Food Group
Welcome to the food group pages
Contact: Please note the new address Polly Senter, 01273 480787, polly.senter@hotmail.com
Who are we? We are a group of local people who feel passionate about food. We are also concerned about climate change and peak oil. We want to find ways to make sure Lewes can feed itself in future – in a way that reduces carbon emissions and uses less energy.
The latest news is that our weekly market will be opening on 9th July!
Next Meeting
Please note the day
Wednesday June 16th at 7.30pm in the Kings Head, Southover High Street. Newcomers welcome. Please get in touch if you would like to find out more.
tel 01273 480787 or
Please join us - all welcome
What are we aiming to do? To support Lewes in making the change to a low carbon, low energy future at every stage of the food cycle:
We think this means thinking about how to:
• farm organically to minimise use of fertilisers
• transport and sell food in a way that reduces carbon emissions
• encourage people to buy local food, cook their own food and not throw good food way
• make sure everyone gets access to a healthy diet
How are we doing this?
we are helping to write the TTL Energy Descent Plan – this will have ideas for what we can do in Lewes to make the change to a low carbon, low energy future as easy as possible
we are starting some local projects to get lots of people thinking about these ideas and to start making changes themselves
'Where can I buy my Seasonal food and drink etc without going to Tesco's or Waitrose?'
A Week in the Bleak Mid Winter !
Lewes Menus
Our Current menu is a mid winter week of menus using low carbon cooking methods.
Available at Local Food shops.
Thanks to Polly for inspirational ideas, Eileen for support and recipe testing and Ann for all her research. Thanks to Harveys for generous support for printing the Spring version and Starline Trout Farm for a generous donation towards the Summer one. Thanks very much to Lewes Town Council for their recent grant which will enable further printed menus.
Food Group News
Fish for the Future?
Wednesday 10th February 2010, The Council Chamber, Pelham House, St Andrews Lane, Lewes
Slow Food Brighton and Lewes joined up with Transition Town Lewes Food Group and Pelham House Lewes to host an evening on this pressing environmental as well as culinary topic. Pelham House demonstrated what delicious meals can be prepared from local and seasonal fish: hot home smoked mackerel fillet, local roasted beetroot, horseradish remoulade and wild rocket followed by a gurnard, pollock, huss and mussels bouillabaisse with pastis, fennel and roasted red pepper, a saffron rouille and hot baguette.
After the meal – and it was just as well that the meal was followed by the film – we all watched Robert Murray’s praised documentary on fishing practices, ‘The End of the Line’.
The film’s vivid description of overfishing’s impact on the world’s oceans and some solutions to the consumer lead problems, was based on Charles Clover’s research and book. The audience of over ninety people felt quite chastened by the film’s message and many of us vowed to cut back on our fish consumption and to always question the provenance of any fish we do consume.
After a short break the audience had the opportunity to discuss the pressing issues with panellists Caroline Bennett (MoshiMoshi), Roland Smith [Waitrose], Polly Senter (Transition Town Lewes Food Group) and Ursula Hudson (Slow Food Brighton and Lewes).
!! Glut Cookery Workshop
We are always looking at making the most of the produce available and avoiding waste so when John grabbed me in the street and demanded a chutney recipe, I was reminded that the group had discussed preserving workshops many times before. This time, a conversation with Eileen our qualified teacher, resulted in a prompt invitation for John and the first pilot event for food re-skilling.
On Sunday 11th October, 8 eager cooks met in Eileen’s kitchen. Armed with folders and pens, everyone enjoyed a bit of background information on the history and development and then got to grips with the science of chutney. The importance of vinegar and sugar as preserving agents and the use of the correct equipment helped us to make sense of previous chutney disasters. Eileen then showed us a simmering batch of Old Dover House chutney and we learnt an important lesson deciding if it was ready [no, we let it cook longer] and then we compared an aged home-made chutney [Yum, rich and mellow] with a M & S version [Yuk, harsh and sour].
Next we set to with enthusiasm, washing jars, finely chopping onions, tomatoes, peppers and aubergine or measuring spices, vinegar and sugar. Despite the cosy conditions we all worked around each other quite companionably and soon had everything ready for a new batch of chutney for Eileen to finish later.
After tea and sampling apple and pumpkin cakes, it was time to pack our jars with the hot chutney, cover them and add the finishing touches –labels, paper tops and ribbon. Our jars of Old Dover House are now aging for a couple of months - the flavours will mellow and deepen - just in time for Chrismas! We all had some glut ingredients in mind as we planned what to make at home. Currently, apples, green tomatoes and marrows are all threatening to start fermenting if not preserved in some way, so there should be some rich and pungent aromas around Lewes as we proudly prepare our own versions.
Further good chutney news is that there will be a competition for the best chutney at the Seedy Saturday event on 6th February. More details to follow.The latest batch of chutney from the workshop will be mature and on sale at the Food Group Soup Stall.
If you are interested in any future workshops, please contact ;-polly.senter@hotmail.com
Who else is out there?
Here is a list of most of the many organisations we can work alongside http://www.local-food.net/content/also2.asp
Future Events
Land and fruit tree mapping. Watch for dates or come to a meeting.
Food Waste Awareness
At the Cliffe Precinct on Saturday 20th September or outside Tesco's on Saturday 11th October people were shocked and amazed to see our display of just how much precious food we throw into our bins every week!
Future Projects
Waste Group and food group link
A rocket composter will be erected in Lewes which the Waste Group will encourage local businesses, including restaurants, to use. We suggested that we take advantage of the survey that the waste group is doing in gathering information about which restaurants and cafes are using local, seasonal produce which we can then use for the food directory.
The Food Open Space
provided those who were there the opportunity to raise and look at some of the real issues we will need to address to build a resilient and robust local food supply in light of peak oil and climate change.
http://transitiontowns.org/Lewes/OpenSpaceDay-Food
Get involved: contact one of the Group contacts on the Groups page
