Food Waste

We're SO PROUD of this! So many people are working towards joined up, good value, nature-friendly food in Herefordshire and this shows how worthwhile that hard work has been!

The County of Herefordshire is a BRONZE Sustainable Food Place!

Over 85 diners enjoyed a 3 course meal at The Bookshop Hereford in the last of three “100% Herefordshire” Autumn Feasts on Tuesday 14 November.

As well as great local food they were treated to a surprise announcement that the County has achieved a Bronze award from Sustainable Food Places - recognising the collaboration and hard work that’s gone into all areas of the food system in Herefordshire, from food banks through community gardens to restaurants and farming. 

In the week King Charles launched an initiative linking food waste and food poverty, it feels like a good time to remind ourselves what is going on in our county linking - tackling - those two things.

As well as the recent gleaning projectmaking good use of surplus crops, there are initiatives to share surplus across a number of community larder / food projects.  Check out info here of how to share your surplus. 

Coming up: 

There are low cost lunches using surplus in three locations in Hereford - details here 

Leominster Food Share every Wednesday

The Zero Waste Stall in Ross

We have a growing map here where you can see surplus and community food projects near you (it's the same map where you can find out local food to purchase, there are different layers)

"Come along to our friendly Lunch Clubs and cook together a delicious and hearty lunch which we'll sit down and eat together after we've prepared it.

Lunch Clubs are relaxed and fun opportunities to chat and make new friends and share and learn new skills and recipes. No cooking experience necessary! The dishes we cook will depend on surplus and seasonal produce available and will change each week.

**Updated times and info**

Please share these inclusive picking and cooking opportunities with everyone you know in Ledbury, Hereford and Llangarron (and beyond!)  and help reduce food waste - and get people fed - in Herefordshire this Autumn.

Our picking and community cooking days will make sure surplus and unpicked food does not go to waste.

Help the whole county get recognised for its work to make great food happen here in Herefordshire.

This Herefordshire Food Alliance formed in January 2021, coming out of the Food Poverty Alliance and the Food and Tourism Partnership.

Soon after that we were able to become members of the Sustainable Food Places network - linking us to everything else going on nationwide to build great local food econoomies, supporting us with funding and meaning we can get more done locally.

The whole county has been really busy since - you can see from the blog! you can see from the blog!

Picking and Processing Plans now up and running!

Thanks to the National Lottery Community Fund we're now putting in to practice some of the ideas from the surplus event back in November last year.

We're networking community groups, orchards, farmers and food banks to make sure if there's surplus food, it gets used.

• Sustainable Ledbury, Pot and Page Community Hub and Ledbury Food Bank will be holding volunteer days to gather apples and other produce and processing / storing them for use in the Food Bank in Autumn
• Archenfield Community Environment Group will hold a juicing day in their community with surplus apples
• Hereford Wildlife Trust will be picking an orchard that's not been picked for a while
• And we're on the lookout for the quick-turn-around opportunities that farms often have when let down by supermarkets if their crop isn't just right

If you'd like to be involved in getting more useful food to people's plates that need it - please get in touch to volunteer!

If you are a farmer who think you may have surplus, please get in touch - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  and we'll put you in touch with Ruth who is coordinating.

More information about how to deal with surplus in Herefordshire here

The goal of the alliance is to build a movement of good food - food that bnenefits nature and humans, so this project is about building the capacity of what's already going on and linking it.  Hope we can work together soon!

Foraging Taster and Well Dressing this weekend:

"Enjoy wandering the nature trails and views of the Teme while you learn some of the wild edible plants sat in the hedgerows , how to harvest them safely and sustainably, how they can enhance dishes and learn how to re-awaken your senses to the natural world.

Recharging your wild spirit restores the balance many of us lose in the hectic pace we call life in the modern world.

An interest in nature led Chef Alex into wild cuisine while working for an ancestral skills school, teaching game prep, wild cooking, foraging and fermentation amongst other things.

Join us on an outdoor experience that will awaken your senses, learn new skills and have a greater understanding of nature. Followed by a light forage inspired picnic.

Please message to arrange any dietary requirements and further details"

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/foraging-the-fold-tickets-594540585897

The Fold are launching a CSA - community supported agriculture where you can be part of a thriving farm, and get vegetables, without living on a farm!

"As a Member of the Fold Community Farm, you purchase a “veg share” which gives you a weekly veg box of freshly-picked, organic, seasonal produce, delivered to your chosen collection point.

As a bonus, you will enjoy free community events, such as guided farm tours, communal meals and volunteer days on the farm! You’ll also get to vote on how the scheme is run."

Are you a Herefordshire Secondary School?  Apply for a fully funded place on Bite Back's School Food Champions programme!

Herefordshire Food Alliance would love to support your application, and incorporate the food champions in your school in all our other work countywide - steering group, events etc.  Get in touch!

"School is the single biggest opportunity we have to ensure every child is getting the food they need to thrive - but right now, that is not the reality. School Food Champions was created to change this!

https://www.biteback2030.com/school-food-champions-sign-now

I am excited to let you know that applications are now open for secondary schools to join Bite Back 2030’s School Food Champions (SFC) programme. We have fully funded spaces for 50 schools to begin delivering the programme in September 2023.

We started with the charter and moved on to many things last week at Archenfield Community Environment Group's meeting!

Rebecca talked about the Alliance, how the charter is building the movement and before long we were planning community apple picks, juicing days and more.

The group have another event planned - all things waste, including food waste, this Saturday at Llangrove Village Hall

"We met new people in our community through having this event, with a real interest in getting together to reduce food waste in our community - starting with apples!!" Claire Cherry, Archenfield CEG

Ledbury Food Bank, Sustainable Ledbury and Severn Wye Energy will be joining many other organisations to kick off a series of roadshows in Ledbury on Saturday.  (Also tying in with Food Waste Action Week)

The next event will feature St Martin's Foodshare - in Hereford. 

"These events will give people the opportunity to seek support, and speak to organisations who can signpost and provide information on a range of issues related to the cost of living. Please note each event is unique and may contain different services."

More info being added - Spread the word...

Tim Shelley is an active member of our Food Alliance and also runs the Community Garden in Ross - not only a community garden with many volunteers, but ALSO a place to go for a good meal and to learn a little more about cooking good meals easily, PLUS a zero waste stall... AND they are   a Talk Community Hub open Weds to Fri too :) 

Are you part of something similar?  Sign the Food Charter, tell us what you're part of and we'll put it on our food map...

"We had a fabulous year in 2022. Here are some numbers:

Alliance coordinator Rebecca has been at the Oxford Real Farming Conference this week. It's now the biggest event for 'agroecological' farming (modern, mixed, with nature and food production side by side) on the planet.  It was great to see new and existing alliance contacts there!

Hear more about the ORFC on Farming Today here and below is one snapshot from Rebecca - for more snapshots check the blog.

Feeding Britain from the Ground Up.

One of the final sessions at the conference was centred around a report that makes the case for a Britain that can feed itself.

Feeding Britain From the Ground Up is an attempt to provide answers to the question: What should I eat to be healthy and sustainable?

"Just wanted to say how great the event was"

"Thanks for the meeting - interesting and useful"

Thanks to the 50+ farmers, community projects, caterers and others for coming to Food from the Shire - it was great to have a full room and many, many thoughts shared.  We heard from farmers, caterers, community growers, food banks and larders - and we have many plans to take forward!

Many thanks to the Green Dragon Hotel for hosting, and for many Food Alliance members' input to make it happen.

Click on the image or the link to view notes, links and next steps from the event.

Food for the Shire November 2022 - Google Slides

What Next?

•  Over six billion meals’ worth of edible food goes to waste before making it off farms in the UK. 
• Combatting on-farm food waste could boost farm profits, bolster UK food security and help tackle climate change.  

The Hidden Wastereport (WWF) shows the massive environmental footprint of on-farm food waste, which accounts for around 10% of greenhouse gas emissions from UK farming. In terms of wasted natural resources, producing this food requires an area of land nearly half the size of Wales.  

Help us find one solution locally in Herefordshire at our networking event next week - Food from the Shire.  Turning Food Waste into Food Surplus and supporting community projects. 

Book Here

Check out this rocket...

The Pedicargo gang are now trialling food waste collection and feeding this beast - the Tidy Planet Rocket Composter.  The rocket speedily breaks down food waste (collected by bike) into nutrient and microbe packed compost that can be put back into the soil right in the city it came from!

Do you know other food waste initiatives in other parts of Herefordshire?   Join the alliance and we can link it all up!

KS2 Workshop - The Big Soup

Growing Local CIC are currently designing a brand new workshop to take into primary schools this winter.

"The Big Soup will be talking around the subjects of climate and food through the medium of making a hearty pot of healthy homemade local soup.

THANKS FOR COMING!  EVENT WRITE UP HERE

Are you a farmer, grower, producer or caterer here in Herefordshire?  Do you know who could use your surplus food, where to take it and how to do it economically?

Come to a networking event to prevent food becoming waste and get it on to the county's plates!

• Green Dragon Hotel, Hereford
• 10th November 2022 3-5.30pm

Ethos and the Living Room are creating a network of Community Larders across the county, building on their work of food surplus redistribution over the past few years.  More about this initiative to join up great projects in Herefordshire soon!

They are recruiting for a Coordinator for this Community Food Larder work.

Clare and Phillippa from the Council's Health and Wellbeing teams are heading to the River Carnival this weekend for a few food waste demos.

The connection between food and the health of our rivers has become all too obvious recently so it's great to keep that connection going and explore how everyone can reduce the amount that's wasted in our kitchens, saving money too.

What they say: 

"Some spuds. Half an onion. And various bits and bobs from the bottom of your fridge.

Those ingredients may not sound particularly appetising. But less-than-tantalising bits and bobs are all that’s needed to create a tasty meal. At least they are if you know what you are doing.

Back in 2021, members of the Food Alliance asked this question of people with an interest in sustainability and food in Herefordshire. 

Here's what that room shared - what would you add?  What catches your eye?  what would you love to know more about? 

Sign the Herefordshire Food Charter, and stay in touch with what's going on!

Launched last week at a Herefordshire Green Network gathering, we're delighted to say that the Herefordshire Food Charter is now live.

Members of the Herefordshire Food Alliance have been co-ordinating, connecting, supporting and sharing across key areas of the food system in the County and this food charter is the next step in bringing activities together - and inspiring more.   Food has a huge economic, social and environmental impact and working together we can address this here in our county.

The charter means that individuals and organisations can pledge to Grow, Source, Choose, Cook, Eat, Share - and not Waste - good food.