The Devon & Cornwall Food Association Ltd. (DCFA) is a Private Company Limited by Guarantee. Registered Company No. 07419679. Registered Charity No. - DCFA is recognised by HMRC as a Charity for tax purposes under Reference XT27083. Members of : NCVO (The National Council for Voluntary Organisations) – Membership No. MEMBERVC/13004, CASAP (Community &Social Action Plymouth), The Small Charities Coalition, And Volunteering England – Membership No.1278747.

Our Funder:

… And Voluntary Donations.

The Devon & Cornwall Food Association Ltd (DCFA)

NEWSLETTER December 2011 – January 2012 Patron: Judi Spiers, BBC Radio Devon Spare Food is Share Food!

7 Whimple Street, Plymouth, Devon PL1 2DH Mobile: 07745819828 (text only) Email: saudigeoff@yahoo.co.uk Website: http://dcfa.webs.com

FOREWORD BY THE COMPANY CHAIR

Mrs. Christine REID

Dear Friends and Supporters, 2011 is nearing its end and what an exciting year this has been for DCFA! We have achieved so much and I hope this progress will continue throughout 2012! Victoria HURTH, our Project Coordinator, is beginning to get to grips with the finer points of her task and we wish her every success! You will see from our website and our Facebook page that DCFA needs additional volunteers to help out on with the weekly dairy produce distribution. Why not make this your New Year’s resolution? To assist on a rota with others for just a couple of hours each week... do please think about it. I would like to thank all our Board Members, and our Friends and Supporters, for all their help during this year. Thank you! And on behalf of all at DCFA, may I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Prosperous 2012!

Christine Christine REID Chair DCFA Board of Trustees

DCFA

would like to wish a very

Merry Christmas

and a

Happy New Year

to all its

Newsletter Readers!

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EDITORIAL COMMENT NTERNET Links. If you’re reading this on-line and come across words with blue lettering that are underlined, then

you can click on these links and be taken directly to another site for more information on that particular topic.

If you read this on Microsoft Word, you can put your cursor over the link, hold down the Control (Ctrl) Key and click! Ed.

PERSONAL ANNOUNCEMENTS

EST WISHES FOR a very Happy Birthday to Amanda HURLOW for Wednesday, 11

th January 2012. Amanda is a

Friend of DCFA. Happy Birthday Amanda!

VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Robert SPRINGETT for Saturday, 21

st January 2012. Rob is a Friend of DCFA and

the organiser of the Polperro Music & Arts Festival for 2012. Have a lovely day Rob! If anyone wishes to know more about the festival, please click on this link.

DCFA HAS A NEW HOME!

CFA HAS FINALLY taken possession of its new home at the SHIP Hostel in Plymouth. We are so very grateful to

Plymouth City Council for the assistance they have given to DCFA in this matter. Although DCFA has signed the documentation to take possession of rooms at the hostel we will not actual start trading from there until the middle of January 2012. In the meantime, Wisemans will continue to deliver dairy produce to us at the Congress Hall off Armada Way. When we started operations from the SHIP Hostel we hope to be able to receive two deliveries of produce from Wisemans each week... probably on Tuesdays and Thursdays. We will also be able to take delivery of other types of food produce for our Customers. We just need a little time to get sorted before we start our new and improved service in January. But just for interest here’s a picture of our new premieses and our new address:

DCFA, SHIP Hostel,

George Place, Stonehouse,

PLYMOUTH, PL1 3NY, Devon

A DCFA WORKSHOP LEASE SEE THE OPEN INVITATION below from Victoria HURTH, the new part-time DCFA Project Coordinator...

Dear All,

Firstly I would like to introduce myself. I am the new DCFA Project Coordinator. My initial role, which is part-time, is to help the DCFA to attract funding so that it can expand its support of all our charitable organisations. As part of this task, it is important to me that I get to know all the organisations we work with, and better understand their current and future requirements. Additionally, in order to put good funding bids together it is vital that the projects we put forward show best practice in serving those requirements, and how best to involve the end-users of the food we provide for their long-term benefit.

In this context, I would like to invite you to a half-day DCFA Workshop at the new premises of DCFA to discuss these issues in a semi-structured format. The proposed date for this is 9.30 a.m. - 1.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 11

th January 2012.

We are working to fairly tight timescales and I would therefore be grateful if you were able to find time to attend this meeting. If you cannot attend this date then it would help me if you could provide the dates you could make that week and the week after, so I can judge if a revision is necessary.

I am looking forward to meeting you all. In the meantime I wish you all a very Merry Christmas!

Victoria

This invitation is open to all with priority being given to our DCFA Customers (those organisations receiving dairy produce each week). Would you please send me the name and contact details of the representatives you wish to attend?

For further information please see this link... http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/2333725

We have to limit the number of vacancies on this DCFA Workshop and these will be allocated on a first-come-first-served basis, with priority being given to representatives from our DCFA Customers. Please contact Geoff READ to ask for vacancies or further information. (Details on top of page 1.)

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED OW THAT DCFA has permanent premises we will soon be trading in earnest and looking to accept deliveries

of food produce from all manner of food producers and food outlets. DCFA is going to need a lot of help from volunteers. Can you help? Please contact Geoff READ to ask for vacancies or further information. (Details on top of page 1.)

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A MAJOR MILESTONE HE DCFA DAIRY PRODUCE TEAM Has Reached a Major Milestone! DCFA has broken through the 10,000 litre

milestone for the amount of milk issued to our participating charitable organisations so far. So... Congratulations to Karen BOWLER, the Team Coordinator and to all the volunteer Team Members! Also, many, many thanks to Julie WINDMILL-MAY at Wisemans Dairies at Pensilva in Cornwall, and to her team of truck drivers who deliver to us week in, week out. Thank you one and all!

Our webmaster, Kanda, has shared a link on The Devon & Cornwall Food Association’s (DCFA) Facebook Wall: I’ve just updated DCFA statistics page. More than 10,040 litres of good quality in-date milk have been saved from landfill sites since DCFA started our weekly trading! Not to mention various types of cream... and many big fat turkeys! Please click on this link to go to the DCFA website: http://dcfa.webs.com/stats.htm To see DCFA’s Facebook Wall, follow the link below, and when you get there, do please leave a comment and click on LIKE: http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Devon-Cornwall-Food-Association-DCFA/190586610995140

STOP PRESS: As an added bonus, DCFA have been offered some pheasant meat and we are in negotiations regarding this new project now! Thanks, The DCFA Facebook Team

DCFA MEETINGS ECEMBER 2011 Meeting. This Board Meeting held on Tuesday, 6

th December at the Shekinah Mission in

Plymouth. Those attending demolished the Mince Pies and Cream after the meeting. Our thanks go to the Shekinah for their seasonal hospitality!

EXT MEETING. The next DCFA Board Meeting will be on Tuesday, 7

th February 2011 at the Catherine Street Baptist

Church, Plymouth. This meeting will start at 10.30 a.m.

UTURE MEETINGS. All meetings are scheduled to start at 10.30 a.m. on the first Tuesday of each calendar month at

the Catherine Street Baptist Church unless stated otherwise. But this information is subject to change at short notice!

January, March, May 2012 NO MEETING

Tuesday, 7th February 2012 General Board Meeting

Tuesday, 3rd April 2012 General Board Meeting

Tuesday, 12th June 2012 General Board Meeting

FRIENDS OF DCFA CFA HAS RECENTLY updated their brochure and the latest version can be downloaded from our website.

Would you like to do something to help DCFA? Why not print off a few copies of our brochure, in colour, back-to-back, and pass them out at your Christmas social events! Networking is half the battle!

PLYMOUTH FUNDRAISER GROUP MEETING

THE NEXT GROUP MEETING will be held at 12 noon on Tuesday, 26

th January 2012 at Routeways in Devonport. If

anyone wishes to know more about this Group then please contact: Paul READ at pread@routeways.org.uk

THE PLYMOUTH HERALD EOFF READ MANAGED to get a couple of letters published in The Herald in October and November 2011. Here’s one that was published on Saturday, 5

th November

2011:

I READ with interest, a letter (24th

October) which stated: "How come when there is a major problem in another country, Britain goes rushing to their aid? "They have spent time, and effort, packaging up food parcels, and tents, to send across the other side of the world, and they don't even acknowledge that we have a problem here." The Devon & Cornwall Food Association certainly realises there is an urgent need for food to feed our own people in our own communities, and that an awful lot of food is being wasted. DCFA is trying to stop good quality, in-date food from being sent to landfill by food producers and retailers in Devon and Cornwall, and redistribute it to the disadvantaged in our communities. You can learn more about us by visiting our website: http://dcfa.webs.com

GEOFFREY N READ The Devon & Cornwall Food Association

PLYMOUTH SOCIAL ENTERPRISE DAY LYMOUTH SOCIAL ENTERPRISE Day took place on Thursday, 17

th November 2011 at Plymouth University.

There was be a small exhibition of social enterprises including:

FotoNow, North Prospect Garage Project, Memory matters, Locality, Cosmic, Janner Jam, University of Plymouth-Business School, Devon & Cornwall Food Association, Plymouth Social Enterprise Network.

DCFA had a small display this event. The space available to us was not very big so we were not able to display our boards effectively. Thanks to Jackie and Phil BARNETT, both DCFA Trustees, for transporting and setting-up our Display Stands! DCFA had a few visitors to the stand and all were very supportive of our project and leaflets were taken... always a good sign! Victoria HURTH, the DCFA Project Coordinator, was able to network and no doubt she found this to be beneficial to her new task. Patrick HUDSON, a Co-opted Member to the DCFA Board of Trustees put in an appearance as did George TRICKER, one of our Dairy Team Members. All-in-all, this was worthwhile day which brought the DCFA enterprise to the fore.

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NISP An article by Mrs. Christine REID

UICK WINS. This was Speed Dating with a difference! A quick wins workshop. The unique NISP

1 “Quick Wins”

workshop aims to enable businesses to identify new opportunities between delegates at events through the matching of resources, including waste, logistics and expertise. I attended this workshop to give a short presentation about the work of DCFA, at the request of Patrick HUDSON who is a Co-opted Member of the DCFA Board of Trustees and a king-pin at NISP. We sat at numbered tables and, after the presentations, the fun began! We were each given a sheet of paper to list anything we had to dispose of, and another piece of paper to list the items we needed. The idea being for NISP to match everything up afterwards to the mutual benefit of all. I was absolutely amazed at what some firms had available to dispose of: hay bales, office fittings, rubber tyres and plastic sheeting, etc. And it was also interesting to realise just what items people could find a home for! I found this whole exercise totally fascinating! And gave me a good insight to the workings of NISP.

1The National Industrial Symbiosis Programme is a free business opportunity programme that delivers bottom line, environmental and social benefits and is the first industrial symbiosis initiative in the world to be launched on a national scale.

THE DCFA TURKEY RUN LADESDOWN MEAT & POULTRY FARM very kindly contacted DCFA in early November 2011 to

say they had a quantity of in-date frozen turkeys which they wished to shift to make room for fresh stock. Could DCFA offer them a good home? Indeed we could! Geoff READ drove up to collect twenty 20lb free-range turkeys from Sladesdown Farm at Ashburton and delivered them the same day to our participating charitable organisations: Not content with that, Daniel telephone us again later in the month to ask if we needed more. Geoff took a second trip to the farm on Friday, 25

th November and collected a second

batch. This time there were 31 turkeys of varying sizes. These are some of the charitable organisations that benefitted:

Amber Initiatives

Devon & Cornwall Refugee Support

The Action Group for Halcyon (The Halcyon Centre)

The Befriending Consortium

The Discovery Cafe

The Elder Tree Visiting & Befriending Service

The Friends & Residents of Sutton Trust

The Oasis Centre

The Plymouth FoodBank

The Plymouth Refuge (Plymouth Domestic Abuse Service)

The Reestart Recovery House

The Salvation Army: Congress Hall

The Shekinah Mission

DCFA is so very grateful to Daniel & Elaine MASON of Sladesdown Farm at Ashburton.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

From: Jenny Paton To: saudigeoff@yahoo.co.uk Sent: Wednesday, 7 December 2011, 15:19 Subject: MILK AND CREAM DONATIONS Dear Mr. Read, I have just been in contact with Julie WINDMILL-MAY who has explained that she distributes milk donations to you to distribute to charities in Plymouth. Having just checked with our Centre Manager I understand that you have kindly been donating to Shekinah Mission which is wonderful… during these cold winter months this is vital for us… so we hugely welcome your support. Many thanks Jenny Jenny Paton Trust Fundraiser Shekinah Mission Leonard Stocks Centre Factory Row Torquay Devon TQ2 5QQ

OTHER NEWS

DISCLAIMER DCFA reserves the right to select and edit articles submitted. The opinions expressed in this newsletter do not necessarily represent those of DCFA. Although we do our best to ensure the information is accurate, DCFA is not liable for any incorrect information or errors contained herein.

ONFUSING PRICE LABELS Making it Difficult for Supermarket Shoppers to Find the Best Deal. This article

was published in The Mail by Sean Poulter on Thursday, 17th

November 2011:

Stores are pulling the wool over shoppers’ eyes with complex price and pack combinations that make it difficult to find the best value. Some products are sold in pence per kilo alongside similar items sold at pence per 100g, but to compare the two requires a calculation that many busy shoppers don’t have time to do. Similarly, fruit and veg will be sold loose with a pence per kilo price alongside packs of three or four of the same items where the price per kilo is hidden in the small print or may not appear at all.

Tricky calculation: Shoppers may be paying over the odds as a result of inconsistent price labelling, says consumer watchdog Which? Consumer watchdog Which? says the failure to offer clear prices means shoppers may be paying more than necessary.

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The problem is particularly relevant at a time when families are experiencing the biggest cost of living squeeze in more than 60 years, with most cutting back on food spending to make ends meet.

'Misleading': Pricing on loose and packaged fruit and veg can make it hard to find the best value product. Which? found two thirds of consumers generally try to compare the costs of the same type of products using unit prices. Yet only half of these find it easy and many are confused. Shoppers from the consumer champion who visited branches of the main supermarkets found unit prices often not being shown for multi-buys or promotions, and different units being used for varieties of the same product. Its researchers found pre-packed red onions priced at £1.35 for three, or 45p per item, were being sold alongside loose red onions priced at 95p per kg. A seven pack of mini bananas with a selling price of 99p and a unit price of 14.1p each was sold next to loose bananas priced at 68p per kg. Red peppers were sold in 500g packs for £2.09 or £4.18 per kg alongside packs of three mixed peppers priced at £1.65 or 55p each. Which? wants clear, consistent food pricing where the unit price is prominent and easy to read; consistent units used on all products; and multi-buys and promotions to show the unit price. To read more please click on this link.

IVE FOODS THAT you should never freeze. This article was published by Jo ROMERO on Thursday, 24

th

November 201 in:

Strawberries While many foods can be frozen to increase their shelf life, there are some that rapidly deteriorate after a spell in the icy freezer. Here are five of them.

Some iced cakes Claire MELVIN, who runs the cake company Claire’s Handmade Cakes, told us that the issue of freezing iced cakes isn’t exactly clear cut. “It is possible to freeze iced cakes, but not really advisable,” she told us. While some small iced cakes can be carefully frozen, she doesn’t recommend freezing whole iced cakes. “Whilst the icing is defrosting, it will become very sticky. You may also find that it grazes or cracks. If it happens to be a warm day, you could end up with condensation on top of the cake and also air bubbles popping under the icing… if you really want to freeze a cake,” she says, “freeze it un-iced”. As well as the cracking, Claire adds that cakes iced with coloured icing can run into an “unsightly mess” on defrosting.

Fruit and vegetables with high water content Ever defrosted a packet of frozen summer fruits, only to find the strawberries have turned to mush? Food science blogger Alex LATHBRIDGE, of the Procrastibaking blog, told us why. "Fruits and vegetables (such as strawberries, lettuce, cucumber and tomatoes) are made up of cells which give them their structure. These cells contain a large

amount of water which, when frozen slowly, forms ice crystals much larger than the original water molecules due to the rigidity of ice's crystal lattice structure. These ice crystals cause the walls of the cells to rupture, leading to a loss of structural integrity which is cause for the mushiness witnessed in fruits and vegetables when thawed.” According to Alex, when the cells rupture, enzymes are also released, which can result in a loss of flavour and the foods turning brown when defrosted. Tomatoes however, can be cooked into sauces and soups, for example, and then frozen.

Eggs in shells and mayonnaise Eggs aren’t the world’s most successful freezer food. If you freeze raw eggs in their shells, the shells will crack and burst and you’ll have egg all over your freezer. If you freeze hard-boiled eggs they’ll go rubbery. And you should never freeze mayonnaise. Richard KEMPSEY, Farms Director at Clarence Court, explains: “Mayonnaise is an oil in water emulsion of olive or corn oil (for example) with broken out egg. A natural part of egg yolk- Lecithin, which is a surfactant emulsifier, greatly helps the formation of good mayonnaise... it forms a stable emulsion. On thawing mayonnaise after putting it in a freezer the emulsion breaks down leaving a rather soupy mess!” Richard recommends making up mayonnaise from fresh oil and eggs and using immediately. But if you’ve used egg yolks to make fresh pasta or custard, don’t throw away the whites. Freeze egg whites in a clearly labelled freezer bag and... great for making meringues.

Non-vacuum packed ready to eat (cooked) fish Fish goes off quickly and it’s tempting to sling a packet into the freezer for another day. But according to Sue LUCAS, who co-runs Passionate About Fish Ltd and has spent all her working life in the seafood industry, this isn’t always the best move. While vacuum-packed ready to eat (cooked) fish can be frozen as it is, if the packaging contains air (as in the ‘over wrapped’ plastic trays covered with cling film), freezing can make the fish go soggy. Sue told us, “If the ready-to-eat fish is loose or over wrapped, it can’t really be frozen, as the fish absorbs moisture which will create poor quality after defrosting.” But if your ready-to-eat fish is in a vacuum or ‘skin’ pack you can happily freeze it for up to three months. Single cream While double cream can be frozen either as it is, or whipped, single cream turns into a gloopy, split mixture after being frozen. Christine THOMPSON, of The Dishy Cookery School advises: “the higher the fat content, the better it freezes… the best way to freeze single cream is to make a sauce with it and then freeze it. If you’re making sweet or savoury dishes with cream it’s best to use double or whipping cream as these freeze well if whisked first... hence why ice cream recipes use thicker creams.” A nutrition scientist from The Dairy Council confirmed: “Single, soured, extra thick double and Channel Island creams are not suitable for freezing.”

Please click on this link for the source of this information.

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ASTE OF THE WEST is pleased to have created an elite group of handpicked,

industry leaders to become Patron Members of the largest independent regional food group in the country. Please click on this link to find out more!

HAT IS “TRANSITION”? The world is changing, the climate's heating up and the oil is running out. But how

is all this going to affect us, here in Plymouth? What do you think? Come and obtain information on the problem and solutions, discuss your own ideas about it and share your visions for the future of our city. With a guest speaker from the Transition Network. When? Saturday, 10

th December,

Time? 12 noon – 4 p.m. Where? 171 Armada way. That’s the Corner building opposite the Armada Way Shopping Centre. Free snacks and soft drinks available! Families welcome! Children’s area available. This event is brought to you in association with Healthy Planet, the Co-operative Community Fund and the Plymouth Trades Union Council.

RAP REPORTS SIGNIFICANT Progress On Waste Reduction. This press release was issued

by WRAP on Tuesday, 15th

November 2011:

Speaking at WRAP’s2 annual conference today, Chief Executive

Dr. Liz GOODWIN published results of the organisation’s work over the past three years and set out its future agenda. She revealed that WRAP has met all its published major targets, having helped keep 11 million tonnes of waste out of landfill, avoid 5.5 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent emissions and generate £2bn of benefits to the UK economy, including £1.8bn of cost savings. As an important part of the information reporting on progress in the last three years, WRAP published new research which showed a sharp fall in household food waste by 13% but showed we still throw away edible food worth £12bn a year. Dr. GOODWIN, commenting on the food waste figures, said that the fall in household food waste since 2006 / 07 from 8.3 million tonnes to 7.2 million tonnes per year was very welcome and probably due to a range of factors. However, there was a big job still to be done given the food we waste in homes alone is worth £12bn a year, and food wasted throughout the supply chain was ‘significant’ at a time when food security was a major global issue.

2 Waste & Resources Action Programme

She also announced the results of the first major research into the benefits of greater reuse of materials such as textiles. This showed, she said, that there would be significant gains for both UK jobs and the environment through reusing goods and services more, rather than just throwing them away. Dr. GOODWIN said she was very proud of the contribution WRAP is making to help business and families find cost savings and identify growth opportunities for the UK economy, given the current severe financial pressures we all face. She said: “All the governments of the UK which fund our work have the goal of moving swiftly towards a zero waste society. Their priority is to find ways of tackling waste... including food waste... and keep scarce resources in use for as long as possible. “This is where WRAP’s work comes into play.” She added: “WRAP’s work in supporting families and business in wasting less and recycling more is well known. Less well known is the ground-breaking research and technological innovation we have pioneered which supports the UK economy through major breakthroughs in resource efficiency that deliver cost savings.” Food waste, recycling services for businesses, and encouraging greater reuse of scarce resources will be the top priorities for WRAP over the next three years. Please click on this link for the source of this information.

Useful links: The Benefits of Reuse report can be found here.

The Household Food Waste Figures report can be found here.

Towards Resource Efficiency – WRAP Business Plan 2008-11 A Report on Impact can be found here.

The Love Food Hate Waste website can be found here.

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