PRESS RELEASE

Date: 21^st September 2010

Photo opportunity: Saturday 25 September 2010, 2.00pm, Local Food Week Picnic, on the lawn behind the Rotunda Cafe, Preston Park, Brighton BN1 6HN

The winners of the ‘Grow It!’ competition will be awarded their prizes this Saturday, at the Local Food Week Picnic in Preston Park as part of September’s Food and Drink Festival. The competition encouraged businesses to try growing edible plants in their shops, windows and gardens. Almost 30 businesses across Brighton & Hove signed up to the inaugural year of the competition, including hotels, pubs, cafes and even the local bus company! The two winning businesses impressed the judges by using their space creatively and inspiring others to try growing their own, but all the finalists made an impressive effort.

The competition judges were: Nathalie Gomez de Vera from the Brighton & Hove Food and Drink Festival, Soozie Campbell from the Brighton Business Forum, Cllr. Ayas Fallon-Khan (Cabinet Member for Enterprise, Employment and Major Projects) and Harvest Growing Officer Sarah Waters.

The winners are:

• Temptation Cafe (Gardner Street) – for turning the alleyway behind the cafe into a forest of tomato plants which are used daily by the chefs, alongside a range of other local Sussex foods.
• Little Earthworms Nursery (Hollingbury)– for illustrating the full cycle of food growing, with a vegetable patch, child-friendly herb garden, wormery, compost, rainwater collection and even chickens, all created in what was an overgrown back garden only six months ago. Watch a video of the children at Little Earthworms harvesting some beetroot.

Other finalists were:

• Vive Verde Florist (Richardson Road, Hove) – for their inspiring window displays, range of edible plants for sale and offering growing advice to anyone, whether they buy their plants there or not!

• Brighton Hilton Metropole – for their herb garden which has brightened up the terrace, attracted interest from visitors, families and staff and which is used heavily by the kitchen for dishes ranging from lavender pannacotta and shortbread biscuits to lemon balm sauce.
• Terre a Terre – for their creative use of edible plants as decorative table displays.
• Paskins Town House (Kemptown) – for making the most of a tiny space with flourishing tomatoes and herbs in windowboxes that seem to have started a trend on Charlotte Street!
• Preston Park Tavern – for turning their garden and windowsills into an incredibly productive space for herbs and strawberries which are picked fresh for Pimms and used daily by the chef.

“Brighton businesses should be proud of their green fingered credentials – we couldn’t believe how many of them are sourcing food directly from the backdoor or windowsill! Temptation Cafe, Little Earthworms Nursery and all the finalists have set the bar high and we can’t wait to see who gives it a grow for next year’s competition.” said Jess Crocker, Manager of the Harvest project at the Brighton & Hove Food Partnership.

"I'm really impressed by the way the city's restaurants, hotels and other businesses really threw themselves into the first ever Grow It For Business competition. We've had some amazing entrants – I don't think any of us was expecting to see chickens(!) – and I really hope that everyone continues to grow and encourages their neighbours to do the same. We'll definitely be checking up on them again next year.” said Nick Mosley, MD, Brighton & Hove Food and Drink Festival.

Ends

For details about the photo opportunity including arranging to attend please contact the Food Partnership on: 01273 431 700 or 07850 002 598

For more information contact:

1. Jess Crocker, Harvest Manager, Brighton and Hove Food Partnership Tel: 01237 431 700 or 07850 002 598
2. Vic Else, Director, Brighton and Hove Food Partnership 01237 431 700 or 07967018402
3. Paula Seager or Ali West, Natural PR for the Food Festival, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it / This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Notes for Editors:

1. Harvest’s Local Food Picnic, Preston Park, Brighton, Saturday 25 September, 11am-4pm. There will be a range of activities at this event, where people can swap excess crops, watch cookery demonstrations, try local produce and take part in fun activities about food! Kindly sponsored by Infinity Foods.
   



2. Local Food Week, 20-26 September 2010. The first annual week of events to celebrate local food in Brighton & Hove! Events will include a film screening, photography exhibit, foodie quiz, special local food menus at Brighton restaurants, Apple Day at Stanmer Park, Weald Allotment open day and more.



3. Harvest Brighton and Hove is a three-year, Big Lottery-funded project led by the Brighton and Hove Food Partnership, in partnership with Food Matters, the University of Brighton, The Brighton and Hove Allotment Federation, the Brighton Permaculture Association, Moulsecoomb Forest Garden and the Whitehawk Community Food Project. It is supported by Brighton and Hove City Council, and Brighton and Hove Teaching Primary Care Trust. www.harvest-bh.org.uk



4. Brighton & Hove Food Partnership is a not for profit organisation that works for better food for the city now and in the future. By better food, we mean food that is healthy, affordable, accessible and produced within environmental limits. We believe by working in partnership Brighton & Hove can achieve a sustainable food system. Details of our work are at: www.bhfood.org.uk.



5. Brighton & Hove Food and Drink Festival runs annually during March and September with a whole host of exciting foodie events and activities across the city, including the Big Sussex Market, Live Food Stage, Children's Food Festival, Open House Dining, Chocolate Festival, Chilli Festival alongside one-off restaurant and community special events. The core aims of the festival are to support the local food economy, raise awareness of the good food in and around the city, and encourage footfall and spend to the city and its food and hospitality businesses.



6. Local Food has been developed by a consortium of 15 national environmental organisations, and is managed on their behalf by the Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts (RSWT). Supported by the Big Lottery Fund's Changing Spaces programme, Local Food will distribute grants to a variety of food related projects to make locally grown food more accessible. Further information please visit www.localfoodgrants.org



7. RSWT: The Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts is a registered charity, incorporated by Royal Charter, to promote conservation and manage environmental programmes throughout the whole of the UK. It has established management systems for holding and distributing funds totalling more than £20 million annually to environmental projects across the UK.



8. Changing Spaces programme: The Big Lottery Fund’s Changing Spaces programme was launched in November 2005 to help communities enjoy and improve their local environments. The programme funds a range of activities from local food schemes and farmers markets, to education projects teaching people about the local environment.



9. The Big Lottery Fund: Is the largest of the National Lottery good cause distributors, has been rolling out £2 million in Lottery good cause money every 24 hours to health, education, environment and charitable causes across the UK. www.biglotteryfund.org.uk.