Local produce to the fore at benderloch food festival

Foodies will be flocking to Benderloch next weekend, Saturday March 9, as the Victory Hall hosts its first ever Food Festival.

Members of the public will have the opportunity to connect directly with producers while local chef Alex Needham will be cooking up a treat in a Ready, Steady, Cook using locally sourced food.

Environmental action group, Awakening in Argyll, are hosting the event, which runs from 2-5pm, and spokesperson Joy Cameron hopes that it will engage people through 'actual' food rather than just the talk of it.

'This is really shaping up to be a very interactive and exciting event,' she told us.

'We are huge supporters of local producers and want to put particular emphasis on letting people know what wonderful fresh food is on their doorstep as well as offering help to know what to do with it.'

On the day there will be local produce stands, a short 'food' film running on a loop throughout the afternoon, a small play area with toy cooker, pots and pans etc for children to roll play preparing their own food and an interactive soup making demonstration with sampling station.

In response to the Scottish Government’s consultation on Good Food Nation proposals, which ends on March 29, Awakening in Argyll plan to survey hundreds of folk in Lorn about what their priorities are in relation to good food.

Many of the surveys will be carried out online but the Food Festival will also give people the chance to complete paper copies to enable as many people as possible to have their say.

Awakening in Argyll are a local environmental action group who regularly screen films to educate themselves and others about climate change and food choices among other topics.

They work positively to reduce single use plastics and held a very successful 'ditch the plastic' day around Oban supermarkets.

Members have already created a film about industrial pollution in Lorn and the group hope to do some filming around the Food Festival too.

A screening of That Sugar Film will be shown prior to the Festival, on Thursday, March 7 at 7pm. Age and content appropriate for children and adults.