Volunteers give onion pride of place as MP joins them for lunch (East of England Liberal Democrats)

East of England Liberal Democrats <info@eastlibdems.org.uk>

Volunteers give onion pride of place as MP joins them for lunch

February 2, 2012 11:48 AM
Originally published by Cambridge Liberal Democrats

Volunteers are cooking up a treat for Cambridge MP, Julian Huppert on Saturday (February 4) based around the humble onion.

Julian will join workers from two leading charities for an onion-themed meal at the Centre for St Paul's in Hill's Road, Cambridge.

The event has been organised by national charity, FoodCycle which uses surplus food from the retail industry to make healthy and nutritious meals for those who are struggling to buy food.

The group has been cooking every Saturday for a year in Cambridge serving over 1,000 meals and saving over 500kg of food from being wasted. Now it hopes to expand and reach out to more people in the city this year.

On Saturday charity workers will be joined by volunteers from Transition Cambridge's Onion Cropshare project. They have offered to donate onions to FoodCycle and these will be used to prepare the onion-themed community lunch.

Onion Cropshare was launched last year when 100 square metres of farmland was donated in return for the labour needed to grow and harvest the onions on the plot and a further 2,000 square metres of land.

Julian said: "These are excellent projects which prove how much difference can be made by sharing resources and working together.

"The idea of bartering skills in return for land to grow crops was common in the past but had been largely forgotten in our fast-paced world. This cropshare project follows that simple principle and provides locally-grown food for people who need it thanks to these volunteers.

"And I am delighted that FoodCycle has proved so successful that it is looking to expand. There are many people who are finding the cost of food crippling and yet across the country as a whole we are throwing away perfectly good food. This charity has stepped in to stop the waste and use the food for a good cause.

"I am looking forward to find out more about both projects and learning interesting ways to cook based around a simple onion."