IF YOU LOVE FOOD, SHOW IT BY SHARING

Turning Passion Into Action: Action Against Hunger Launches ‘Love Food Give Food’ Appeal

1st September 2011 | London - Love Food Give Food, Action Against Hunger’s appeal to end malnutrition launches today supported by the nation’s top chefs, restaurant groups and foodies. The appeal invites restaurant lovers to help save lives by simply doing what they love best – eating out.

Hundreds of restaurants have signed up to lend their support – support which could not be more timely given the ongoing food crisis in East Africa.

Supported by a multitude of culinary luminaries including Raymond Blanc, Giorgio Locatelli, Valentine Warner and Marcus Wareing, Love Food Give Food unites food lovers who are turning their passion for food into action to help malnourished children and their families worldwide.

As Fergus Henderson, the founder of St John restaurant, said: "Eat out and help malnourished children…sounds crazy but it works!"

Emma Cullingford, Campaign Manager at Action Against Hunger, said: “In 2010, food lovers, chefs, restaurants and cafes helped raise over £170,000 in aid of our life-saving programmes worldwide. With the devastating humanitarian crisis in the Horn of Africa, we’re encouraging all food lovers across the nation to help make this year’s Love Food Give Food appeal the biggest ever and raise crucial funds for our worldwide programmes.”

With a roster of participating restaurants from high street chains to glamorous Michelin-starred restaurants, it isn’t hard to get involved. Customers can simply choose to add a small donation to their bill or they can order a special Love Food Give Food dish (a percentage of the cost of which goes to the charity). In addition, those collecting four stickers on their Love Food Give Food Loyalty Cards (available from participating restaurants and with September’s issue of Delicious Magazine) stand a unique chance of winning one of 26 meals for two in top restaurants across the country.

Food lovers and restaurants across the UK can also help raise funds by taking part in toptable and OpenTable’s bespoke Love Food Give Food festival, including special offers and an exciting celebrity chef auction.

For a list of participating restaurants and to find out more, please visit www.lovefoodgivefood.org

Top Chefs Team-up with Eden Project in Cornwall for Harvest Festival, October 1-9

The Eden Project is cooking up a nine-day festival of food, drink, dance and merriment this autumn as it continues its exciting new culinary adventure.

The project has radically reinvented its approach to food with the recent introduction of the Eden Bakery serving up delicious hand-made breads and pastries and a new café area in the Mediterranean Biome offering Tuscan stews and wine.

From October 1 to 9 it is launching its first Harvest Festival, featuring cooking demonstrations from top chefs, stunning displays of harvest produce, live music and traditional crafts demonstrations.

Among those sharing their culinary secrets will be Michael Smith from the award-winning Porthminster Beach Café in St Ives, Sanjay Kumar, chair of Slow Food Cornwall, and top Malaysian chef Norman Musa from Manchester’s Ning Restaurant and Cookery School.

The festival will include a special appearance from the one of the country’s leading bakers and food writers Dan Lepard who will officially open the Eden Bakery on Monday, October 3.

Throughout the week visitors can taste the juice from Eden’s apple presses, pick up tips on pickling and preserving, discover the stories behind bread, wine and cider and see the processes that take the natural ingredients from the ground to the plate - or glass!

There’ll also be workshops on allotment growing, grape crushing, corn crafts, what to do with fruit and veg gluts, and edible plants of the rainforest.

Exotic fruit and veg will be on the menu on the evening of Thursday, October 6, when James Wong, plant expert and presenter of BBC Two’s Grow Your Own Drugs, demonstrates how to grow rare, unusual and luxury foods.

From Himalayan goji berries and cocktail-sized kiwi fruit, to fragrant saffron and fiery wasabi, James will be offering a light-hearted, dynamic and innovative alternative to conventional gardening at this ticketed event that starts at 7pm.

For live music fans there’s the Big Autumn Bash on the evening of Friday, October 7, when Bristol folk-jazz band, Sheelanagig, and Cornish act Dalla, perform a gig in aid of People and Gardens, a project that gives those with physical and emotional impairments the opportunity to learn about growing and selling produce.

This Arts Café concert takes place from 7pm in Eden’s education centre, the Core, and the ticket price includes a seasonal supper.

Emma Hogg, Eden’s programme producer, said: “Eden is now in its tenth year and it has long been our ambition to make freshly-prepared food as much a reason for people to come and visit us as seeing the plants.

“Everyone is invited to our inaugural Harvest Festival which will celebrate food and drink and link plants and produce together to create a theatre of food.”

Harvest Festival daytime activities are included in the price of admission though there may be a small charge for some events. Tickets for the James Wong talk and Big Autumn Bash are £15 each and can be booked in advance.

For full details, go to www.edenproject.com/harvest or ring the box office on 01726 811972.