At the Closing Loops project, this year will be packed with cooking events and initiatives. All of them will celebrate local, seasonal produce with a focus on planet-friendly ideas like reducing food waste and trying out plant-based dishes.
A year-long calendar of preservation workshops and events will be led by local master preservers and fermentation enthusiasts. For instance, if you’ve never tried kimchi or sauerkraut before, a workshop could get you started on turning seasonal gluts and surplus produce into delicious treats.
A series of ‘Worldwide Cuisine’ cooking classes will be led by members of the community chef network. These classes will be a chance to explore recreating the richness and diversity of the many food cultures in North Lancashire using locally sourced and seasonal ingredients.
The focus of the events calendar will be on themes which local residents have identified as important, in particular ensuring wider access to fresh food and cooking skills. This includes cooking-on-a-budget workshops for groups across the district. There will also be training opportunities for community-based organisations to take the lead in running their own classes and events. If your community group might be interested in this, you can find out more and get in touch here.
As usual, the four Lancaster seasonal markets (in March, June, September and December) will be an opportunity to draw attention to locally produced good food. At each market, Closing Loops runs a cooking demo stall giving away free tasters and tips. Last year there was a mushroom cooking demo with Wyreside Mushrooms, a celebration of apples as part of the Share the Harvest festival and an exploration of zero-waste solutions to takeaway food packaging in December. This included soup served in a bread roll bowl – an experiment that proved very popular with market visitors.
A local good food guide is currently in the making at FoodFutures and will be published later this year. The guide will contain information about growing, cooking and eating in ways that are healthy for people and the planet. It will also include links to local food initiatives, producers, recipe ideas and cooking tips.
All this activity is made possible through the North Lancashire community chefs network – a group of local people who are up for sharing their cooking skills with others. If you are passionate about food and have skills to share in the kitchen, do consider joining the chef network. There is funding available to support the network to take ideas forward and socials offer a chance to connect with other chefs whilst cooking and eating together.
