Sussex with over 8000employees – has pledged to improvethe food it serves every day tothousands of school children, clients,visitors, and employees across all itsoutlets from the Brighton Centre, tothe Community Meals service (Mealson Wheels) to their own staff canteenat Kings House. The Food Partnershiphas been working with the council todevelop a set of Minimum BuyingStandards for caterers purchasing foodand use its significant buying power

and influence to encourage morehealthy and sustainable foodproduction and consumption. Thecontract for the primary school mealshas set the benchmark high, with all7000 meals served every day beingfreshly prepared, featuring MSC fish,local free-range eggs and accredited bythe Bronze standard Food for LifeCatering Mark.

Our Good Food Procurement Groupbrings together in-house and contractcaterers from workplaces, venues,hospitals, universities, secondaryschools, colleges and the council acouple of times a year to share ideasand experiences to improve the foodthey serve. If you’d like to attend onbehalf of your organisation, [email protected]

Turn over to find out what yourwokplace can do…

Business Lunches: Howcompanies are servingbetter food to staffBy Chloe Clarke, Food Partnership Project Manager

Feature

Follow these steps to turnthat pile of teabags, coffeegrounds and banana skins intoblack gold:

Firstly make some composting friendsat work to support your initiativeand consider the options ofcomposting on site or using afood waste collectionservice.

If your building has someoutside space, you cancompost on site using aplastic bin, womery orwooden compost boxes,which can be kept locked.Plastic compost bins are lowcost and available to buyfrom the council’s ‘GetComposting’ page. It’s also worthchecking online for some preloved ones. To get you startedwe can offer you some basicadvice on how to set up yourscheme and tips on how tolook after it. When thecompost is ready it can bedonated to a localcommunity garden or school,further linking yourorganisation with thesurrounding community.

If your office has no outdoorspace, you can compost indoors

using a table-top wormery. Alternately,Brighton Paper Round offers a foodwaste collection service toorganisations and businesses includingcafes and restaurants. They charge perbag collected, so there is no contractto sign. Paper Round converts the food

waste into biogas to produce cleanrenewable electricity and liquidbiofertiliser to spread on

farmland so you know yourwaste is going to good use.

If you are interested insetting up a scheme, get intouch with any [email protected]

20 city food news 21

Feature

What you can doas an employer:The areas we can provide support forare:

• Healthier catering• Information and support on

achieving Food for Life catering mark• Links and support on how to achieve

Marine Stewardship Councilcertification

• Sustainable fish• Sourcing local and seasonal food• Fairtrade• Promoting sustainable & healthy

menu choices• Bespoke

workshopson growing,cooking,nutrition,reducingfoodwasteandcomposting

• Informationon nationalcampaigns andpromotions that yourorganisation can tap into

• Team challenge days

We have a section on ourwebsite dedicated to helpingorganisations and businesses:www.bhfood.org.uk/organisations

What you can doas an employee: • Tell us about your workplace canteen

– good or bad, we’d like to hear fromyou. [email protected]

• Speak to your caterer, ask them totake steps to improve the food theyserve, such as only servingsustainable fish, free-range eggs andproviding healthy options for all meal choices

• If your employer buys fruit, snacksand breakfast goods – ask them toshop from independent retailers tosupport the local economy

• Share recipes and food waste tipswith your colleagues• Start composting at work!

• Become a member of the FoodPartnership. Sign up to ournewsletter and stay up to datewith food events and news

www.bhfood.org.uk/join

How to compost youroffice teabags

bhfood.org.uk

…continued

Can digging reallyhelp build ahealthy andproductiveworkforce?Wellapparentlyso…

Over the pastfew years wehave helped toarrange corporatevolunteer days incommunity gardens inBrighton & Hove for largecompanies such AMEX, BUPA and Legal & General, aswell as smaller local businesses. Corporatevolunteering offers teams of work colleagues thechance to have a fun day out of the office whilstsupporting local community projects. It hassignificant benefits in promoting team building,personal development, motivation; it’s a great stressbuster and helps companies meet their socialresponsibility aims.

Activities and challenges may range from helpingto build raised beds, compost bins or sheds, toclearing ground and planting and harvesting. Someactivities are seasonal and each session can be a halfday or full day, tailored to suit the needs and abilitiesof the people in your group.

If your company would like swap your computersfor spades and become a team of gardeners for a daywe would love to hear from you. [email protected]

23bhfood.org.uk 22

FoodGrowing

“Just spent a brilliant day

volunteering. A bunch of

us went from work and

helped weed out old beds

to make them ready for

planting. It was really

satisfying work in

beautiful surroundings

with refreshing cups of

lemon balm and mint

tea! Altogether a great

experience, one which we

all thoroughly enjoyed”

BUPA employee

“This was my first

company community day

and I was particularly

impressed by how

everyone worked

together as a team. I

had a fantastic

experience and would

love to do this again”

KINEO E learningemployee

Start growing at yournext away dayIf your office has a windowsill

that gets regular sunshine youcan grow herbs, salad, chilliesand even radishes. Choosewindowsills that get plenty ofsun – five hours a day or more.

For salad crops you can try lettuces,rocket, winter purslane and even peashoots. If you sow the seeds little andoften, and treat as a cut and come againcrop you will be able to have fresh anddelicious ‘office’-grown salad leaves.

Herbs are a great introduction toindoor edible gardening that can beadded to your lunches. You can growsoft herbs such as Basil, Parsley andChives, making sure you keep themwell watered.

For a spicy edge to your indoor officegrowing, compact and bushy Chillivarieties such as Apache and PrairieFire can be grown on a windowsill thatgets plenty of sunlight. However youneed to make sure that sufficientpollination is taking place as insectpollination indoors is minimal. Usinga small paintbrush gently rub theinsides of the flowers and movepollen from bloom to bloom,mimicking an insect doing its work outside.

Radishes are one of the easiestvegetables to grow both indoorsand outdoors, and they’re readyto eat in around three weeks.

It is a good idea to place your

containers/pots on a plate, tray ortrough so that the water doesn’t seepthrough the holes in the bottom andonto your windowsill or your desk. Theplate or trough can also act as areservoir so that when you aren’taround for a few days, or during asunny spell, the compost around theroots can be kept moist.

When choosing containers, choosethe deepest that you can - for saladleaves, herbs and radishes a pot 14cmacross and 20cm depth is enough forgood growth. Save yourself somemoney and make your planters fromrecycled materials such as largeyoghurt pots, cans, plastic containersand newspaper.

Let us know how you get on. Send usyour photos, and we’ll include themnext time. [email protected]

Grow food in the office

city food news

By Sophie Bradley, Healthy WeightReferral Coordinator

Making exercise fit into your routineGiven the chance my brain comes upwith a hundred reasons not to doexercise later in the day, so I do minefirst thing. For me, cycling to work isthe easiest way to consistently exerciseduring the week. Once I’m at work Ihave no choice but to cycle home soexercise becomes part of my dailyroutine. I rely less on coffee becausethe cycle wakes me up.

I’ve done more steps than you!I used to live precisely seven minuteswalk from work. When I got a Fitbitactivity tracker I was appalled todiscover that at work I hardly moved atall. The graph showed me sitting downfor hours before shuffling home again.Having a pedometer or activitytracker makes it easier to find waysto fit more steps into the day e.g.taking the stairs. Now I get filesfrom the cabinet one by oneand a colleague suggestedmoving the bin away from mydesk. Fitbit syncs to a websitewhere I can compare myactivity, so I can see when myfriends and family have donemore steps than me – making memore likely to go out for a run oran extra walk to beat them that day.

Eat before I’m ravenousIf I have lunch before I’m really hungry Iavoid feeling too low on energy andprevent the downward spiral towardsthinking, “I’m hungry, I’ll grab anythingthat’s to hand, healthy or not”. Itherefore have a regular time for lunchand stick to it. Setting a phone alarmcan help this become a habit. On theother hand, aiming not to have eaten allyour lunch too early in the day is helpfulin reducing the temptation to go outand buy an unexpected extra – notgreat for the budget or the waistline.Spreading out your lunch, saving a pieceof fruit for later, makes resisting theoffice biscuits that bit easier.

Did you know we offer freehealth checks for people atwork?

Recently, we coordinated a healthcheck event with staff at theWellesbourne centre in Whitehawkwhere the public could drop in anytime on a particular day to access freehealthy lifestyle information, a freeweight health check and miniconsultation. We used our specialTanita scales that also measure bodyfat and muscle mass.

Thanks to the cooperation ofWellesbourne staff, including the

centre staff texting patients topromote the event and nurses on theday referring relevant people on to us,this event was a roaring success. Manypeople also signed up to one of ourfree programmes or clinics. Or to adifferent team at the Food Partnership,such as the cookery team.

We also run health check eventsaimed at staff, such as at the localcouncil offices.

If your workplace is interested in afree health check event then get intouch on 01273 431 700. By Susan Morgan, Health Promotion Dietitian


CommunityNutrition

Eat well and stayactive at work

Book a free workplacehealth check


An over-stuffed fridge with heaps ofmystery leftovers;a mess left in thesink; food gonemissing. Soundslike adisorganisedkitchen in astudent house,but office kitchenscan suffer from the samesymptoms. It doesn’t have to be thatway! All the common sense strategiesthat help you avoid food waste athome can be utilised in the office.

Here are the Food Partnership’s triedand tested top tips for a zero foodwaste office kitchen. And it's not justabout the bin. These tips canencourage anenvironment ofsharing andenjoying food – asure-fire way tobring your officetogether!

The Fridge• It’s a small shared space so

make sure it's organised well. • Have a permanent marker to hand so

people can mark what’s theirs, ornote that something (such as juice)can be shared with others.

• An overstuffed fridge will getwarmer, so turn down the dial, orbetter yet get a fridge thermometer.

• Know the right fridge spot for theright foods, like the lowermost shelffor your leftovers. Get the know-howat www.bhfood.org.uk/love-food-hate-waste.

Compost caddy• Get composting at

work already! Turnback to the nextarticle to find outhow and why youroffice should do it.

Sharing corner• This is our favourite part of the

kitchen at the FoodPartnership, it’s aplace to bring in

a glut or a leftovercake from home.

We’ve tried countlessrecipes and have

enjoyed eating together.Not to mention all that

food waste avoided. Start asharing corner of your own.

• If you have biscuits or fruit leftoverfrom a meeting, why not share thosetoo before they lose their freshness.

Cut food waste and getsharing at the officeBy Vera Zakharov

Spring Seedling Swap(FREE)Sun 18th May, 11am-2pm Preston Park DemoGarden, Preston Park,behind the Rotunda Café.

Film – The Origins of the Apple Sat 31st May, 7.30-9.30pmThe Brighthelm Centre,North Road

Brighton & HoveFoodies Festival 3rd, 4th and 5th May2014, 11am-7pmHove Lawns

Guided walk - Out andAbout in the Orchard(FREE)Thursday 10th July, 14thAug & Sep 11th, 10.30-12.15Racehill CommunityOrchard

Talk – Eating for Health(FREE)Fri 2nd May, 8pmCommunity Base,Queens Road

Food PartnershipMember Foodie PubQuiz (FREE)Thurs 5th June, 6.30-9.30pmQuadrant Pub, Queens Road

The Level CommunityCelebration (FREE)Sat 14th June, 10am-6pmThe Level

Sussex Festival ofNature (FREE)Sun 22nd June, 11am-5pmStanmer Park

CoursesCookery leader trainingTue 6th May &Wed 7th May,10am-4.30pmLewesCommunityKitchen

Crops in PotsSat 10th May. 10am-3pmVarndean College

Bread making with RealPatisserieSat 10th May, 10.30am-4pm Real Patisserie, NewEngland House

Culinary Herb Planting(FREE)Mon 12th May, 1-3pmBUFCP Allotment

Care of fruit treesSat 24th May & Mon 26thMay, 9.30am-4.30pmStanmer Park, Brighton

Grow and Tell workshops Sat 31st May, Sat 21stJune, Sun 27th July &20th Sept, 11am-1pmPlot 103, Weald AvenueAllotments

An Introduction toWormeries (FREE)Mon 2nd June, 1-3pmBUFCP Allotment

Garden Gadabout Sat 21st-29th June

Various locations

Introduction toPermaculture

Sat 21st June, Sun22nd June, Sat 6th

Sept, Sun 7th Sept,9.30am-5pm. Stanmer Park, Brighton.

MarketsGeorge Street FarmersMarket, every Saturday,10am-3pm. Churchill SquareFarmers Market, everyWednesday, 10am-4pm. Upper Gardner StreetMarket, every Saturday,8am-5pm.Farm Market, NorthRoad, every Saturday,9.30am-3.30pm.

Summer 2014Don,t miss...

Visitthe What’sOn page on

our website forfull listings

EventsFood Waste

Membership is for everyone –whether you care about how foodaffects our lives or are simply lookingfor seasonal growing tips andinspirational recipe ideas.

Thousands of people already supportour work for better food forthe city and every one ofthem gives us a loudervoice. By signing up,you'll also get a say inwhat we do next.

Live in Brighton & Hoveand interested in food?Sign up for free today and our e-newsletters and magazine will keepyou up-to-date with all the latest foodnews and events. From new growingprojects to the latest cookery coursesand food markets – you’ll be the first toknow about everything that’shappening in the city.

www.bhfood.org.uk/join

Documents

City food news 30 lo