Be In The Know
Discover news about eating, cooking, growing & accessing food & the support that’s available in your area
Farm on the Fell- Doing dairy differently
Farm on the Fell- Doing dairy differently “We believe that farming should work with nature and not against it, which is why we farm as naturally as possible” I went to meet Lisa to find out a little bit more about them and gain a better understanding of why...
SEASONAL COMMUNITY COOK UPS- ROUND 3
A huge thank you to Peter Stead and his level 1 hospitality students at Blackburn College for the effort that went to for our third community cook up. Peter used the cook up experience as a research project for the students and spent a few weeks leading up to the...
Cook and Share Month
Bringing people together through food “If you really want to make a friend, go to someone’s house and eat with him… the people who give you their food give you their heart” Cesar Chavez – civil rights activist Each year the Soil Association run two campaigns...
Mushroom Growing
Myco Manchester workshop I had the pleasure of attending a mushroom intercropping workshop at The Greenhouse Project in Whitton Park https://www.lancswt.org.uk/greenhouse-project delivered by Myco Manchester https://www.mycomanchester.com/ and hosted by Andy Mather...
Meet James Nuttall AKA Hens On The Hill
Meet James Nuttall AKA Hens on the Hill This is the tenth local producer i have met now for the series of blogs named "Putting a face to our food" I did go to visit James in early September but i have waited until British Egg week to tell you all about it and his...
Seasonal Community Cook ups- Round 2
After reading about their parent and child budget cookery sessions I approached Blackburn Central High School to see if they would like to take part in our seasonal community cook ups. Just a telephone call later with pastoral lead Miriam Rathore explaining about the...
Meet The Nowt Poncy Food Company
The Nowt Poncy Food Company Is a small, quality sauces manufacturer and retailer based in Rossendale. Their ethos is all about using the best and smallest amount of ingredients as possible. They pride themselves on locally sourcing as many ingredients as possible and...
Putting a Face to our Food- Zafroz Bakery a micro-bakery- aka Haris
More than just sourdough- Zafroz Bakery a micro-bakery- aka Haris For this series of “Putting a face to our food” I wanted to include a baker who used limited processed ingredients and additives in their products and given we are entering September thought we could...
Meet Oakstream Pastures
Back in 2014 Mr Tabassum bought a 7 acre stretch of land in Burnley with view to developing a Muslim burial ground. Six years on, the local authority finally declined permission and sadly Mr Tabassum passed away. This was 2020 and Mr Tabassum’s family were left with...
Seasonal Community Cook Ups
Part of my role at the Food Alliance is to not only develop a greater connection between those who produce food locally and those who consume it, but also to develop food related skills and knowledge in the community. So when I was thinking about how to do this I...
Meet Earth Evolution
Darwen's Eco Refill Shop After living in Darwen for eight years and having no choice but to shop in other towns to buy products that were eco friendly, Kate Coop took the plunge and decided it was time Darwen had its own eco friendly store. She opened Earth Evolution...
The benefit 39% of Young Families are missing out on in BwD
Healthy Start is a benefit designed to help expectant mums and families on low income with children under 4 years to buy milk, baby formula, fruit and vegetables. However we know that in Blackburn with Darwen 39% of families who are eligible for Healthy Start are not claiming the support they are entitled to.
Meet Scott aka Scott Stewart
Meet Scott from Scott Stewart – Blackburn Market Scott started the company in back 2004. He bought a vegetable delivery service in Darwen, then went onto run a stall on Darwen market for a short time before moving over to Blackburn when opportunity came up....
A visit to St Joseph’s RC Primary School’s Garden Project
What more inspiring way could there be to spend an afternoon than being shown around a school garden project by the pupils who garden there? It was a real pleasure to be shown round the garden at St Joseph’s in Darwen by Ruby and Harrison who were keen to tell me...
Meet Lisa AKA Reedy’s Naturally
Reedy's Naturally Lisa started making her own preserves and sauces through having too much home grown fruit and vegetables and not wanting it to go to waste. A keen amateur cook, her love of home grown food and natural preserve making inspired her to take the...
Meet Boxed Green
Meet Andrea from Boxed Green- the organic fruit and Veg Box Andrea started the business back in November 2020 after being made redundant for the last time from the airline industry. She had always been interested in good food, liked to buy local and was a veg...
Hoddlesdon Farm
Steph and Andrew Nightingale bought what is now Hoddlesdon farm back in 2018. Although Andrews family background is one of dairy farming neither of them had any direct experience of farming. Steph’s career was in nursing originally then she moved onto her own...
Putting a face to our food
Putting a Face to our Food Whilst many of us would like to support our local food producers it can sometimes be a challenge to know where to start. The markets in Blackburn and Darwen town centres are an obvious place but where else? This is the question we...
Corporation Park Community Garden
What a gorgeous day to call into the community garden in Corporation Park. Sunshine, blue skies and bird song! The community garden was one of the projects the Food Alliance gave a small grant to last year which has helped pay for wood to build new beds, a range of...
Pulford Dairies- it’s a family affair
Find out more about our visit to Pulford Dairies one of the local producers in and around Blackburn with Darwen. A great way to support our local producers and reduce your food miles.
Bees glorious bees
Find out more about Dawn’s visit to Roof Top Bees and an opportunity on 3rd May to meet the bees yourself.
Let us introduce…
Introducing our new member of staff who will be developing our links with local food producers and creating really exciting information about how food is produced.
The Current State of Food Insecurity
Latest data from the Food Foundation The Food Foundation has just published its latest survey data on food insecurity. Since March 2020 the Foundation has commissioned a series of nationally representative surveys across the UK. It focuses particularly on specific...
A Community Coming Together.
Sneak peak at the keynote topics What happens when a community comes together to learn, share and network around food? An amazing day is had by all, connections are made and people leave feeling inspired. Leader of the Council Councillor Phil Riley in his welcome...
A great week to reduce your food waste
As part of the national week of action on food waste how about challenging yourself to reduce the amount of edible food you throw away?