Community Competition
The winner of the community competition this year is Farm Fresh Revolution
https://www.farmfreshrevolution.com/
A small food charity run by the entrant, in a part-time role, and an army of volunteers. They distribute high quality fresh produce to schools in low socio-economic areas of Staffordshire.
They deliver to approximately 200 families each week.
Runners up:
Somerset NHS
South Brockwells Farm
Highly commended:
Tilton Green Fair
The Cheshire Harvest 2023
Every year we run a competition to find the most imaginative event taking place during British Food Fortnight. Imaginative, innovative and inclusive are the ingredients we are looking for. This year’s competition is about access to and affordability of good food.
Wellbeing broadcaster and entrepreneur, Liz Earle MBE, is leading this year’s competition: asking individuals, communities, businesses, schools, retailers, pubs,
restaurants caterers, hospitals and care homes to join her in helping to make good food available for all through your British Food Fortnight activities.
Everyone is invited to enter: individuals, community volunteers, schools, chefs, retailers, care homes, hospitals; whole villages, towns and cities. Activities run by small and large organisations; ones that bring a celebration of British food to life in the community, are inclusive, educational and have a lasting legacy.
We are looking for an individual or a community that does something during British Food Fortnight to help make ‘Good food available for all’ in their community. It could be through community cooking classes, a pub or retailer that enables a robust supply of quality food for all their community, a care home, school, NHS Trust.
The competition is open to everyone who helps to make fresh, healthy British food more available in their community. Here are a few ideas based on some of the wonderful things people have done during British Food Fortnight in previous years:
- Schools: developing your own vegetable gardens or even mini farms.
- Social care: organising regular foodie gatherings for the elderly and isolated in your community.
- Community leaders: offering cooking classes for parents through your community hub, school or even local pub.
- Retailers: making your store a reliable source of good, healthy seasonal food for all the community.
- Markets: bringing fresh, healthy food into the heart of communities.
- Hospitals: making good food available to patients and visitors.
- Pubs and restaurants: going the extra mile to put fresh, seasonal, healthy food on menus.
To enter, simply share your story of what you did during British Food Fortnight 2023 to make good food available to all. Take plenty of photos and post them on your social media sites tagging in #BritishFoodFortnight. And email: info@lovebritishfood.co.uk with a description of your activity, no more than 500 words.
The winner will receive a 2-night stay in a luxury foodie haven and a winning plaque to display in your community.
See full T&Cs below.
Terms and Conditions
1. The competition is open to residents of the UK, except for anyone associated with judging the competition.
2. All information detailing how to enter this competition forms part of these terms and conditions. It is a condition of entry that all rules are accepted as final and that the competitor agrees to abide by these rules. Submission of an entry will be taken to mean acceptance of these terms and conditions.
3. To enter this competition, participants must send their entry to info@lovebritishfood.co.uk. Entrants must:
a. Describe their main activity and use pictures where possible. Entries should include up to 3 images and no more than 500 words.
4. All entries must be received by midday on Friday 20th October 2023.
5. All entries submitted must be original and must not have been published elsewhere or have won a prize in any other competition. It is the responsibility of each entrant to ensure that their entry does not infringe the copyright of any third party or any laws.
6. All entries must be submitted by a responsible adult over the age of 18.
7. The competition is open to all groups, formal or informal.
8. Copyright in all entries submitted for this competition remains with the respective entrants. However, each entrant grants a worldwide, irrevocable, perpetual licence to Love British Food to feature any or all of the submitted entries in any of their publications, their websites and/or in any promotional material connected to this competition. Entrants will not receive remittance for such publication, though their work will be credited.
9. An entry to the competition serves as written confirmation from the responsible adult that consent has been gained from all individuals (or their parent/guardian in the event that they are under the age of 18) for the use of the photographic images submitted, to include the use of individual’s name, likeness and biographic and other information for purposes of publicity and promotion.
10. Illegible, incomplete, defaced or corrupt entries will not be accepted. No responsibility can be accepted for lost entries and proof of transmission or posting will not be accepted as proof of receipt. Entries must not be sent through agencies or third parties.
11. The judges will select one overall winning initiative and one runner-up which, in the sole opinion of the judges, best demonstrate this criteria: Competition entries will be judged on the extent to which they:
- Use innovative ways to make good, healthy food more available in their community.
- Create and strengthen supply chains so that good food is more accessible to all or parts of their community.
- Celebrate fresh, good, healthy food within their community, helping people learn how to buy and cook it.
12. The competition is judged by the organisers of British Food Fortnight. The decision of the judges is final and no correspondence will be entered into.
13. The organisers of the winning entry will receive Love British Food 2023 trophy plus a 2-night stay in a luxury foodie haven.
14. In the event of the Promoter being unable to contact the winning organisers or of their being unable to accept their prize, the Promoter reserves the right to award the prize to another entrant who, in the opinion of the judges and in accordance with these terms and conditions, is the next best entry.
15. The winning organisers will be required to take part in publicity associated with the competition.
16. The prize is non-transferable and there are no cash alternatives.
17. Should an act of God occur that renders the competition itself or the awarding of the prizes impossible, the Promoter may at its absolute discretion vary or amend the promotion and the entrant agrees that no liability shall attach to the Promoter as a result thereof.
2022 winner: David Smyth, Catering Production Manager of Antrim Area Hospital in Northern Ireland
David has led the way for hospitals in Northern Ireland to take part in the national food celebrations, creating a promotion titled ‘Celebrating Northern Irish food during British Food Fortnight’. He inspired other Trusts to get involved and his colleagues in other hospitals to join the Love British Food Hospitals Working Group. He bought Dexter beef farmer Sean O’Neil on board with all the activities providing an invaluable contribution to the discussion on local supply chains.
Alexia Robinson, founder of Love British Food says: “David has been the most remarkable leader in inspiring people and the results speak for themselves.”
David Smyth said: “It is a pleasure to be involved with Love British Food and Celebrating Northern Irish Food during British Food Fortnight. What can I say but thank you so much. I will proudly display the plaque in our restaurant. The catering team will be delighted with this news.”
2021 winner: Victoria Buob-Aldorf, Bartholomew School in Oxfordshire for the most wonderful British Food Fortnight school menus throughout the two weeks. Victoria also organised learning activities for pupils to inspire them to cook at home; and she involved the whole school and parents in the event.
2020's winner is Flo Osborne, 89, from Dovercourt, Essex.
During lockdown Flo made more than 100 pies for the elderly and vulnerable in her community.
Flo went above and beyond for her community. Thank you Flo!
2019 Somerset villages Great Harvest Trail
2018 the county of Hampshire: local food promoters, Hampshire Fare, worked with Hampshire Country Council Catering Services to organise British Food Fortnight menus and wonderful educational activities in 400 schools across the county. It was a tremendous endeavour and one that has inspired other local authority catering services. It is a beacon of how to put local food on school menus and make it exciting and educational for pupils. It was achieved through the inspiration and endeavours of two inspirational women whose vision extended across a whole county.
2017 Ginger & Spice Festival: a 4-day event celebrating the history and heritage of the town of Market Drayton and its links with the Gingerbread Man. The aim was to bring the local community together to discover, explore, re-connect and celebrate their unique culinary heritage, as well as promote and celebrate their local produce. It was such a success, the festival has taken place every year since.
2016 City of Bath & NE Somerset Local Food Partnership: an inspired programme of celebrations, activities and events during the Fortnight with more than 30 local businesses getting involved. Food festivals, cooking courses and a British Breakfast for all participating schools using local produce were just some of the activities that took place throughout the city during British Food Fortnight.
2015 City of Peterborough: celebrated food and the unique role that agriculture has played in the development of the city. A series of events filled the city centre with the sights, sounds, tastes, smells, songs and dances of the countryside finishing with an open-air British food lunch in the Cathedral square attended by hundreds of people sitting at long tables recreating a modern-day harvest feast. Most notably, Peterborough’s city centre food and craft market was reinstated after 50 years providing a wonderful legacy from the competition.
2014 Emsworth market town, Hampshire:
they created a food festival, not for outside visitors, but for the town itself. What they achieved was astonishing; two weeks of events with local producer markets, foraging walks, themed lunches, films about the town’s oyster heritage and tastings. Students from nearby colleges took over the Brookfield Hotel to prepare a three course Great British Menu. A food mountain was built in the centre of town and all the food was donated to the Beacon Food Bank. Winning the British Food Fortnight competition has inspired the town to expand the celebrations every year since and the whole town and surrounding area now celebrate British Food Fortnight every year. The vision of one man, Alistair Gibson, Emsworth Food Festival is now the benchmark against which we judge all other food festivals. What they achieved is truly astonishing. There is a fun film of it here:
https://emsworthonline.co.uk/Emsworth%20British%20Food%20Fortnight.html
2013 The village of Haslington,
Cheshire: our first winner and proof that small communities can also be winners. The whole community were hands-on in organising a weekend of harvest celebrations that truly gave a modern-day interpretation of the tradition of harvest festival. Farm animals were bought into the centre of the village, there was a farmer’s market on the village green, there was a whole village debate about food and farming led by local farmers and the local MP and a grand finale harvest celebration with local producers and the WI.