DCFA Dec 2011 - Jan 2012 Newsletter

1. 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, DCFA
and our Friends and Supporters, for all their would like to wish a very
Merry Christmas
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! and a
Christine
Christine REID
Happy New Year
Chair to all its
DCFA Board of Trustees Newsletter Readers!
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 X T27083.
Members of : Our Funder:
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. … And Voluntary Donations.

2. EDITORIAL COMMENT A DCFA WORKSHOP
I 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
P LEASE SEE THE OPEN INVITATION below from Victoria
HURTH, the new part-time DCFA Project Coordinator...
Dear All,
site for more information on that particular topic.
If you read this on Microsoft Word, you can put your cursor Firstly I would like to introduce myself. I am the new DCFA
over the link, hold down the Control (Ctrl) Key and click! Ed. 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
PERSONAL ANNOUNCEMENTS organisations. As part of this task, it is
important to me that I get to know all the
B EST WISHES FOR a very Happy Birthday to Amanda
th
HURLOW for Wednesday, 11 January 2012. Amanda is a
Friend of DCFA. Happy Birthday Amanda!
organisations we work with, and better
understand their current and future
requirements. Additionally, in order to put good funding
A VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Robert SPRINGETT for
st
Saturday, 21 January 2012. Rob is a Friend of DCFA and
the organiser of the Polperro Music & Arts Festival for 2012.
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
Have a lovely day Rob! If anyone wishes to know more about their long-term benefit.
the festival, please click on this link. In this context, I would like to invite you to a half-day DCFA
Workshop at the new premises of DCFA to discuss these
DCFA HAS A NEW HOME! issues in a semi-structured format. The proposed date for
th
this is 9.30 a.m. - 1.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 11 January 2012.
D 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
We are working to fairly tight timescales and I would
therefore be grateful if you were able to find time to
DCFA in this matter. Although DCFA has signed the attend this meeting. If you cannot attend this date then it
documentation to take possession of rooms at the hostel we would help me if you could provide the dates you could
will not actual start trading from there until the middle of make that week and the week after, so I can judge if a
January 2012. In the meantime, Wisemans will continue to revision is necessary.
deliver dairy produce to us at the Congress Hall off Armada I am looking forward to meeting you all. In the meantime I
Way. When we started operations from the SHIP Hostel we wish you all a very Merry Christmas!
hope to be able to receive two deliveries of produce from
Victoria
Wisemans each week... probably on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
We will also be able to take delivery of other types of food This invitation is open to all with priority being given to our
produce for our Customers. We just need a little time to get DCFA Customers (those organisations receiving dairy produce
sorted before we start our new and improved service in each week). Would you please send me the name and
January. But just for interest here’s a picture of our new contact details of the representatives you wish to attend?
premieses and our new address:
For further information please see this link...
DCFA,
SHIP Hostel,
http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/2333725
George Place, We have to limit the number of vacancies on this DCFA
Stonehouse,
PLYMOUTH, PL1 3NY,
Workshop and these will be allocated on a first-come-first-
Devon 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
N 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.)
Contact the DCFA Newsletter Editor at DCFA... details at the top of Page 1.
2

3. A MAJOR MILESTONE PLYMOUTH
FUNDRAISER GROUP MEETING
T 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
THE NEXT GROUP MEETING will be held at 12 noon on
th
Tuesday, 26 January 2012 at Routeways in Devonport. If
our participating charitable organisations so anyone wishes to know more about this Group then please
far. So... Congratulations to Karen BOWLER, contact: Paul READ at pread@routeways.org.uk
the Team Coordinator and to all the
volunteer Team Members! Also, many, many thanks to THE PLYMOUTH HERALD
Julie WINDMILL-MAY at Wisemans Dairies at Pensilva in EOFF READ MANAGED to get a couple of letters
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 &
G
2011:
published in The Herald in October and November 2011.
th
Here’s one that was published on Saturday, 5 November
Cornwall Food Association’s (DCFA) Facebook Wall: th
I READ with interest, a letter (24 October) which stated:
I’ve just updated DCFA statistics page. More than 10,040 "How come when there is a major problem in another
litres of good quality in-date milk have been country, Britain goes rushing to their aid?
saved from landfill sites since DCFA started our "They have spent time, and effort, packaging up food parcels,
weekly trading! Not to mention various types of and tents, to send across the other side of the world, and
cream... and many big fat turkeys! they don't even acknowledge that we have a problem here."
Please click on this link to go to the DCFA website: The Devon & Cornwall Food Association certainly realises
http://dcfa.webs.com/stats.htm there is an urgent need for food to feed our own people in
To see DCFA’s Facebook Wall, follow the link below, our own communities, and that an awful lot of food is being
and when you get there, do please leave a comment wasted.
and click on LIKE: DCFA is trying to stop good quality, in-date food from being
http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Devon-Cornwall-Food-Association-
sent to landfill by food producers and retailers in Devon and
DCFA/190586610995140
Cornwall, and redistribute it to the disadvantaged in our
STOP PRESS: As an added bonus, DCFA have been offered communities.
some pheasant meat and we are in negotiations regarding You can learn more about us by visiting our website:
this new project now! Thanks, The DCFA Facebook Team http://dcfa.webs.com
GEOFFREY N READ
DCFA MEETINGS The Devon & Cornwall Food Association
D ECEMBER 2011 Meeting. This Board Meeting held on
th
Tuesday, 6 December at the Shekinah Mission in
Plymouth. Those attending demolished the Mince Pies and
PLYMOUTH SOCIAL ENTERPRISE DAY
Cream after the meeting. Our thanks go to the Shekinah for
their seasonal hospitality!
P LYMOUTH SOCIAL ENTERPRISE Day took place on
th
Thursday, 17 November 2011 at Plymouth University.
There was be a small exhibition of social enterprises including:
N EXT MEETING. The next DCFA Board Meeting will be on
th
Tuesday, 7 February 2011 at the Catherine Street Baptist
Church, Plymouth. This meeting will start at 10.30 a.m.
FotoNow, North Prospect Garage Project,
Memory matters, Locality, Cosmic, Janner Jam,
University of Plymouth-Business School,
Devon & Cornwall Food Association,
Plymouth Social Enterprise Network.
F 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.
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
But this information is subject to change at short notice! effectively. Thanks to Jackie and Phil BARNETT, both DCFA
Trustees, for transporting and setting-up our Display Stands!
 January, March, May 2012 NO MEETING
 Tuesday, 7 th February 2012 General Board Meeting
DCFA had a few visitors to the stand and all were very
 Tuesday, 3 rd April 2012 General Board Meeting supportive of our project and leaflets were taken... always a
 Tuesday, 12 th June 2012 General Board Meeting good sign!
Victoria HURTH, the DCFA Project Coordinator, was able to
FRIENDS OF DCFA network and no doubt she found this to be beneficial to her
new task.
D 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
Patrick HUDSON, a Co-opted Member to the DCFA Board of
Trustees put in an appearance as did George TRICKER, one of
not print off a few copies of our brochure, in colour, our Dairy Team Members.
back-to-back, and pass them out at your Christmas All-in-all, this was worthwhile day which brought the DCFA
social events! Networking is half the battle! enterprise to the fore.
Contact the DCFA Newsletter Editor at DCFA... details at the top of Page 1.
3

4. NISP LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
An article by Mrs. Christine REID
From: Jenny Paton
Q UICK WINS. This was Speed Dating with a difference! A
workshop aims to enable businesses to
1
quick wins workshop. The unique NISP “Quick Wins”
To: saudigeoff@yahoo.co.uk
Sent: Wednesday, 7 December 2011, 15:19
Subject: MILK AND CREAM DONATIONS
identify new opportunities between
Dear Mr. Read,
delegates at events through the matching of resources,
I have just been in contact with Julie WINDMILL-MAY who
including waste, logistics and expertise. I attended this
has explained that she distributes milk donations to you to
workshop to give a short presentation about the work of DCFA,
distribute to charities in Plymouth.
at the request of Patrick HUDSON who is a Co-opted Member
Having just checked with our Centre Manager I understand
of the DCFA Board of Trustees and a king-pin at NISP.
that you have kindly been donating to Shekinah Mission
We sat at numbered tables and, after the presentations, the
which is wonderful… during these cold winter months this is
fun began! We were each given a sheet of paper to list
vital for us… so we hugely welcome your support.
anything we had to dispose of, and another piece of paper to
Many thanks
list the items we needed. The idea being for NISP to match
Jenny
everything up afterwards to the mutual benefit of all. Jenny Paton
I was absolutely amazed at what some firms had available to Trust Fundraiser
dispose of: hay bales, office fittings, rubber tyres and plastic Shekinah Mission
sheeting, etc. And it was also interesting to realise just what Leonard Stocks Centre
Factory Row Torquay Devon
items people could find a home for! TQ2 5QQ
I found this whole exercise totally fascinating! And gave me a
good insight to the workings of NISP.
OTHER NEWS
1
The National Industrial Symbiosis Programme is a free business
opportunity programme that delivers bottom line, environmental and DISCLAIMER
social benefits and is the first industrial symbiosis initiative in the world DCFA reserves the right to select and edit articles submitted. The
to be launched on a national scale. 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
THE DCFA TURKEY RUN contained herein.
S LADESDOWN MEAT & POULTRY FARM very kindly
contacted DCFA in early November 2011 to C 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, 17
th
say they had a quantity of in-date frozen
turkeys which they wished to shift to make November 2011:
room for fresh stock. Could DCFA offer them a Stores are pulling the wool over shoppers’ eyes with complex
good home? Indeed we could! Geoff READ price and pack combinations that
drove up to collect twenty 20lb free-range turkeys from make it difficult to find the best
Sladesdown Farm at Ashburton and delivered them the same value.
day to our participating charitable organisations: Some products are sold in pence
Not content with that, Daniel telephone us again later in the per kilo alongside similar items sold
month to ask if we needed more. Geoff took a second trip to at pence per 100g, but to compare
th
the farm on Friday, 25 November and collected a second the two requires a calculation that
batch. This time there were 31 turkeys of varying sizes. These many busy shoppers don’t have
are some of the charitable organisations that benefitted: time to do.
 Amber Initiatives Similarly, fruit and veg will be sold
 Devon & Cornwall Refugee Support loose with a pence per kilo price
 The Action Group for Halcyon (The Halcyon Centre) alongside packs of three or four of the same items where
 The Befriending Consortium
the price per kilo is hidden in the small print or may not
 The Discovery Cafe
 The Elder Tree Visiting & Befriending Service appear at all.
 The Friends & Residents of Sutton Trust Tricky calculation: Shoppers may
 The Oasis Centre
be paying over the odds as a result
 The Plymouth FoodBank
 The Plymouth Refuge (Plymouth Domestic Abuse Service) of inconsistent price labelling, says
 The Reestart Recovery House consumer watchdog Which?
 The Salvation Army: Congress Hall Consumer watchdog Which? says
 The Shekinah Mission the failure to offer clear prices
DCFA is so very grateful to Daniel & Elaine MASON of means shoppers may be paying
Sladesdown Farm at Ashburton. more than necessary.
Contact the DCFA Newsletter Editor at DCFA... details at the top of Page 1.
4

5. The problem is particularly relevant at a time when families amount of water which, when frozen slowly, forms ice
are experiencing the biggest cost of living squeeze in more crystals much larger than the original water molecules due
than 60 years, with most cutting back on food spending to to the rigidity of ice's crystal lattice structure. These ice
make ends meet. crystals cause the walls of the cells to rupture, leading to a
'Misleading': Pricing on loose and packaged fruit and veg loss of structural integrity which is cause for the mushiness
can make it hard to find the best value product. witnessed in fruits and vegetables when thawed.”
Which? found two thirds of consumers generally try to compare According to Alex, when the cells rupture, enzymes are also
the costs of the same type of products using unit prices. Yet released, which can result in a loss of flavour and the foods
only half of these find it easy and many are confused. turning brown when defrosted. Tomatoes however, can be
Shoppers from the consumer champion who visited cooked into sauces and soups, for example, and then frozen.
branches of the main supermarkets found unit prices often Eggs in shells and mayonnaise
not being shown for multi-buys or promotions, and Eggs aren’t the world’s most successful freezer food. If you
different units being used for varieties of the same product. freeze raw eggs in their shells, the shells will crack and
Its researchers found pre-packed red onions priced at £1.35 burst and you’ll have egg all over your freezer. If you freeze
for three, or 45p per item, were being sold alongside loose hard-boiled eggs they’ll go rubbery.
red onions priced at 95p per kg. And you should never freeze mayonnaise. Richard
A seven pack of mini bananas with a selling price of 99p and a KEMPSEY, Farms Director at Clarence Court, explains:
unit price of 14.1p each was sold next to loose bananas “Mayonnaise is an oil in water emulsion of olive or corn oil (for
priced at 68p per kg. example) with broken out egg. A natural part of egg yolk-
Red peppers were sold in 500g packs for £2.09 or £4.18 per kg Lecithin, which is a surfactant emulsifier, greatly helps the
alongside packs of three mixed peppers priced at £1.65 or 55p formation of good mayonnaise... it forms a stable emulsion.
each. On thawing mayonnaise after putting it in a freezer the
Which? wants clear, consistent food pricing where the unit emulsion breaks down leaving a rather soupy mess!”
price is prominent and easy to read; consistent units used on Richard recommends making up mayonnaise from fresh oil
all products; and multi-buys and promotions to show the unit and eggs and using immediately. But if you’ve used egg
price. To read more please click on this link. yolks to make fresh pasta or custard, don’t throw away the
whites. Freeze egg whites in a clearly labelled freezer bag
F IVE FOODS THAT you should never freeze. This article
was published by Jo ROMERO on Thursday, 24
November 201 in:
th
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
Strawberries freezer for another day. But according to Sue LUCAS, who co-
While many foods can be frozen to runs Passionate About Fish Ltd and has spent all her working
increase their shelf life, there are some life in the seafood industry, this isn’t always the best move.
that rapidly deteriorate after a spell in While vacuum-packed ready to eat (cooked) fish can be
the icy freezer. Here are five of them. frozen as it is, if the packaging contains air (as in the ‘over
Some iced cakes wrapped’ plastic trays covered with cling film), freezing can
Claire MELVIN, who runs the cake company Claire’s make the fish go soggy.
Handmade Cakes, told us that the issue of freezing iced cakes Sue told us, “If the ready-to-eat fish is loose or over
isn’t exactly clear cut. “It is possible to freeze iced cakes, but wrapped, it can’t really be frozen, as the fish absorbs
not really advisable,” she told us. While some small iced cakes moisture which will create poor quality after defrosting.”
can be carefully frozen, she doesn’t recommend freezing But if your ready-to-eat fish is in a vacuum or ‘skin’ pack you
whole iced cakes. “Whilst the icing is defrosting, it will can happily freeze it for up to three months.
become very sticky. Single cream
You may also find that it grazes or cracks. If it happens to be a While double cream can be frozen either as it is, or whipped,
warm day, you could end up with condensation on top of the single cream turns into a gloopy, split mixture after being
cake and also air bubbles popping under the icing… if you frozen. Christine THOMPSON, of The Dishy Cookery School
really want to freeze a cake,” she says, “freeze it un-iced”. advises: “the higher the fat content, the better it freezes… the
As well as the cracking, Claire adds that cakes iced with best way to freeze single cream is to make a sauce with it and
coloured icing can run into an “unsightly mess” on defrosting. then freeze it.
If you’re making sweet or savoury dishes with cream it’s
Fruit and vegetables with high water content best to use double or whipping cream as these freeze well if
Ever defrosted a packet of frozen summer fruits, only to whisked first... hence why ice cream recipes use thicker
find the strawberries have turned to mush? Food science creams.” A nutrition scientist from The Dairy Council
blogger Alex LATHBRIDGE, of the Procrastibaking blog, told confirmed: “Single, soured, extra thick double and Channel
us why. "Fruits and vegetables (such as strawberries, Island creams are not suitable for freezing.”
lettuce, cucumber and tomatoes) are made up of cells
which give them their structure. These cells contain a large Please click on this link for the source of this information.
Contact the DCFA Newsletter Editor at DCFA... details at the top of Page 1.
5

6. T ASTE OF THE WEST is pleased to have
created an elite group of handpicked,
industry leaders to become Patron Members
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
of the largest independent regional food group UK jobs and the environment through reusing goods and
in the country. services more, rather than just throwing them away.
Please click on this link to find out more! 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.
W 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
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.”
think? Come and obtain information on the problem and She added: “WRAP’s work in supporting families and business
solutions, discuss your own ideas about it and share your in wasting less and recycling more is well known. Less well
visions for the future of our city. With a guest speaker from known is the ground-breaking research and technological
the Transition Network. innovation we have pioneered which supports the UK
th
When? Saturday, 10 December, economy through major breakthroughs in resource efficiency
Time? 12 noon – 4 p.m. that deliver cost savings.”
Where? 171 Armada way. Food waste, recycling services for businesses, and encouraging
That’s the Corner building opposite the Armada Way Shopping greater reuse of scarce resources will be the top priorities for
Centre. WRAP over the next three years.
Free snacks and soft drinks available! Please click on this link for the source of this information.
Families welcome! Children’s area available. Useful links:
This event is brought to you in association with Healthy Planet,  The Benefits of Reuse report can be found here.
the Co-operative Community Fund and the Plymouth Trades  The Household Food Waste Figures report can be found here.
Union Council.
 Towards Resource Efficiency – WRAP Business Plan 2008-11
A Report on Impact can be found here.
W RAP REPORTS SIGNIFICANT Progress On Waste
Reduction. This press release was issued
th
by WRAP on Tuesday, 15 November 2011:
 The Love Food Hate Waste website can be found here.
2
Speaking at WRAP’s annual conference today, Chief Executive
ADVERTISEMENTS
NEED HELP WITH YOUR
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
accounts, books and
and generate £2bn of benefits to the UK economy, including records, or tax returns?
£1.8bn of cost savings.
As an important part of the information reporting on progress
Don't get out of your depth!
in the last three years, WRAP published new research which Call Sarah on (01752) 768549 for a FREE
showed a sharp fall in household food waste by 13% but initial appointment.
showed we still throw away edible food worth £12bn a year.
Dr. GOODWIN, commenting on the food waste figures, said
Spare Food is Share Food.
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 Come join DCFA!
and probably due to a range of factors. Stop good food from ending up at landfill sites!
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 Talk to DCFA on Facebook
throughout the supply chain was ‘significant’ at a time when
food security was a major global issue. Follow DCFA on Twitter
2
Waste & Resources Action Programme
View DCFA on LinkedIn
Contact the DCFA Newsletter Editor at DCFA... details at the top of Page 1.
6