Our Work with Communities
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Love British Food is a grassroots driven organisation. When we started in 2001, we set up 12 community groups around the country with inspirational local leaders encouraging people in their counties to take part in our activities. In an age when so many campaigns are entirely social media driven, the fact that our activities are still grounded in communities is something we are very proud of.
Urban and rural communities. Villages and market towns. Cities and councils. Volunteers and social enterprises. Teachers, school cooks, pub chefs, butchers, bakers, fishermen, care home managers, hospital catering teams. All embrace our activities and work with us to drive them through their communities. We work with many unsung heroes who care passionately about promoting good British food. They are our oxygen.
Our Community Supporters and how to become one!
Our Community Supporters work with us to encourage more people to celebrate the food and drink produced in the UK.
Whether working with local schools, hospitals, community groups or even talking to the local retailers and producers, they are enthusiastic, hard-working supporters of Love British Food and British Food Fortnight.
If anyone is keen to learn more and sign up for this voluntary role please contact info@lovebritishfood.co.uk
Eunice Wilson
From a background of Agriculture, as an Agric student, Crop Research Assistant Officer, Young Farmer and Farm Secretary to a Graphic Designer, my passion has always been British Agriculture. Our farmers work so hard to produce the finest food and now more than ever there is a real chance for British home grown food to take centre stage in Britain. I married into farming and fully appreciate the long hours, and the stresses and strains of the industry, reliant on our unpredicatable british weather. I am keen to promote British Agriculture to old and young to Love British Food, because nothing tastes better.
Godfrey Barton
Godfrey Barton has been a fan of British food for a long time but really became more aware when River Cottage started (1998 opened and on TV 2008) and really made us look at food in a totally different way including where it came from, how it was looked after and processed. He signed up to a ‘pig in a day’ course and soon realised supporting local British farmers and producers was the way forward.
Godfrey was keen to enhance his own cookery skills so signed up for a 4 day cookery course at River Cottage and realised from the chefs just how important buying British and local really was. Godfrey was invited to spend a day in the River Cottage HQ kitchen and still goes back as often as he can on a voluntary basis to learn more skills, understand about food waste and the importance of seasonal produce.
Godfrey has taken his new skills on board and has started a food business – Shires Country Kitchen – making hummus and dips plus is currently working on a range of cordial using seasonal/local products where possible. His local area was slightly behind with seasonal produce but is now flourishing and Godfrey is overjoyed to be a part of it.
In 2019 Godfrey Barton came on board with the Love British Food and British Food Fortnight campaign as Community Supporter. Godfrey is keen to spread the message to schools, community events, festival and fetes with cookery demonstrations and British food talks.
If you want to talk to Godfrey about activity in Northampton email him on godfreybarton1963@gmail.com
Ken Christy
Ken is an independent Rural Consultant advising both producers and retailers on obtaining grant funding. He is a mentor, campaigner, conservationist, and innovator, and uses these skills to encourage diversification and business development in the British countryside. He has joined this campaign to encourage rural retailers to support local producers more.
www.kenchristy-ruralsupport.com
enquiries@kenchristy-ruralsupport.com
Lauren Clark
Lauren Clark is a mother of two, living in the Nottinghamshire countryside, with a farming mad husband and Rufus the border terrier. Lauren runs a social media campaign called Notts on Toast, with the aim of championing artisan, independent food and drink producers from Nottinghamshire. Along with working for Nottinghamshire Young Farmers Clubs, Lauren also trains and supports Food Producers with their social media marketing. Lauren became a community supporter in 2019.
Leisa Pickles
Leisa lives in Newark, Nottinghamshire and runs her own business supporting Food & Drink producers most of which are family owned. Leisa is a lover of all things food and drink related, especially those grown and produced in Britain. Leisa is a Regional Supporter for Love British Food and British Food Fortnight and is helping to support the British farming and food industries.
Olivia Shave
Olivia has an established Lamb box scheme delivering Nationwide’. Last year, introducing ‘ready meals’ for your freezer, incorporating her own grass-fed lamb, and local seasonal produce.
Apart from being a Shepherd with her husband and two daughters, Olivia is an established food blogger & contributor to a wonderful book, 'For The Love Of The Land', written by Jenny Jefferies whom is one of our Food Heroes.
Olivia is also a Lambassador for AHDB Love Lamb Week, and established Fibre Artist with her dual purpose sheep in Norfolk, whilst conserving a rare breed of Norfolk Horns alongside her commercial flocks.
Olivia's' business 'ECOEWE' is a Nationwide finalist of the Countryside Alliance Awards, renowned for their focus on strong animal husbandry and butchery, support for slow and artisan food and a platform for the efforts being made to foster our farming heritage through measures such as protecting rare breeds. Also a Great Taste Award Winner for their Grass fed lamb in 2020
Olivia works tirelessly to shout out about local British Farmers, getting people to understand what they’re eating, slow cooking, whilst reducing waste and food miles.
Rachel Pitman
I have always loved a good meal out but it wasn’t until moving to Dorset in 2014 that I started to give more consideration to where my food came from. I now buy more consciously and have become a passionate supporter of the great food producers in the area and the restaurants that use them.
In 2017 I started writing a food blog, I regularly meet up with local producers and love the interesting stories they have about how their food journey began.
Our food producers and restaurants need our support more than ever after Covid 19 and if my stories/reviews help then it makes writing worth while.
Rachael Pitman
The 15 mile foodie
Ronnie Ownsworth
Ronnie is married to Andrew and works within the family farming business, concentrating on sales & marketing of their home-grown Ownsworth’s Rapeseed Oil. She is a devoted supporter of British farming and farmers and is a passionate home cook, using local and seasonal food from her county’s food producers, whom she has highlighted in her first cookery book this year.
email: ownsworthsmail@gmail.com
Sally Rooma
Sally lives in London where she is the founder and editor of The Foodie Travel Guide. She champions food tourism in Britain by writing about delicious days out, food and drink tours and tasting experiences. She loves visiting farms, vineyards and producers across the country and discovering their unique stories. She enjoys field-to-fork dining and cooking at home with delicious British produce. Sally became a community supporter in 2019.
Sandra Woodfall
With a background in health promotion work since the mid ’80s I’ve had an interest in community involvement and local food for a long time. Having set up community food growing projects in the mid ’90s when farmers markets began to develop we set up our first farmers market in June 2000. We have remained actively involved in running farmers markets since then and have helped and supported many small local producers during that time. We currently run 6 farmers markets a month but have set up and supported many more in Kent during the 15 years. We run the farmers markets as a small business “My Farmers Market” which has been operating for over 10 years (previously we had run the farmers markets as volunteers). We are also a producer of jams, chutneys etc.m and use local produce whenever possible and sell the jams at farmers markets and a few other events. In 2013 we achieved Highly Commended in the UKs Greenest Trader Award.
Email: myfarmersmarket02@gmail.com
Twitter: @mfarmersmarket
Sarah and Beverley Milner Simonds
Beverley is a good-life loving woman who has puts her heart into her various food projects in Somerset. She is a Founder and Director of the Burnham on Sea Food & Drink Festival (runner up in the Bring Home the Harvest competitions in 2013 & 14) and a guest blogger for Love British Food. She is fast becoming the go-to person for opinion on food & drink production in and around Somerset. She is a judge for Taste of the West, Great Taste Awards and the Bristol & Bath Good Food Awards.
Sarah comes from a family of dairy farmers and brewers so a career that focused on food & drink seemed inevitable. She is Founder and Director of The People’s Plot, a social enterprise connecting communities with the land. She leads a food and farming education programme in the south-west, delivers horticulture training and designs community gardens. Together with her wife she founded and runs the Burnham on Sea Food & Drink Festival. She is a judge for Taste of the West, Great Taste Awards, the Bath Good Food Awards and the Royal Berkshire Show.
www.burnhamonseafoodfestival.org
Sophy Robson
I started my brand Sophy Robson as a pioneer of nail art in the fashion and beauty industry. I travelled all over the world working with different brands and hosting pop ups. A few years ago I started working in adult social care. As well as being a support worker I work on community engagement activity and marketing for BlueBird Care Westminster . I am passionate about helping isolated and vulnerable members of the community and I feel like access to simple tasty nutritious food is very important and something I want to promote.
I am also a mum and an artist .
