NEWS

The next meeting of Food Durham's Community Good Food Network will start to explore what it might mean to move to a more climate-friendly diet.  The issue of what we eat is a pretty emotive one: we're asked to eat a plant-based diet, or that we eat less but better...

A new group called 'Save a Seed' has been set up in the county to encourage more people to save seed from their plants, share them with others and to create a bank of seeds suitable for our delightful NE Climate.  The group is planning an event in late summer 2021 and...

Durham County Council’s Fun & Food programme of Holiday Activities with Healthy Food will receive over £3.3m of DfE funding to support activities that support families during the school holidays and help meet the need for additional food during these...

Buying locally produced food and drink can be difficult, and most people don't have time to find and contact different local producers.  Discovering Durham CIC, a shop in the very centre of Durham City which focuses on food and drink produced in County Durham and the...

In March this year a new initiative started to support Primary Schools and Nurseries across County Durham with growing activities. The School Seed Bank is supplying free seeds, advice and support to schools and nurseries that want to start veg growing or enhance their...

Following on from development work supported by Growing Durham at the community allotment in Willington, the County Durham 0-25 Growing Healthy Youth Practitioner Team of the Harrogate and District NHS Trust are developing more allotment projects across the county to...

We’re delighted to see the return of County Durham’s two Food Festivals (subject to coronavirus restrictions), with Seaham Food Festival taking place on Saturday 7 and Sunday 8 August followed by Bishop Auckland Food Festival in October, (dates tbc).  Food festivals...

Early in lockdown 2020, local dairy farmer Andrew Brass got in touch to find out more about selling milk direct to the public via vending machines.   With a bit of encouragement from us, and a lot of hard work from Andrew, County Durham’s first on-farm milk vending...

Community Food projects in the county have been coming together in the Food Durham Community Good Food Network to share experiences and to explore what ‘good food’ means in County Durham.  The sessions include speakers from local and national initiatives, made...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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. ...

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...