Eastern Daily Press, Tuesday, February 26, 2013
It’s a local Five years ago, I had time and money to spend on food. A typical February menu might have been a stir-fry of curly kale and rainbow chard from the organic box served with the delightful, local Binham Blue cheese, then followed by baked apple from our carefully stored home-grown stash and hedgerow blackberries from my freezer. Now, all that seems a distant memory. Food is fuel for finicky diners. I am more likely to dish up beans on toast, processed cheese and Chilean blueberries, finished off with a side order of air miles. My green credentials totally slipped with the arrival of the smallest members of the family. Children have a wonderful knack of pushing you to your limits and making your original priorities feel outdated. Ensuring your kids eat enough and munch through their five a day can feel like a higher priority than where their food has come from. Food needs to be easy to prepare and if your finances are stretched, then extra mouths to feed mean that cost is the deciding factor, not greenness or healthiness. But there is another way. An exciting new food programme is being piloted in Suffolk which links eating well with ethical, sustainable and local sourcing. It’s simple: breakfast is a really important meal for all of us, particularly children. It sets us up for the day, helps us concentrate and reduces high-calorie snacking. As a result educational attainment at school rises. The reality is that many children miss out on this, particularly in the most deprived areas of our region or when lack of finances and the breakdown of basic family routines occur. Healthy Ambitions, a local charity, is working to improve the health of people in Suffolk and beyond. The good news is, it has just launched a programme of breakfast clubs, called Early Birds, in partnership with Cook With Me Kids. The pilot phase means that five schools around Suffolk will take part and the aim is to spread into many more primary schools. The breakfast clubs provide children at the schools with a nutritious and delicious breakfast and educate them about cooking and healthy eating. There is also a significant environmental plus: local and ethical sourcing. At Wickham Market Primary School,
■ If you are interested in finding out more about the Early Birds Breakfast Clubs, contact Anne at Healthy Ambitions on 01473 786678 or email business@healthyambitionssuffolk.co.uk
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start to the day
With the provenance of our food at the top of the agenda,Going Green columnist Kate Blincoe reports on a new project she’s involved with being piloted in the east of England, which links eating well with ethical, sustainable and local sourcing. the first school to launch, milk and yoghurt are provided by nearby Marybelle Milk, C&K Meats supply the Waveney Valley Pork, and the fresh pressed apple juice, and apples when in season, are from Moat Farm, Kenton. Production is environmentally aware, low intensity and with high animal welfare. Recipes such as Bircher muesli, pancakes with seasonal fruit and a healthy cooked breakfast certainly provide a tasty start to the day, but the breakfast clubs aim to go one step further than just putting good food on the plate. Children will also have the opportunity to discover where their food comes from, and learn about the farmers, growers and suppliers of the produce. It is this kind of understanding that can make a real difference to how they feel about their food.
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www.EDP24.co.uk
HEALTHY AMBITIONS: Ensuring your kids start the day the healthy – and local – way can help a wider society, says Kate Blincoe.
Food should be sourced locally where possible – it makes perfect sense. It’s a win, win, win. Firstly, carbon emissions through transportation are reduced so that we look after the planet for the next generation. What is the point of filling little bellies if we simultaneously trash their environmental legacy? Secondly, enhanced links with local suppliers are vital for the area’s economy. It can be virtually impossible to find local products in supermarkets, but if schools improve their connections, it can help keep family farms and businesses afloat. Finally, knowing your supplier and being able to directly ask questions undoubtedly minimises the risk of food concerns, such as the recent horsemeat scandal. It’s certainly reminded me that our food is at its best when it is fresh, local and produced responsibly. I’m not sure we’ll be back on the curly kale quite yet, but I’m going to be putting local on the plate this spring.
See page 15 for further news from Going Green’s sponsor, Green Home Energy Solutions www.greenhomeenergysolutions.co.uk info@greenhomeenergysolutions.co.uk
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