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Projects
Current
Projects
The
Farmers' Markets
Past
Projects
Taste of Hinckley and Bosworth
Farm to Table
Grow, Cook & Eat Leicestershire
Fresh
Local Food in Schools
The
Farmers' Markets
At
a Farmers' Market you can purchase seasonal, fresh, local
produce directly from the local farmers, growers and processors.
All products at our Farmers' Markets must contain a minimum
of ten percent a local ingredient and we are accredited members
of the national Farmers' Market organisation, FARMA.
At the
Farmers' Markets you can expect to find ostrich burgers, organic
and specialist meat, hams and sausages, seasonal vegetables, honey,
jam, organic bread, sauces and other baked products.
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Shoppers make the most of the good produce to be found on
farmers' markets.
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Leicestershire
Food Links manage five Farmers' Markets in Leicestershire as follows:
Burbage - 1st Saturday in the month
Lutterworth - 2nd Saturday in the month
Hinckley - 3rd Thursday in the month
Blaby - 4th Saturday in the month
Leicester - Last Wednesday in the month
The
Market Managers are as follows:
Burbage - Liz Causon, 01455 250533, 07970 822698,
lizcauson@fsmail.net
Hinckley - Jo Relf, 01455 208863, 07946 530601
jolrelf@hotmail.com
Leicester,
Blaby and Lutterworth - Roger Jones, 0116 273
1170, 07896 478780, ethelroad_167@yahoo.co.uk
The
Market Managers are responsible for the practicalities of running
the markets that they are responsible for and take decisions about
who shall stand at each market at their regular meetings.
Can
you support your local Farmers' Market?
There
are voluntary and paid opportunities available with Leicestershire
Food Links to support Farmers' Markets.
We
are looking for Farmer's Market Managers to run individual markets.
The Market Manager will direct producers to stalls, answer questions
from consumers and supervise an orderly end to trading among other
things. Their job is vital to the continued success of the Farmer's
Markets. A passion for local food and the community is desirable.
If
you require any further information about the markets, please
contact us at Leicestershire Food
Links.
Taste of
Hinckley and Bosworth
The
'Taste of Hinckley and Bosworth' project began in January 2002 ran
until December 2004. The first year focused on connecting the catering
sector in Hinckley and Bosworth with local producers and the second
phase concentrated on connecting the retail sector with local producers.
The
project was responsible for developing four leaflets, including
one local recipe guide, a local lunch guide and two food trail
leaflets, connecting local producers with tourist attractions
and small retailers. All the publications listed here can be downloaded
from our publications page.
A
number of cookery demonstrations were organised at the Hinckley
Farmers' Market and chefs from across the borough were involved
in cooking local, seasonal ingredients.
Four
networking events attracted over 250 businesses, two involving
local catering and local producers and two involving local retailers
and local producers.
The 'Taste of Hinckley & Bosworth' Project was funded by Hinckley
and Bosworth Borough Council, East Midlands Development Agency,
Leicestershire Learning & Skills Council, the Paget Trust
and The Health Promotion Agency.
Farm
to Table
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The
Farm to Table project was responsible for developing the Leicestershire
Produce brand, a logo and criterion which was developed to
be displayed on local products to show that they are truly
local. Over 30 inspections took place across the county and
300 products used the label in a pilot. |
This
was a partnership project run jointly by Leicestershire Food Links
and Environ, the Leicestershire Environmental Charity. Farm to
Table was funded by the Esmee Fairburn Charitable Trust and Leicestershire
County Council through the 'Regeneration Team of the Bridging
Communities Programme'.
Grow,
Cook & Eat Leicestershire
'Grow, Cook & Eat Leicestershire' was a project that involved
Leicestershire primary schools in a whole range of activities
during 2004. The aim of the project was to get children involved
in growing, cooking and eating healthy foods, especially those
produced locally.
Weekly growing sessions ran with 12 schools and one after-school
Eco Club. Cookery and tasting sessions involving 500 children
from six more schools were organised. Additionally, over 1,000
children attend the Schools Day at the Regional Food Festival
in Melton Mowbray on Friday 8th October 2004.
The project was funded by the SEED programme of the New Opportunities
Fund of the National Lottery and by Leicestershire County Council
through the 'Regeneration Team of the Bridging Communities Programme'.
Fresh
Local Food in Schools
This
new project appeared to be hot on the heels of 'Jamie's School
Dinners', but in reality, Food Links has been working to encourage
the use of healthier, fresher local foods since it was formed
in 1998. The project Fresh Local Food in Schools tackled the whole
school approach, which meant organising a variety of activities
to really get secondary school pupils inspired and educated about
local food.
Broken
into three parts, the project covered: 1) Education, by strongly
complementing the national curriculum. 2) Experience, by enabling
seasonal, local food to feature on the school dinner plate and
to be tasted, and 3) Exploration - through organised educational
visits to discover how food is produced on Leicestershire farms.
Also, it supported schools in developing kitchen gardens on the
school premises.
Vitally,
the project wasn't just about healthy, fresh food, it was about
the local economy, teaching an in-depth understanding of production
methods by meeting local farmers and through the project activities.
It also taught kids about the damages caused by importing foods
that can be produced closer to home. This project was funded by
the Ashden Trust and the Ernest Cook Trust.
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