NEWS
Latest news from Food DurhamExploring the link between food and the climate emergency
Food Durham, the County Durham Food Partnership, will be hosting its second Community Good Food Network get-together on Thursday 18 March 2021 via Zoom. The theme for the session is food and climate and there will be contributions from people working on this topic...
read moreEmergency food at Christmas
For all of us Christmas this year promises to be rather different than Christmases past and many people will be struggling to put food on the table. We find this year that the poorest communities have been hardest hit by the pandemic. To help people find emergency...
read moreA lockdown Halloween
There is a good chance that Halloween 2020 will be a bit different from other years thanks to 'you-know-what'. That doesn't mean that you can't have fun or that the issues around Halloween and what happens to all those pumpkins have gone away. Although more people...
read moreTake on the ‘Veg Chomp-ionship’ on World Food Day
In celebration of World Food Day on Friday 16 October, Food Durham, the County Durham Food Partnership, is challenging families across the county to take on the VegPower Veg Chomp-ionship using the new Eat Them to Defeat Them Activity Book. The Activity Book is...
read moreDo you want to make veg more easily available in County Durham?
Are you passionate about vegetables and want to do your bit to make it easier for everyone to eat more veg? If so, then finding out about becoming a Veg Advocate might just be for you. Food Durham, the County Durham Food Partnership and the Food Foundation are...
read moreThink ‘pumpkins’ when planning your holiday activities for half-term
When you think about activities for the autumn half-term holidays it's not unusual to think about Halloween, pumpkins and trick or treating. It may all be a bit different this year, but whatever the circumstances, doing activities around pumpkins can still be very...
read moreWhat treasures are in your garden?
This year, Durham County Council is running a Garden Treasures competition for residents to share the outdoor spaces they have created during lockdown and celebrate how gardening is helping people cope during this challenging time. Our gardens can also improve our...
read moreLove your seasonal veg
You may remember VegPower from the #EatThemToDefeatThem in schools, encouraging children to tackle more veg. This summer we can all get involved in the campaign to promote seasonal vegetables. There is a glut of fresh UK grown veg and eating seasonal veg is delicious...
read moreIncreasing Uptake of Healthy Start Vouchers
Women who are pregnant or have a child under the age of four could be eligible for Healthy Start Vouchers to help buy some basic foods including vegetables. This important scheme provides the vouchers to spend with local retailers. Pregnant women and children over one...
read moreRole of Food Partnerships Celebrated Nationally on 10th June
Sustainable Food Places (SFP) organised a Day of Celebration and Action on the 10th of June to showcase the incredible work local food partnerships are doing across the UK to meet the needs arising from the coronavirus crisis while continuing to work towards the...
read moreMarkets Reopen
Responding to the Government announcement that open air markets could reopen, the management committee of Barnard Castle Farmers’ Market decided to reopen on Saturday 6 June 2020. Durham County Council’s nine regular outdoor markets will also restart across the County...
read moreFree School Meals during lockdown
Many of you will have heard about the Government’s vouchers scheme to ensure families that qualify for free school meals continue to have access to good healthy food whilst schools across the county have been closed. The voucher scheme wasn’t without its problems but...
read morePOSTPONED! – Call for Veg Advocates for County Durham
In the light of the changed advice with regard to the Corona COVID-19 outbreak we have decided to postpone the Veg Advocates workshop which had been due to take place tomorrow, Wednesday 18 March 2020. Those of you who signed up will have received an email about it. ...
read moreWinter Food Durham Newsletter published
Following the retirement of Food Manager Dr Liz Charles earlier this year, we've reviewed how we communicate with everyone interested in the food system across County Durham. Liz used to send regular snippets to people on her mailing list and the Growing Durham team...
read moreDASH Edible car park
There’s a new community garden in town - Growing Durham’s Edible Gilesgate project worked alongside Durham Action on Single Homelessness to create an edible garden in their carpark. The initial aim was to cheer up the area with a few planters and we commissioned The...
read moreFor Peat’s Sake!
Join Garden Organic's campaign to reduce the use of peat-based compost and download our handy guide to making leaf compost. Those of you who follow us on Twitter (look for @Food_Durham) might have noticed a few posts relating to use of peat in garden compost. Unless...
read moreFood Durham carves new Halloween habits
Food Durham led a Pumpkin Rescue this Autumn as part of its VegCities campaign, aiming to reduce food waste and raise awareness of local food production. We worked with a local farm and groups to promote local produce and help people turn leftover pumpkins into...
read moreVeg Cities take over of Durham Farmers’ Market
Hundreds of students and their parents were welcomed back to Durham for the new academic year by a veg takeover of the farmers' market in the city centre as part of Food Durham’s VegCities campaign. The takeover was a partnership of Visit County Durham (VCD), through...
read moreReducing single use plastic at Beamish Museum
In March, Beamish signed the Durham County Council Single Use Pledge and have been working hard to remove unnecessary single use plastic wherever possible. Over the last 9 months they have introduced a number of measures, including: Eradicated plastic bottles – they...
read moreIt’s not the cow, it’s the how
Over recent months the media have been full of stories about meat consumption and climate change. The number of people who are choosing a vegetarian or vegan diet has been increasing, but the debate can be quite polarising leaving livestock farmers (like those in...
read moreNew look newsletter
The Food Durham newsletter is designed to give you a flavour of the breadth of work taking place across the partnership, all of which aims to support the development of a better food system for County Durham. This year we aim to engage as many organisations and...
read moreDon’t waste your pumpkins this year!
Carved your pumpkins for Halloween? Make sure you don’t waste the cut out bits and even the pumpkin seeds: they are all good food! If you’re really savvy you could pick up some really cheap ones after the event and make the most of cheap food. As part of the...
read morePlanning anything exciting for Halloween this year?
What's scarier than witches, ghosts and ghouls at Halloween? How about the 18,000 tonnes of edible pumpkin that ends up in the bin each year. That's the same weight as 1,500 double decker buses! That's food that farmers have grown, that has been watered and...
read moreGrowing Salads through the autumn and winter
You may have spotted talk about shortages of fresh salad leaves this autumn and winter and if you want to to make sure you can continue to feed your salad habit now is the time to start sowing them. Most of them with benefit from a bit of protection in a greenhouse...
read moreVegetable seed give-away: Growing Notes
As you may have spotted the VegPower campaign, which is drew to a close just before Easter 2019, had 10 vegetables of the week and families across the county have been eating them to defeat them for weeks. Following a brilliant idea by Richard from the Leadgate...
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