FOOD

What we eat affects our health, our pocket, and people’s lives. It also affects the environment in which it’s grown, processed, stored, transported and marketed.
Local food is food from producers you know and can talk to, who you can discuss your wants and needs with, and who can tell you when the crop is at its best. Support them: they can perhaps bring trade to your company, they can perhaps employ your child. As part of the local economy, their wellbeing as well as yours affects the social climate.
Local food also involves less food miles. That’s air-miles, ship-miles, juggernaut-miles: think of the ones that pass by your town on their way from where? to where? All involve burning fossil fuels and contributing to climate change. Contact Sustain for advice on reducing food miles: address: 94 White Lion Street, London, N1 9PF, tel: [phone], fax: [phone], www.sustainweb.org.
When buying local food you become aware of seasons; apple season, sprout season, leek season etc., when they’re cheap and plentiful and fresh! Constant bombardment of our bodies with the same routine of foods, month in, month out, in and out of season, may lead to health problems.
We should also look for organic products. These are from growers who feed the soil in order to feed their plants, and who work with nature to combat pests and diseases. Their produce is what it appears to be, and should you find the odd insect on it, that proves how wholesome it is! The price is often higher, but other methods produce problems that are paid for by the taxpayer, not the housewife. These are called hidden costs.
If you’re concerned about pesticides in food, contact Friends of the Earth Real Food Campaign, 26-28 Underwood St., London N1 7JQ tel [phone], www.foe.co.uk or Greenpeace True Food Campaign, Greenpeace UK, Canonbury Villas, London N1 2PN tel [phone], www.greenpeace.org.uk. To keep in touch with food issues including pesticide residues therein, contact The Food Magazine, published by The Food Commission, 94 White Lion St., London N1 9PF, tel [phone], www.foodcomm.org.uk. For a query about a specific pesticide, domestic or agricultural poisoning incident, consult your GP and contact Pesticides Action Network UK, Eurolink Business Centre, 49 Effra Road, London, SW2 1BZ, tel [phone].
Products that are both local and organic are currently scarce, but you can start in your own garden. If you’ve time, energy and space, try rows of vegetables, especially those that are expensive or rare in the shops. With less time and energy, fruit and nut trees produce fairly reliable bounty. Again, there are many varieties familiar and unfamiliar. With less space, herbs and salads are handy for the kitchen and decorative too. If you’ve time but lack space, try renting an allotment from your parish council (see gardening). Or help someone with a garden they’re finding hard to deal with: VAVR, Waterside House, Navigation Road, Northwich may be able to help. With neither time nor space, try growing beansprouts or other sprouting seeds, or mushrooms. Whatever your circumstances, you can enjoy some new tastes fresh on your plate.
If you are growing your own, or otherwise have gluts to deal with, you may be interested in a book called “The Home Preservation of Fruit and Vegetables”, a HMSO classic at about £5 covering pickling, drying, salting, jams and chutneys. Order from your local bookshop, or ring HMSO on 0870 600 5522. You can also join Garden Organic, who have a quarterly magazine, sell seeds and plants, and from whom you can obtain heritage seeds not now available in shops. And you can join Vale Royal Organic and Wildlife Gardeners: see their programme at www.vren.btik.com > VROWG.
Some local and organic produce can be obtained from vegetable box schemes: you pay for a regular delivery of fruit and veg. (You may need to pick up from a central local point.) See the listing for details, or contact The Soil Association, Bristol House, 40-56 Victoria Street, Bristol, BS1 6BY. 0117 929 0661, fax [phone], www.soilassociation.org who keep a list of vegetable box schemes.
For meat and eggs, next best after organic is Freedom Food, instituted by the RSPCA, stipulating that animals have a reasonable standard of living.
For fish, look for the Marine Stewardship Council sustainability label. More info from them at Bakery Place, 119 Altenburg Gardens, London SW11 1JQ, tel [phone], www.msc.org
There are more fair-traded products coming on the market. As something less than 10% of the price of a typical bar of chocolate goes back to the grower, many growers are finding it difficult to make ends meet. Modestly increasing the price so that 20% (say) can go back to the grower makes a big difference. Happy growers need not resort to desperate measures, like joining revolutions or growing drugs.
Genetically Modified (GM) crops are produced by incorporating genes from other creatures into the crop. By being weedkiller resistant and/or pest and disease resistant, farmers can grow them on the same land year after year. With the land sprayed to kill weeds, very little else can survive in such fields. Caterpillars die on eating the leaves! The transferred genes include ones for the desired effects, plus others needed by the development process, for example antibiotic resistance. We do not know for sure the effects of the alien genes within the crop plant, or within ourselves. The pollen is subject to no field boundaries, so can cross to other closely related plants, both cultivated and wild, permitting the dispersal of these advantages to the detriment of the life that exists on these plants. Their uptake by developing nations means increasing dependence on a few multinational companies. Meanwhile, there are many locally selected varieties of crop plant that are well adapted to the local conditions, that may be displaced into extinction. To avoid GM foods, look for ‘GM Free’, or Soil Association or Vegetarian Society endorsement. (Some GM related contacts: Splice magazine, 01865 716498, www.geneticsforum.org.uk; Monsanto, www.monsanto.co.uk; Corporate Watch, 01865 791391, www.gm-info.org.uk; Norfolk Genetic Information Network, 01603 624021, www.ngin.org.uk; Genewatch UK, 01298 871898, moc.xepip.laid|hctaweneg#moc.xepip.laid|hctaweneg; Action Aid, www.actionaid.org/aboutus/pub.html)
Protein in the form of meat takes more land to produce than vegetable protein. This is because when you feed an animal, not all the food is converted into flash. Hence vegetarians and vegans can live on less land than omnivores. This is an important consideration in this world of an expanding human population. However some animals are good at converting rough grass, on land that would otherwise not support humans, and cabbage stalks etc., into human food; these deserve a place in our food economy.
Animal products can be found in beer, sweets, shoes, soaps, silk… For help avoiding them, contact the The Vegetarian Society of the United Kingdom, Parkdale, Dunham Road, Altrincham, Cheshire WA14 4QG. Tel: [phone] / Fax: [phone]. http://www.vegsoc.org (see Holidays in Outdoor Environment for more details.)
or The Vegan Society, who produce “The Animal Free Shopper”, a guide to vegan and vegetarian products.
Any food on the shop shelf or larder is deteriorating, at some rate or other. “Use by” dates are more prescriptive than “Best before”, particularly for meats and fish, but for items of longer shelf life, you can find things going off before the date, and things still keeping well after the date. Always check food, don’t risk food poisoning, but don’t automatically discard food that’s gone beyond date. If you buy little and often from local stores you’re less likely to lose control over your larder.
“Best before” on crusty bread can indicate the start of staling, which can be remedied: if only a little stale, dampen and put in a warm to hot oven, otherwise use in another recipe.
Fruit and vegetables are live; their vitamin C content, which depreciates with time, helps keep them alive. Some may rot before their due date, others, especially hard apples, are designed to keep for ages. Be careful with all fruit and veg - bruises encourage spoiling. Avoid traders who throw their produce around.

Suppliers

Unicorn Grocery
Suppliers of organic food, beer and wine, dairy free, gluten free and sugar free products. Open Tuesday to Sunday.
89 Albany Road, Chorlton, Manchester, M16 8QN, phone [phone], fax [phone], www.unicorn-grocery.co.uk, email ku.oc.yrecorg-nrocinu.www|eciffo#ku.oc.yrecorg-nrocinu.www|eciffo
Farmers’ Markets
Your opportunity to meet the producers - of fresh vegetables, eggs, bakery, fish and meats of quality and difference, herb plants, wines, ciders and juices, crafts…all local. You’ll also be reducing food miles. Find them at:
Kelsall, at Eddisbury Fruit Farm, 3rd Saturday of the month, 10am to 3pm. (Contact Laura Needham, 01606 867864.)
Nantwich Town Square, last Saturday of the month, 10am to 3pm. (Contact Phil Riding, 01270 537426.)
Knutsford Silk Mill Street, 1st Saturday of the month, 9am to 3pm. (Contact Gaynor Bowen-Jones, 01244 603373.)
Macclesfield Churchill Way, 3rd Friday of the month, 9am to 4.30pm. (Contact Dianne Smith, 01625 504750.)
Congleton Bridgestone Centre, alternating Tuesdays, 9.30am to 3.30pm. (Contact Patrick Docherty, 0151 261 1200.)

Community Supported Agriculture is when locals pay in advance, for a season, for a farmer to supply boxes of fruit and vegetables weekly. Payment can be part labour. Typically, apart from coming in two sizes, the boxes are identical. There is no local scheme; people interested in setting one up should contact Vale Royal Environment Network.

Harrisons of Tarporley High Street, Tarporley: local bakers, producing savouries, morning products and bread, cakes; and sell local cheeses and meats. 01829 732041, or wholesale (local delivery available), 01829 733233.
John Sambrook, 69 Tarporley High Street, Tarporley produce their own sausages, pies and cooked meats. Tel [phone].
Stephanie at Fresco’s, 71a Tarporley High Street, Tarporley, is a fine delicatessen: some of their takeaway items are home made. Tel [phone].
J S Bailey, Calveley Mill, Calveley, Tarporley, CW6 9JW. Cheese. 01829 262900, email ten.enoenil|eseehcyeliabsj#ten.enoenil|eseehcyeliabsj
M. Allen, Free range and barn eggs from Kingsley, Cheshire honey and farm preserves. Winsford Market, Thursday and Saturday. (also at Northwich, which is already in food directory.)
Jim Chester. Free range eggs from Alderley Edge, and fresh farm eggs from Lower Peover. Pies from Crewe. Darlingtons (Crewe) chutneys. Ox tongue from Warrington. St. Helens sausages. Cheshire Cheshire cheese. Winsford Market.

Health Food Shops are specialists in knowing what’s good for you, and are increasingly stocking items that are also good for other people and the planet: fairtrade and organic foods, vitamins and remedies.
Oxfam and other shops stock Fairtrade and Traidcraft products. Oxfam (01865 311311) and Traidcraft (0191 491 1001) also sell goods by mail order.
Equal Exchange products (which currently include Cashew Butter, Organic Tahini, Plain Chocolate Brazil Nuts, Rooibos Teabags) are available from:
Full of Beans 93 Witton Street Northwich 01606 41778, and
Demeter Wholefoods 12 Welles Street Sandbach 01270 760 445.
Women’s Institute (WI) markets comprise stallholders selling home produce, garden surplusses, crafts etc. Participants and purchasers do not need to be WI members. The Wl markets must comply with trading regulations and all goods are sold at reasonable prices according to the locality. There is a friendly atmosphere. Goods may sell out quickly and latecomers may be disappointed.
Local WI markets are held in:
Farndon, Wed 9.00 - 11.30, Chapel house, Church Street.
Frodsham, Thurs 9.00 - 12.00, Frodsham Conservative Club, Main St.
Macclesfield, 1st Friday of month, 9.30 - 11.30, Senior Citizens Hall, Duke Street Car Park.
Nantwich, Thurs 8.00 - 12.00, Market Hall.
Neston, Fri 7.30 - 12.00, Market Hall (underneath Town Hall).
Tattenhall, Fri 9.15 - 11.15, Barbour Institute, High Street.
Willaston (Wirral), Fri 9.00 - 11.30, Memorial Hall. Closed Christmas.
All the above operate a parcel scheme to allow people to order in advance and collect their goods later.

Organic Box Schemes

Fresh Food Company, 326 Portobello Road, London W10 5RU, tel [phone], email ku.oc.doofhserf|scinagro#ku.oc.doofhserf|scinagro, www.freshfood.co.uk Wide range of products from on-line catalogue or phone for printed copy.
Green Gourmet, PO box 25, Congleton CW12 4FG, tel/fax [phone], www.greengourmet.com Tailor made vegetarian, vegan and organic hampers and gift boxes throughout the year.
Organics Direct, 7 Willow Street, London EC2A 4BH, tel [phone], email moc.tceridscinagro|ofni#moc.tceridscinagro|ofni, www.organicsdirect.com Works with a network of smallholdings throughout the UK. Telephone for brochure or visit the website.
The Organic Shop, Central Chambers, London Road, Alderley Edge, SK9 7DZ is the home for a network of organic box schemes, linking suppliers, and offering processed foods and drinks as well as fruit and vegetables. Email ku.oc.pohscinagroeht|kcollopdivad#ku.oc.pohscinagroeht|kcollopdivad
The SimplyOrganic Food Company produce a catalogue from which you can order by telephone, fax or internet. The range includes fruit and veg, meat, fish, dairy, grocery, wines and beers, baby food, homecare, personal care and disposable nappies. Some of the items are suitable for special diets, eg vegetarian, gluten free, milk free. Delivery is by Express Dairies. Write to SimplyOrganic Food Company, Olympic House, 196 The Broadway, London SW19 1SN, tel [phone], fax [phone], www.simplyorganic.net

Abbey Leys Farm are partially converted to organic, and currently offer organic free range eggs as well as seasonal vegetables from their farm shop on Peacock Lane, High Legh, Knutsford, WA16 6NS, tel [phone], email ten.nigriv|syelyebba.mit#ten.nigriv|syelyebba.mit
Big Barn have a website devoted to those seeking local suppliers of food, and for suppliers seeking local markets. www.bigbarn.co.uk

Mail order bakery, including for special diets; also courses. The Village Bakery, Melmerby, Penrith, Cumbria, tel [phone], email moc.yrekab-egalliv|ofni#moc.yrekab-egalliv|ofni, www.village-bakery.com

Oxmoor Smallholder Supplies have a catalogue of items for smallholders and self-sufficient kitchens - pasteurisers, food dryers, juicers, cheese & yogurt making kits…tel [phone]