On Saturday the 31^st of July 2010 from 10am-1pm, True Food of 61 Grove Road, Emmer Green, Reading, took up the call from the Real Bread Campaign to celebrate Local Loaves for Lammas.

In bringing the ancient harvest festival of Lammas right up to date, True Food joined Real Bread bakeries, traditional mills, farmers’ markets other local loaf lovers all around Britain. To mark the occasion, True Food got all floured up for the day, starting with a toast breakfast at 10:15am followed by a morning of bread demos a baking workshop (with bread to take home!) and finishing with a fun competition.

The event was hosted by Reading’s own Freestyle World Porridge Making Champion and local food advocate Anna Louise Batchelor. Anna Louise said “Bread is close to my heart. It’s a staple British food and something we in Reading eat everyday. Local Loaves for Lammas is a great opportunity to find out about real bread made by local bakeries, you know the real stuff with a crust! The event was great fun, a chance to try making your own bread and to find out more about Reading’s community owned co-op True Food”.

Chris Young of the Real Bread Campaign added: “Community owned shops like True Food play a really important role in our local communities, providing not only great, all-natural food but also offering meaningful jobs and other social benefits on our doorsteps. Lammas is a great chance for everyone in the area to get along to show their support and help to make sure that they don’t lose such a valuable asset.”

True Food Community Co-op is proud to sell loaves that are 100% free of artificial additives of any kind.

The Real Bread Campaign is a part of Sustain: the alliance for better food and farming. The Campaign champions locally-baked, additive-free bread and finds ways to make all loaves better for us, better for our communities and better for the planet. Membership of the Real Bread Campaign is open to everyone who cares about the state of bread in Britain.

Details of all Local Loaves for Lammas events, Campaign membership, where to find Real Bread locally and information about the issues that surround our daily bread can be found at: www.realbreadcampaign.org

Let's hope the weather agrees! During July and August we are offering a jar of Real Organic Barbecue Sauce for half-price and a free pack of bamboo skewers when you buy any two packs of  our Laverstoke Park barbeque bonanza meat, vegetarian grilling sausage or tofu-weiners.  

You can also stock up on sustainable charcoal, fairtrade disposable barbeques, paper plates, organic ketchup, local salad ...

Read more for more information and a great barbecue recipe.

The meat and vegetarian options will be available in the fridge at the Emmer Green shop but please order in advance to be sure of getting what you want. Order meat by Monday morning for delivery on the Wednesday. All items can be ordered for delivery to any market. Ring 0845 3308272 or email localfood@truefood.coop. 

We are hoping to run a stall promoting the offer and selling the charcoal and other barbeque accessories one evening during July at each of the market venues. In order to do this we are looking for volunteers to help set up and man the stall. If you are a shopper at one of the markets and would like to help please get in touch.

We sell lots of delicious soft drinks to go with your barbecue including Rocks Organic cordials (based in Twyford) and Belvoir Fruit Farm's drinks. Unfortunately we don’t have an alcohol licence but recommend Vintage Roots for a good range of organic wines and beers. Free local delivery on a case. 

Moroccan Lamb Kebabs
Makes four kebabs
450g pack Laverstoke Park diced lamb
1 lemon
1 onion
4 small courgettes
Marinade
grated rind and juice of 1 lemon
2 tbsp olive oil
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander

Method
- Combine the marinade ingredients in a non-metallic bowl. Add the lamb and toss to coat. Cover and leave to marinate in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours, or preferably overnight.
- Cut the lemon into 8 pieces.
-  Cut the onion into wedges, then separate each wedge into 2 pieces.
- Using a knife or potato peeler, cut thin strips of peel from the courgettes, then cut the courgettes into even-sized chunks.               - Remove the meat from the marinade, reserving the liquid for basting.
- Thread the meat on to skewers alternating with the onion, lemon and courgette.
- Barbecue over hot coals for 8-10 minutes, turning and basting with the reserved marinade.
- Serve with wraps and couscous salad.
(Adapted from recipe at www.barbecue-recipe.co.uk)

June 19th to 3rd July is Co-operatives Fortnight. In celebration of their members and volunteers during this period, True Food is displaying a specially commissioned poster at the shop and markets. The poster was funded by a generous grant from Co-operatives South East. After the AGM in May we took photographs of members in the RISC roof garden. We than asked them to complete the sentence "I am involved with True Food because ...". The final poster shows eighteen individual photos with their quote printed underneath. Reasons for being involved range from “… it offers excellent value for money, organic & fair-trade products and involvement with local business.” to “…if you want something doing properly, you can’t beat doing it yourself.”

Co-operatives Fortnight, which has the theme – There is an Alternative - is organised by Co-operatives UK, the national trade association for all forms of co-operative enterprise. The aim is to raise the profile of Co-ops around the country and encourage more participation.

While anyone can shop at True Food we are owned and run by our members and we are always looking for more people to get involved. Members can help manage True Food by attended committee and other meetings. We also rely on volunteers to help serve customers in the shop and markets and to set up and pack away at the markets. If you are a regular shopper why not consider becoming a member - if you need some inspiration have a look at our poster and see why other people have made that step.

On Saturday 12th June True Food had a stall at the busy Sonning Common Primary School fair. The theme of the event was the world cup and there were lots of flags but thankful no Vuvuzelas. We naturally interpreted the theme with a food slant and took things to sell that would help people keep "fit for football". We sold dried fruit, banana chips, fresh bananas, seeds and fruit juices. We also had sachets of instant porridge oats donatated by Mornflake to give away. While selling things is always good the main aim of going to these events is to spread the word about True Food. We spoke to many people during the day and hope to see some of them at the shop or markets. Thanks to the volunteers who came on the day to help set up, run the stall and pack away - these days wouldn't be possible without you.

From Monday 22nd February, the Caversham market, formerly held at Mapledurham Playing Fields Pavilion, has moved to the True Foods shop at Grove Road in Emmer Green.