Shrewsbury was a frenzy of activity last weekend as hundreds of visitors flocked to celebrate the town’s first World Food Day.
People young and old, food experts and food novices alike, joined forces last Saturday, October 16, in an extravaganza of all things culinary.
Organised by Transition Town Shrewsbury, in partnership with Self Help Africa, the town helped to spread the message of thinking globally and eating locally by taking part in the festival with has been held around the globe since 1979.
Olivia and Matthias Owen-Sinclair with their pie
A whole host of activities were put on in the town keeping crowds entertained throughout the day at places such as the Square and Shrewsbury’s Market Hall.
Between 11am and 4pm activities including cookery demonstrations, music, face painting and gardening displays wowed visitors.
Local groups and charities also set up stalls on the Square preparing lots of different foods and drink to be sampled as part of the festival.
Meanwhile a special pie competition was held at Morris Hall, on Bellestone Court, where contestants were encouraged to make a sweet or savoury homemade pie using at least one local ingredient.
Competitors then took their masterpieces along to the venue at midday where they were judged by Deputy Mayor, Councillor Tony Durnell, who awarded a food-related prize to the winner.
The day was held to encourage people to buy more food locally – in order to reduce their carbon footprint – but also to raise money for Self Help Africa.
Rachel Wilbrey-Preece, of Self Help Africa, said: “There was a real buzz to the day. I was selling books in the market square and spent the day dancing – it’s impossible to keep your feet still with West African Djembe drumming going on.
“We raised over £1,000 for Self Help Africa and Transition Shrewsbury and hopefully gave people a better understanding of the struggles African families go through.”
Katy Anderson, of Transition Town Shrewsbury, said: “It was a fantastic start to our action on local food. Column allotments had a really impressive display of vegetables grown in Shrewsbury, which brought home the variety of food we can grow here. They showed a range of delicious meals at the fraction of the price of shop bought meals – working out at just 10p a portion.”
Transition Town Shrewsbury also used the weekend festival to launch a new food database making it easier for people to find out what and where local produce can be bought from.
Visit www.transitiontownshrewsbury for more information.
By David Seadon