Over 150 free fresh fruit boxes were given out to families at Ebbw Vale Food Festival as part of an effort to promote food sustainability and access to healthy, affordable food locally.
Free garden vegetable seed packets were also given out, together with ‘Taste of Nature’ recipe booklets, helping to inspire people to grow their own produce and build confidence in preparing nutritious, low-cost meals at home.
This is part of a drive by the Blaenau Gwent Food Partnership and the Blaenau Gwent Council’s Resilient Food Communities Team to promote balance and healthier choices, as well as making people think more about food resilience and where their food actually comes from.
This was supported by local business, Fresh n Fruity, who supplied the produce.
Speaking to local residents was the aim of the day and visitors to the stand were asked to share their views and vote on four key food policy themes:
- increasing opportunities for food growing
- banning takeaways near schools
- introducing free secondary school meals
- expanding fruit and vegetable voucher schemes
Councillor Jules Gardner, Cabinet Member for Adults and Communities at Blaenau Gwent Council said:
"It's wonderful to see people engaging around the topic of food sustainability and food resilience. It's very encouraging to see strong support for new measures aimed at improving access to affordable, healthy food, while giving support to families, and creating more opportunities for people to grow and prepare fresh produce themselves.
“As a Marmot council, and through our Blaenau Gwent Deal, we are committed to working with our communities to ensure that moving forward we can reduce health inequalities and promote positive food choices that will improve our communities in the long-term. The Council and The Blaenau Gwent Food Partnership believes that high quality nutritious food can be the foundation of strong, healthy diet and that proper nutrition creates the fundamental building blocks of good health.”
To highlight easy and healthy cooking at home there were also several cooking demonstrations throughout the day. This included a live soda bread-making demonstration by Sirhowy Valley Woodlands and Willowtown Primary School who promoted their community cookbook through a live cookery demonstration of vegetable tacos.
Chris Nottingham, BG Food Partnership Coordinator, Tai Calon Community Housing said:
“We were delighted to be part of the Ebbw Vale Food Festival, which gave us the opportunity to showcase local community food initiatives taking place across the borough. It was a proud moment for the Blaenau Gwent Food Partnership to celebrate good local food, and we were thrilled to meet so many people interested in how community food action is helping shape our local food system. The highlight for me was the joy of Willowtown Primary pupils cooking their tacos in the demonstration kitchen.”
Note:
Blaenau Gwent Food Partnership is hosted by Tai Calon Community Housing with additional partners including Blaenau Gwent Council, Gwent Association of Voluntary Organisations, Aneurin Bevan University Health Board, Aneurin Leisure Trust and Natural Resources Wales.
