Newsletter January 2008:
Ginger Pig in Pickering
The Ginger Pig in Pickering has now re-opened. This high-quality grocery shop also sells fresh meat, pork, lamb and beef from its own farm in Levisham, as well as their own home-made sausages, pies, and cured-meats.
Tim Wilson, founder of the Ginger Pig says:
"There is no great secret to what we do: we simply raise the best animals, in the happiest of circumstances, on the finest stretch of the Yorkshire Moors we could find.
It's not a philosophy or mission statement. It's just what we do. Our animals come first in everything we do. We keep them outdoors wherever possible, rather than cooped up indoors, and we insist upon traceability with all our stock. That means we no longer buy animals for breeding, because we are entirely self-sufficient. We also refuse to use bought in and bagged artificial feeds, packed full of unnecessary proteins. Because of that, they grow more slowly than animals raised by more industrial farming methods, which means we have to leave them for longer - and we are happy to do so. Our lamb is slaughtered more than a month later than on the industrial farms, and our pigs three months later."
11 Market Place, Pickering, YO18 7AA
Tel: 01751 477211
www.thegingerpig.co.uk
Cheeses from the Wolds
Jacqueline Broadhead at Middle Wold Farm, Wold Newton, is producing a range of hand-made cheeses using milk from her rare-breed Shetland herd. The cheeses are:
Wold Wonder - a white moulded cheese with a creamy and tangy flavour;
Wold soft - spreadable creamy cheeses
Wold range - semi-firm fresh flavoured cheeses.
You can buy the cheeses at Malton and Drifield Farmers' Markets. Alternatively, you may call Jacqueline Broadhead on 07769 819603 or 01262 470551. Read more at www.theinternetfarmshop.com/epicures-larder.htm
Victory! Sustainable Communities Bill becomes law
We have reported on the progress of this Bill in the past and asked for your support, so it is great news that the Sustainable Communities Act came into effect at the end of 2007. This means that, by October 2008, the Government must ask every council to submit suggestions of ways that it can help us and our council make our community more sustainable. Each council now has a legal duty to set up citizens panels. This is a new bottom-up process which means that the policies to create sustainable communities will be driven by us and not by civil servants in Whitehall.
The Unlock Democracy Campaign will be producing a detailed guide to how the act will work and how we can use it. See www.unlockdemocracy.org.uk/?page_id=537
Food Additives: What are the risks?
Workshop at Le Chat Noir on Monday 4th February 6 pm to 7.30 pm
A talk with samples of food to learn more about food additives, the risks linked to their consumption and how to avoid them.
Samples of different dishes will be available.
Booking essential.
Le Chat Noir, 10 Eastborough (near the Public Market)
Free and open to everybody (voluntary £1 donation for Marie Curie)
Tel 01723 350653
A cautionary tale of bees
I thought members of the Local Food Group would appreciate this insightful editorial about the importance of diversity by Diana Davis from The Northern Fruit Group Newsletter, January 2008.
"It seems there is more trouble with bees. Not the honey bee this time but the mason bee. Last spring, many people (including me) found that their over-wintered bee tubes were spewing out pupae of the parasitic fly Cacoxenus indagator. This fly lays its eggs in the bee tubes, they hatch before the bee eggs and eat the stored pollen; the bee larvae then starve to death.
With hindsight this was entirely predictable. In the "wild", mason bees nest in hollow plant stems, beetle borings in wood and similar holes. The individual sites will be scattered and the flies will have to search for them; many will escape the flies' attention. The artificial bee nests concentrate may tubes together; result - bonanza for the flies!
In effect one is creating a monculture of bee nests and this has the same drawback that all monocultures have - easy spread of pests and diseases. It applies equally to high stocking densities of animals and large fields of one crop."
Help stop the supermarket takeover
The Competition Commission acknowledges problems with the way supermarkets treat farmers. And it found that single companies dominate some local areas. But bizarrely they also think we need weaker planning rules and more big supermarkets to increase choice and competition...
This would be a disaster for high streets and independent shops. And the environment would suffer from the increase in car trips, packaging and food miles associated with supermarkets.
On the Friends of the Earth website, you can take action to ensure that the Government does not take the Commission’s advice. But, instead strengthen the rules so that we have a real choice of where to shop.
http://www.foe.org.uk/campaigns/real_food/press_for_change/supermarkets_planning/index.html
Seasonal recipes
Jerusalem Artichokes and Scallops
8 large scallops
12 oz Jerusalem artichokes
2 oz butter
4 tablespoons dry white wine
salt, pepper, parsley, lemon juice
Remove the corals and slice the scallops into discs. Peel the artichokes and slice them into discs too. Cook them gently in butter, when almost tender add the scallops, white wine and seasoning. Cook for a minute, add corals and cook for another couple of minutes. Add lemon and parsley to taste. Ever so easy for something so tasty!
Based on a recipe in English Food by Jane Grigson (Penguin)
Celeriac Bouillion and Leek and Stilton Pasties
from Sarah Beattie, who lives in Kirkbymoorside, and is resident food writer for the Soil Association. http://www.whyorganic.org/healthy_recipeMonth.asp.
Seasonal events:
National Marmalade Day - 10th February 2008
The 2008 Marmalade Festival will be held at Dalemain in Cumbria on 7 - 10 February. Find out more and spread the word http://www.marmaladefestival.com/
Forced Rhubarb Season
Oldroyd's Rhubarb Triangle Experience. Tours to see the forcing sheds - February to mid-march http://yorkshirerhubarb.co.uk/ruhbarb_triangle.htm
Wakefield Festival of Food, Drink & Rhubarb, 7th & 8th March 2008 - http://www.wakefield.gov.uk/CultureAndLeisure/Tourism/VisitWakefield/RhubarbFestival/default.htm
Damson Day - 19 April 2008 - http://www.lythdamsons.org.uk/damsonday.asp
Happy eating
Madeleine