Green Festival booklet available…

The booklet, which includes full listings of all the family friendly events and activities taking place during the fortnight long Festival, can be picked up from a variety of locations including: Libraries, Tourist Information, Peterborough Museum and Queensgate.

Organised by Peterborough Environment City Trust (PECT), the Festival has a food theme this year – ‘Grow It, Cook It, Eat It. There will be events held from Saturday 23rd May – Sunday 7th June across the City including a Chop ‘n’ Chat hosted by Riverford Organic Vegetables, Green Backyard growing days, fun nature trails, a cycle the Green Wheel event, an eco-supermarket sweep at Tesco in Hampton, an Gorgeous and Green fashion show at Queensgate, and a frock swap, as well as lots more.

The food theme is an important one for the City, with recent figures showing high levels of childhood obesity and younger mortality rates due to poor diets.
Janine Starling from PECT explains, “This year the Festival is all about being a little healthier, saving money and caring for the environment. Growing and eating your own food is not only good exercise and good fun, but it also means you spend less in the supermarkets and it’s really satisfying sitting down for a meal you have grown yourself.
“The Festival launch on Saturday 23rd May in the City Centre will see the streets transformed into hubs to get people learning about growing, cooking and eating food. There will be garden experts form Garden Answers magazine on hand to provide advice, chefs from Riverford Organic Vegetables doing cooking demonstrations and the chance to plant your own seeds and take them home with you.”
Peterborough Primary Care Trust are supporting the Green Festival 2009, Nazia Hasan from the organisation said, “We are delighted to be supporting the Green Festival this year because healthy eating and living are such important issues for Peterborough in order to maintain a healthy weight and healthy lifestyle”

The Festival kicks off with the launch event on Saturday 23rd May in the City Centre, followed by a fortnight of events around Peterborough. All launch day activities run from 10am-4pm, and are free and ideal for families.

Full details of the event can also be found by visiting: www.pect.org.uk/greenfestival The website also features hints and tips on growing your own food, greening your wardrobe and gardening in small spaces.

Same great veg, slightly different name…

Local seasonal, organic vegbox scheme River Nene Organic Veg has changed its name to Riverford.

The local food experts, who are supporting this year’s Peterborough Green Festival, will be demonstrating how to cook healthy, easy meals, using locally grown food, at the Festival launch on Saturday 23rd May (you will find them in the ‘eat it’ hub in Queensgate Shopping Centre from 10am).

They have suggestions on how to make your five a day effortless. From soups, smoothies, salads and preserves, to quiche, risotto, and pasta, the possibilities are endless!

Riverford grow most of their produce at Sacrawell Farm and they supply their customers in Cambridgeshire with a box packed full of fresh, organic fruit and veg every week. They also offer organic and local ale, fruit juices, dairy and meat products. Getting healthy ingredients delivered in one box alongside a recipe suggestion makes life easy for Riverford’s customers.

One such recipe is their asparagus with lemon crumbs (takes just fifteen minutes to make and serves four)

Ingredients

2 slices of wholemeal bread,

crusts removed1 garlic clove,

1 tsp salt, 1 tsp thyme leaves

1/2 tsp rosemary leaves, chopped,

1 tbsp olive oil

1 lemon, zested and juiced

1 bunch asparagus, trimmed

50g butter, cut into cubes

50g parmesan, grated

Instructions

1. To prepare the asparagus, wash and exert gentle pressure at the bottom of each spear until it snaps/breaks where it is tender.

2. Preheat the oven to 275°C. Put the bread, garlic, salt, herbs, lemon zest and olive oil in a food processor and whizz until breadcrumbs form. Scatter the crumbs on a shallow tray and bake in the oven until golden brown.

3. Blanch the asparagus for 4-6 minutes. Then put the lemon juice in a small pan and whisk in the butter over a medium heat. Remove from the heat when the butter has melted.

4. Place the asparagus spears on plates, sprinkle with breadcrumbs and parmesan. Drizzle with the lemon butter and serve.

You can find more quick, easy, local food recipes from Riverford by visiting http://www.riverfordsacrewell.co.uk/