This weekend we will be hooking up with the lovely people at The People’s Kitchen for a harvesting session. Word is that the plums in Haggerston Park are just about ready so we’re going to check them out and hopefully harvest them. We will be going on a foraging and harvesting expedition beforehand from 12pm and you are very welcome to join us.
The People’s Kitchen is an amazing experience held every Sunday at at Passing Clouds in Dalston. It starts with the preparation of a feast made up of food that would otherwise go to waste, and this meal is then shared amongst anyone who wants to drop by. The meal is followed by a screening of a film (this week The Gleaners and I) and there will be a brief talk from Hackney Harvest members. The evening is then rounded off with a jam session (musical, not toast topping) downstairs with musicians from all over coming to play together.
Hope to see you there!
Here are the details:
It’s time to take to the streets, parks and canal sides of Hackney for another forage. We’re hoping to hunt down local figs, plums and blackberries if they are ripe and ready as well as any other local delights we might find. Please let us know (peopleskitchen@passingclouds.org) if there is a tree near you in need of harvesting!
Please remember that foraging must always be done responsibly. Pillaging an area of all fruit, leaves, stems and flowers is irresponsible, some must also be left for the bees, trees and plants taking their part in sustainable natural cycles. The bounty with which nature gratuitously provides us far too often goes to waste in favour of packaged produce flown in from around the world. The People’s Kitchen aims to raise awareness of food waste, and to connect people to each other and to their food.
This will be followed by the People’s Kitchen as usual from 3pm utilising our foraged delights. What better a way to spend a Sunday than around a communal table with friends, friends you haven’t yet met and one of the most affordable plates of tasty food London has to offer, followed by a free film upstairs in the ambient boudoir and a jam session through the world of music from a melting pot of multi talented musicians?
12-3pm Urban Foraging
3-6pm Communal Food Prep
6.30pm Dinner Time! Take your food up to the film or dine around the communal table
7pm Cinematters Film Screening ‘The Gleaners and I’ (free entry)
9pm Passing Clouds Sunday Jam Session (free before 10pm)
‘All the world’s nearly one billion hungry people could be lifted out of malnourishment on less than a quarter of the food that is wasted in the US, UK and Europe.’
We are calling for surplus food from local houses, gardens, parks and businesses.
Any fruits, vegetables, salads and herbs, dried and canned foods, pulses and grains that you might have available.
That tree has given you more apples than you can make pies, bring them down.
Those tins at the back of the cupboard that you don’t know what to do with, bring them down.
That perfectly good carrot that looks a little funny, that beetroot that’s a little past its best, those limes that aren’t quite big enough according to stringent EU regulations. Bring them down.
The cherry tree in the park that is laden with fruit, bring them down.
The surplus will be supplemented by a selection of spices and essentials provided by our sponsors and your donations. The chef’s discretion of what is suitable to cook is final.
‘An estimated 20 million tonnes of food is wasted in Britain from the plough to the plate.’
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED!
We need people to chop and pick and tell jokes and stir and talk and cook and smile and peel and wash and grate and serve. If you think you are capable of any or many of these activities, then please come and get involved.
Volunteer from 3pm, first come, first in. Kitchen capped at 20 persons.
Contact: peopleskitchen@passingclouds.org/ 07790003934 for more details
DINNER TIME!
Food will be served up on a donations basis. Put what you can or will into the pot. Make it the right pot. Those that have donated to the food surplus drop off, feel free to eat for free!
Eat around the communal table amongst friends and others or take your food to be enjoyed in front of the Cinematters Film Screening of ‘The Gleaners and I’. A French film tracking a series of gleaners as they hunt for food, knicknacks, and personal connection, with a discussion and presentation from Hackney Harvest.
Followed by the Passing Clouds Sunday Jam Sessions, free before 10pm.
The finest internationally acclaimed talent from London’s underground music scene, taking us on an ear-dazzling journey through world of music; afro and latin grooves, funk, reggae, inspiring hip hop and uplifting soul.
