Kindling has benefited from MMU Business School students over the last few months, exploring and identifying non-food crops that can be grown by local farmers and sold in products on the local market.
The report (see below) aims to produce a set of recommendations for Kindling to take forward in our vision for a sustainable society.
Kindling’s Forgotten Fields project was enthusiastically received at the biannual Manchester Histories Festival by many visitors, young and old, (7 - 87) who popped in to see the food heritage work that has been researched and illustrated over the last two years.
On the Celebration Day (3rd March 2012) at Manchester Town Hall there were a fantastic mix of interested people...
Twelve of us spent today (Wednesday 7th March) on a day-long horticulture course run by Jenny Griggs of Climate Friendly Food. It was the first day of four consecutive Wednesdays as part Kindling’s work to encourage more people to consider commercial-scale food growing in the North West.
We have been in Edinburgh visiting the inspiring Cyrenian's charity – a family of projects focused around food and supporting homeless and vulnerable people across the city.
Four members of the Kindling team joined up with Liverpool Food Alliance to journey to Edinburgh for a two day visit organised by Nina Dale of Making Local Food Work.
The combination of farm, supported community, sheltered accommodation, community gardens and Good Food waste project (via a Fareshare franchise) offered a fantastic opportunity for us to learn more about working with volunteers.
Our Forgotten Fields project will be showcasing its work and findings from the last two years at this year’s Manchester Histories Festival (MHF); a celebration of Greater Manchester’s unique history and heritage through a packed ten day programme of events and activities.
Want to help bring the freshest, most local organic produce to Manchester? Do you have a passion for good food, a business mind and want to support local farmers? Then Manchester Veg People may be for you.
As part of our work to increase the supply of truly sustainable food to Greater Manchester we are undertaking the mammoth task of creating 500 apple trees over the weekend of 24th and 25th March 2012.
We've got a very exciting course coming up over the next month or so, as part of our work to encourage more people to consider commercial-scale food growing.
In December 2011, as part of the Sustainable Fayre project, the Kindling Trust in partnership with Climate Friendly Food delivered the final report for 20% and 41% carbon reduction of menus to Manchester City Council.
It is not very often that you get approached by a group offering you support and funds to carry out your work - especially at such a difficult time for the third sector. But, that is exactly what happened when Chris Smith of Foodlink NW approached Kindling in the summer offering us the opportunity to join it's Local Food Fund bid.
At the time there was no guarantee the bid would be successful and so we put the opportunity to the back of our minds, but three weeks ago, we received a phone call confirming the bid had been successful.