An Erdington community centre served up a feast inviting local
residents to come and discover ways to enjoy food which otherwise
might be wasted.
Lakeside Children's and Family Learning Centre, in Wyrley Birch,
is run by social enterprise Enta and supports everyone from working
mums and fathers-to-be to job seekers and vulnerable adults.
The centre has now teamed up with Birmingham City Council's Love
Food Hate Waste project to highlight the problem of food wastage
across the UK.
The average British household unnecessarily throws away food
worth £480 every year. This figure increases to £680
for families with children and most of it is good food - like
bread, meat, cheese and vegetables - which is bought but not
eaten.
The aim of the Love Food Hate Waste campaign is to inform people
how to avoid wasting food, saving money for both consumers and
local government, which has to dispose of the unnecessary
waste.
An eco-friendly Enta CIC is used its Lakeside centre as a base
for one of the region's events, with a public cookery display held
on Tuesday 21 June to showcase some simple recipes that make use of
everyday, leftover food.
Centre manager Geraldine Dowling said: "We want to make the most
of the centre here and give the local community an opportunity to
take part and learn more about nutrition and food wastage.
"We have a vast range of community groups here in Erdington and
it was a great event enjoyed by all."
The Love Food Hate Waste campaign, launched in 2007 has been
taken on by local authorities across the country.
Cllr Timothy Huxtable, Cabinet Member for Regeneration,
Environment and Transport at Birmingham City Council, said: "We are
delighted that Enta are lending their support to this campaign,
which brings the recycling message, and actions everyone can take
to address it, home to every household within the city.
"By simply being more sensible about our food shopping habits,
not only can we all work together to reduce waste and help the
planet, but we can also save ourselves money and inconvenience
along the way."
Enta is a social enterprise and training provider and, as well
as running the Lakeside centre, it also runs Little Mill Nursery
and Top Lock Cafe, at Mill Wharf. In addition, it offers conference
and catering facilities - including a halal kitchen - as well as a
landscaping and construction service.
For more information on the Lakeside Children's and Family
Learning Centre call on 0121 386 6150.