Ludlow 21

Ludlow 21 has signed up to the Shropshire Good Food Charter to help create a local food system which is good for people, place and planet. You can sign up too!

https://www.shropshiregoodfood.org/good-food-charter

On 11th March 2022, Incredible Edible Ludlow, in partnership with Ludlow Town Council, planted five local variety apple trees at Wheeler Road recreation area to mark The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, as part of the #queensgreencanopy. Members of Incredible Edible Ludlow, Ludlow’s Mayor Cllr Robin Pote and Ludlow Town Council staff were joined by local residents on a damp Friday afternoon for the planting.

Planting edibles in public spaces helps increase our resilience as a community because, as recent events have shown us, life can take unexpected turns and ‘business as usual’ may not be guaranteed. We hope that in years to come the trees will bear fruit which can be harvested and used by local people.

Plans are underway for Green Festival 2022. We’re very excited! Please put the date, Sunday 10th July, in your diary, and see the Green Festival website for more details.

Ludlow 21 have donated a collection of eco-themed books, selected by members, to Ludlow Library. They include a wide selection of children’s and adult books, fact and fiction. As part of this project we have recorded video reviews of some of our choices. Look out for the collection when you next visit the library, and to see the reviews, follow Ludlow 21 on Facebook or see Ludlow Library’s Facebook or Twitter

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We are really pleased to have been able to work with Ludlow Library on this project, which we hope will bring the message of ‘Local Initiatives for a Sustainable Future’ to a wider audience.

The full list of books in the collection:

• The Overstory by Richard Powers
• Drawdown, The most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming edited by Paul Hawken
• The Way we Eat Now by Bee Wilson
• Sustainable Energy without the Hot Air by David JC MacKay
• Wilding by Isabella Tree
• No One Is Too Small to Make a Difference by Greta Thunberg

Books for children / young adults:

• The Biggest Footprint by Rob & Tom Sears
• Love Our Earth by Jane Cabrera
• Too Much Stuff by Emily Gravett
• How to Change Everything, the young human’s guide to protecting the planet and each other by Naomi Klein

The first two video reviews are available here:
Di reviewing “No one is too small to make a difference” by Greta Thunberg:
On facebook https://fb.watch/bKYY8lI9qE/
On twitter https://twitter.com/i/status/1502997908047556616
Chris reviewing “Sustainable energy- without the hot air” by David J C MacKay:
On facebook https://fb.watch/bK_hX6RPTt/
On twitter https://twitter.com/i/status/1500800931436318725

The AGM will take place on Tuesday 14th September at 7pm at Ludlow Brewery.

The formal business of the AGM will be followed by a ‘Green Power Hour’ giving local groups the opportunity to speak about their work related to the environment and sustainability (max 3 minutes each!)

Papers for the AGM are available to download here:

Agenda
Minutes of 2020 AGM
Group Reports
Treasurers Report 2021
Accounts 2020-21
Nomination form for election of Directors

Following the Government’s latest announcement on Covid restrictions, we are pleased to announce that the 2021 Ludlow Green Festival will be going ahead on Sunday 11th July.

If you can print and display a poster we would be very grateful, please download below:

Ludlow Green Festival – Poster 2021

Traidcraft Exchange’s Regenerators Appeal
Ludlow Fairtrade Town Group will be hosting several fundraising events in May and June to support Traidcraft Exchange’s Regenerators Appeal.

The Regenerators in vulnerable communities in Tanzania, Kenya, Senegal and Bangladesh are taking a stand against the devastating impact of climate change Together, they are planting crops that can grow in extreme weather, protecting the forests and investing in climate-smart technology.
With your help, they can regenerate their land and protect the earth for generations to come – and earn more for the hard work they do every day.

Donate to the appeal before 7^th June and the UK Government will double your donation
To donate click here  https://action.traidcraft.org.uk/donate-regenerators-appeal  

The first event is the Virtual Big Brew and Climate Change Quiz on Tuesday 11^th May 5.30 – 6.30pm. Registration is free and you can order and collect a mini box of handmade delicious fair trade cakes and sample teabags. Please send the poster to local friends and family. We’d love you to join us!
To register go to https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/ludlow-fairtrade

To download a pdf of the poster click here

Download a copy of the March newsletter here:

Newsletter_March_2021

As it’s Food Waste Action Week this week (1st – 7th March), we’ve put together some top tips on how to avoid food waste in your kitchen:

Households account for over half of the 88 million tonnes of food wasted every year in Europe, far more than any other part of the food system. For that to change, we don’t just need to challenge wasteful attitudes, but also rediscover the lost art of kitchen management.

There are many new technologies and innovations on the horizon that can help reduce waste (AI, extended shelf lives etc.), but a simpler answer lies in the recent past. Frugal, thrifty, and creative cooking, as well as careful planning and management, were essential skills to have during times when food was harder to come by (such as during WWI and WWII).

Fortunately, food is more plentiful and accessible than ever in Europe, but we now face new challenges: what is easy to come by is easier to waste. Therefore, in order to reduce our impact on the environment, it is time we re-learnt the art of running an efficient, organised low-food-waste home.

Here are a few tips I found that work for me, starting with the most preferred and impactful options and working down to what should be last resorts – a bit like a home kitchen version of the food waste hierarchy.

1 – Get organised

When it comes to reducing food waste, by far the best option is always prevention, to avoid buying things that are unlikely to get eaten. Far too many of us organise our kitchens like the armageddon is coming, with an overflowing fridge and overstuffed cupboards. While there is no harm in having a healthy stock of some long-lasting goods, this should really be the exception.

Another problem many of us have is that we are aspirational shoppers, or, even worse, we shop when hungry! The result is that we buy things we like the idea of cooking or eating, rather than what we are certain will get used.

Planning ahead is the best way to avoid this. Before heading to the shops, write a meal plan for the week and then turn this into a shopping list. Make sure you check your cupboards, fridge and freezer as well, to avoid doubling up on things.

If the idea of a carefully planned, big weekly shop is not your thing, then small regular trips to the shop are also effective, where you only buy ingredients for what you are going to cook and eat that night.

2 – Proper storage

Good storage of food is an art in itself (or a science actually). Too many of us use the fridge as a long-term store of food, filling it with items that are easily forgotten and lost at the back, slowly spoiling, or they may not even need to be there in the first place. There is a lot of information about food storage out there. If you can freeze something instead, then do it, as it will keep far longer.

It’s also a good idea to practise the art of FIFO. This is not as mysterious as it might sound. First In: First Out. This is the mantra adhered to by good restaurants, and there is no reason we shouldn’t adopt it at home too. When unpacking your groceries, enact some stock rotation, moving older products to the front of the fridge/freezer/pantry, and new products to the back. This reduces the likelihood of items sitting hidden for weeks and months, slowly perishing out of sight. So give FIFO a go.

3 – Batch cooking

Lots of people like to save time by cooking big batches of food at the weekend and freezing portions to use throughout the week. This uses ingredients when they are freshest and tastiest and also means you are much less likely to waste food.

4 – Head to tail – root to fruit

Many chefs are now touting the benefits of cooking using the entity of an animal, fruit or vegetable. This includes making delicious stock from kitchen scraps. Why not collect your carrot tops, onion scraps, garlic skins and other veg odds and ends in a bowl in the freezer, ready to turn into a delicious stock once full. Stocks not only make use of kitchen scraps, but also turn the plainest meal into something delicious. If you want to try something a bit different, then keep plenty of glass jars handy too, to turn ‘waste food’ into scrumptious pickles, preserves, or fermented treats.

5 – Trust your senses

It’s good to be mindful of use-by-dates, but don’t follow them religiously. Trust your senses – does it still look good, taste fine and smell ok? If so, then reach for the saucepan and not the trash. If there is a bit of spoilage on food, then you can always just cut around it rather than throwing it all out.

6 – Emergency ‘use it up’ recipes

Milk, bread and bagged salads are the most commonly wasted food, so they deserve special attention when managing your kitchen. Try not to buy them in bulk and have a few recipes ready for using up extras, like making breadcrumbs, croutons or cottage cheese. Here are some more ideas for using up leftover bread and milk.

7 – Dodge the trash

Even after careful planning, shopping, storing, preserving, pickling and stock boiling, you are likely to have some food left over. Make sure you have plenty of airtight packaging ready to store leftovers in the fridge or freezer, to be eaten at a later date or incorporated into another meal. Anything that is inedible should be composted. If you’re really adventurous, there are even people reusing some inedible food waste in beauty products.

So there you have it, a few tip to improve your kitchen management skills. Remember, it’s better to prevent waste than deal with it afterwards, so get your meal planners out and start taking stock of your kitchen and its waste. That doesn’t mean you can’t have a bit of fun along the way though– carrot jam anyone?

Our new monthly newsletter is here!   Read all about the Incredible Edible Ludlow Seed Swap, Ludlow 21’s new Bird of the Month feature, Fairtrade Fortnight, and more.

Download a pdf version:  newsletter_feb21