Cooking Up a Storm!

Today's terrible weather didn't put off the good deeders of Greenwich, who were helping out all day at the Surplus Feast in Woolwich. This event is organised by the Greenwich Co-operative Development Agency which works to encourage communities to be both healthy and sustainable. The Surplus Feast provides free lunches to the local community, all of which is made from completely surplus food. It's not only an opportunity to taste some amazing food, but also to raise awareness about all the food that goes to waste and how we can help!

Christian and I were the first to arrive. Braving the rain we quickly met the team and set up our work stations. In charge was the head chef, Steve Kielty, who you may have previously seen on Masterchef! He set Christian up with potato duty - peeling and chopping ready for soup. Next to Christian I had the terrible job of onions!! I've never fought back tears so hard. But after an hour and a half we had gone through crates and crates. I survived with only a mild sting, and Christian with only some minor peeling of his own finger, ouch!

As our shifts drew to a close, Alice and Haley arrived. They were tasked with the fruit salad. They chopped up an array of fruits and were lucky enough to get first taste of the dishes that were soon to be served. The lunches on offer included a bean chilli, Thai green curry and, of course, the soup! All made in a small tent sheltered from the pouring rain. Impressive!

Next up was Elle and Matt. They offered out the food to the local community for everyone to try! All the morning's hard work had paid off! Mridula, Pieter and Linda continued handing out the food throughout the afternoon and early evening, as well as raising money to fund future events.

A great task that involved a lot of teamwork, well done everyone! And a big thanks to GCDA for getting us involved.

More information can be found here: https://gcda.coop/about-the-gcda/