Soil Association’s banquet

A carbon-light delivery of organic vegetables from a Soil Association certified farm in Berkshire was bicycled into London in time for a star-studded charity banquet - The Feast of Albion -, being held by luxury lifestyle group, quintessentially in aid of the Soil Association.

A convoy of cyclists pedaled over 50 miles from the farm in Pangbourne to London carrying over 160 kg of organic vegetables with the help of trikes provided by Riverford Organic Vegetables and wearing organic t-shirts produced by T Shirt and Sons Ltd emblazoned with the slogan ‘carbon-light food delivery’.  The ride was a symbolic gesture highlighting the extraordinary dependence of our increasingly industrialised food and agriculture systems on cheap oil. The distribution of food accounts for at least 30% of all road freight within the UK. 

The vegetables were from Tolhurst Organic Produce whose carbon footprint has been calculated to be just 8 tonnes of carbon per year. This is same amount as an average UK household. Tolhurst Organic Produce produces and distributes organic vegetables to over 400 customers making it 90% more energy efficient then non-organic produce grown and delivered to a supermarket.

Head chef on the night, Mike Dewing from Admirable Crichton said that he had never sourced seasonal, local and organic ingredients on this scale before and that he would certainly be keeping the producers on the books for future events. The Feast of Albion was not only be the most dazzling event in the UK’s social calendar, it was also be the most sustainable feast with the majority of the ingredients being sourced from within 50 miles of Tower Bridge, celebrating the very best in seasonal, local and organic food.

The raw ingredients were sourced by local, organic and wild-food champion, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, and the 5-course meal was be cooked by Mark Hix. Like Hugh, Mark is a champion of local and seasonal food as demonstrated in his latest book, British Regional Food. The eco-banquet was served to 400 guests at London’s Guildhall on Thursday.

The event included a headlining session from Annie Lennox, who gave one of the top performances at the 2005 Live 8 concert and is also an internationally recognised campaigner for human rights and the environment. She stated that she was passionate about fighting against the injustices of global hunger and poverty – supporting the Soil Association through the Feast of Albion event would fit with that.

http://www.soilassociation.org