Where can you enjoy the sunshine with the family this Friday evening, eat for £3.50 max and support local producers?
Well, if you live in Nottingham the answer is right on your doorstep. Look no further than Sneinton Market.
Organised by Emlyn Mousley from the Save the Earth Cooperative, the Community Market encourages families to get together and enjoy social eating.
With all hot food and drink priced between £2.00 to £3.50 (no more than £3.50 per portion) it’s affordable too.
Emlyn felt that taking the family out to eat in Nottingham, like any city, could be expensive . Even street food markets can charge as much as £8 for a portion of food. Add drinks on top of that and doing things together as a family becomes an unaffordable luxury.
The focus is to adopt a more European approach to socialising for families to get together. Emlyn has done some travelling over the years and noticed how other cultures in India and Europe eat together more as a family, an idea he would love the UK to adapt with adults and children getting involved. Social eating is getting more trendy here but is an everyday event in some other countries. The market is the ideal opportunity to get together to share delicious food and drink and enjoy some live entertainment without breaking the bank.
loneliness in the community is also a major issue the organisers want to tackle and feel the event is a great opportunity to get out the house, meet people and make new friends.
The event also aims to highlight the importance of key issues such as food education and tackling food waste, the invaluable role of social chefs, supporting ethical products and crafts whilst supporting local food producers, businesses and crafts people.
I highlighted the problem with plastic waste in my recent feature http://www.nottinghamlive.co.uk/live/food-plastics-an-unpackaged-perspective/ Recycling and reduction of single use plastics is another problem they want to tackle and aim to be almost 100% plastic and paper free.
The cooperative had applied for grants and been turned down so they self funded. Thankfully Biopac sponsored the first event and supplied 100% compostable glasses and straws for the market.
People wanting to volunteer or donate monthly so they can keep the event going you can contact them and keep an eye on the Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/NottinghamCommunityMarket/
There are also donation buckets at the market. Their policy being that whatever they raise from the community they use for the community. The event is also supported by presenter, Penney Poyser, who is also chair of the Nottingham Good Food Partnership. She got involved in community markets as she has been involved in the Nottingham food scene for over 28 years and is passionate about tackling the issue of food poverty in the city and hopes the community market can help make a difference. She also shares the hope of unity through food.
The launch event took place on 1 June and was a roaring success with over 1000 people attending and was featured on Notts TV and BBC Radio Nottingham. It is free to attend and you can turn up anytime between 5 – 10pm.
See you there!
By Tanya Louise
Editor
@tanyalouise_
