South Downs Foodie News April 2020

Hello South Downs Foodies, We do hope that you are well and coping with these very challenging times. Now more than ever our local producers and the businesses around them need our support and we need them too. You can find home deliveries and safe shopping for great local food & drink across the South Downs region at Southdownsfood.org or click on the image below. This edition of South Downs Foodie News is sponsored by the South Downs National Park Authority who have also put together a map of helpful community services for communities in the park during this time which you can click through to here and can also to link to from Southdownsfood.org . Hilary Knight & Paula Seager Natural Partnerships CIC

SUSSEX FOOD & DRINK AWARDS 2020 - GRAND FINALISTS Just as the Coronavirus pandemic hit the UK, we were announcing the Grand Finalists in the Sussex Food & Drink Awards 2020, following months of intensive judging, supported by over 17,000 public votes. See some of them in the montage below. These inspirational Sussex food and drink heroes are listed on the news page of Sussexfoodawards.biz We still hope to hold the awards in July 2020, but with many of our Grand Finalists and sponsors being forced to close during the pandemic, we will review this nearer the time. We hope that we will be able to celebrate the excellence of all these brilliant businesses when they are able to open and rebuild again and we wish them all the best in this difficult time. www.sussexfoodawards.biz

GILBERT WHITE HOUSE ADAPTS BUT IS STILL HERE FOR YOU! Tackling these difficult times, Gilbert White & The Oates Collection in Selbourne, East Hampshire, has had to close the museum, but has adapted White's Caf é -Bar to offer safe shopping for fresh fruit & veg, snacks, cakes, ready meals, wines and beers, as well as its own Gilbert White's Gin. It is also offering a cooked meal and drinks take away service. http://www.gilbertwhiteshouse.org.uk

SUSSEX YOUNG CHEF OF THE YEAR 2020 Sussex Young Chef of the Year 2020 is sponsored by Blakes Foods who lost their market overnight when hospitality businesses were closed down and in just two weeks created an incredible new business delivering meat boxes to people's homes. You can order now from Brighton Express Meats . We held our annual young chef cook-off in March - and according to our Michelin-starred team of judges, led by Matt Gillan, the quality was the best ever! Click on the image below to see the video of this exciting occasion.

FOOD & DRINK PRODUCERS INNOVATE IN THE FACE OF ADVERSITY Both Hampshire Gin distillers Gorilla Spirits and Generation Distillery in Sussex saw the opportunity and need and created hand sanitiser in the first weeks of the Coronavirus epidemic. Whilst the worst possible scenario happened for local restaurants, pubs and cafes when they were ordered to close, many local food & drink producers were also hit hard, losing their route to market overnight. However, our food & drink producers, shops and wholesalers in East Hampshire and Sussex have risen to the challenge and adapted in the face of adversity, creating new businesses and services to help get food & drink direct to customers through new routes. From meat and veg box schemes, to doorstep deliveries, to drive throughs, we have seen a revolution in the local food & drink scene over the past month. Please support our local community now by buying local! https://southdownsfood.org

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