British Food Fortnight: celebrating seasonal ingredients
Every year communities across the country enthusiastically embrace Love British Food’s British Food Fortnight, with food festivals in villages, towns, and cities. In care homes, the fortnight becomes a heartfelt celebration of seasonal ingredients, nostalgia, and nutrition.
British Food Fortnight overview
British Food Fortnight holds a special place particularly in care settings, where hundreds of residential homes host everything from fish-and-chip days to Welsh cheese and wine tasting, pie and pastry making, and creating their own resident-authored recipe books.
We’re proud to say that allmanhall’s very own Development Manager and South West Regional Chair of the NACC, Rachael Venditti, recently contributed a nostalgic family recipe to Connaught Care’s residents’ cookbook. Her grandmother Jessie’s delicious slow-cooked beef and lentil pie was received enthusiastically by all the residents.
The NACC’s involvement in Love British Food’s British Food Fortnight campaign is led by Neel Radia, who serves as a Chair of the Love British Food Hospitals and Care Catering Working Group. In his own words, “We are delighted as an association to be working in partnership with Love British Food and being part of their Hospital and Care Catering working group.
Now that sustainability is high on the agenda in care homes, there has never been a more relevant time to be in partnership with Love British Food, so that we can support our members in accessing more resources and knowledge to achieve a more sustainable future.”
Why celebrate seasonal British food?
Embracing seasonal British produce is a smart and sustainable choice all year round, not just during British Food Fortnight.
Why? Seasonal fruits and vegetables are harvested at their peak, offering superior flavour, freshness, and nutrients. In contrast, produce that has travelled long distances before reaching your plate loses nutritional density over time. One research associate at the University of Austin, Texas reports that supermarket produce may have 5% to 40% fewer vitamins and minerals than when freshly picked.
Why is this important in a care home setting?
Older people tend to have smaller appetites meaning that it is of utmost importance that everything they do eat is as nutritionally dense as possible. This helps to ensure that your meals will provide their bodies with all they need to function optimally.
Therefore, if you can base your menus on food that is in season, you are potentially increasing the nutritional density of their meal.
Going beyond the impact of nutrition, eating food that is seasonal and fresher means that the quality is much better too.
To explore more, take a look at these useful resources on seasonal UK produce:
Practical tips for preparing seasonal meals for older people:
A few thoughtful strategies can help integrate seasonal produce seamlessly into your residents’ menus during British Food Fortnight and beyond:
- Get in tune with what is in season and when: Speak with us at allmanhall so that we can help you stay informed about what is in season and best to use in menus.
- Use cookbooks based on seasonal eating: This will take the stress out of having to come up with recipes using ingredients you may be less familiar with cooking.
- Looking for inspiration? allmanhall’s Hero Recipes offer a delicious selection of seasonal, plant-rich meals.
- Ensure you are providing variety: Although you might be choosing ingredients from a smaller pool, it is still important to focus on variety throughout the week. This will ensure you are delivering a variety of nutrients for your residents to support overall health.
- If fresh and seasonal options are limited due to budget or availability, consider using frozen fruit and vegetables. These are typically frozen within hours of harvesting, locking in their nutritional value and helping to reduce food waste by maximising surplus produce.
Whether you choose fresh or frozen British produce, keep it seasonal! Let’s look at one quintessentially British ingredient to mark British Food Fortnight…
A spotlight on blackberries
Blackberries are in season right now and will provide your residents with a nostalgic memory of picking the ripe fruit straight from hedgerows when they were children.
Blackberries are commonly found in the UK from the end of the summer until October, when they’re often seen growing in woodland and hedgerows. Each berry, when ripe, is made up of 20-50 single seeds known as drupelets that are small, juice-filled and a deep purplish black colour. Technically, they are an ‘aggregate fruit’ rather than a berry.
The antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals found in blackberries deliver a variety of health benefits. Antioxidants such as anthocyanins hold many anti- inflammatory and anti-microbial properties. They may also combat diabetes and certain kinds of cancer. Blackberries are also an excellent source of insoluble fibre, which plays an important role in the digestive process.
Even if your catering team don’t have time to forage for blackberries themselves, you can easily source fresh seasonal, or frozen, berries to add a nostalgic and nutritious ingredient to your Autumn menu.
Why not try these seasonal additions to your residents’ menus:
- add fresh or frozen blackberries to natural yoghurt for a healthy breakfast option – blitz them into a blackberry and beetroot smoothie for a nutritious and hydrating drink for residents
- add them to a warm salad with spelt and beetroot for a delicious autumnal salad
- bake a delicious blackberry crumble traybake for afternoon tea, or as a dessert with custard.
Blackberries are traditionally an Autumn crop, but Britain’s changing climate may impact their availability in the future…
Climate change: a shift in Britain’s farming landscape
Climate change is already transforming British agriculture and chickpeas, soyabeans and oranges may become common crops in the UK by 2080, ushering in home-grown hummus, tofu and marmalade. Conversely, crops such as wheat and strawberries, particularly in the South East and East Anglia, may struggle as temperatures rise. Under a 4°C warming scenario, onions and oats may also face significant challenges.
However, favourable conditions might emerge for crops such as sunflower, durum wheat, legumes (like chickpeas and cow peas), citrus fruits, okra, and grapes for wine.
Chickpeas, for example, which have only been grown commercially in the UK in the last decade, offer multiple benefits: they’re excellent protein sources, help reduce soil fertiliser dependence by fixing nitrogen, and could help shift diets toward lower carbon footprints.
Innovative solutions: plant-based ingredients for the future
allmanhall are constantly looking for innovation from new supplier partners with great ingredients that don’t cost the Earth. Through our partnership with Vegetarian Express, we’ve been delighted to find Eat Curious.
Eat Curious is a plant-based food company creating innovative, sustainable solutions for the foodservice industry. Their versatile products are minimally processed, nutritionally balanced, and full of flavour. Made simply from pea protein, fava bean protein, and salt, and free from all 14 major allergens, they are produced without isolates or chemical shortcuts so offer a clean-label option. The dehydrated range is ambient stored, making it cost-effective and often more affordable than animal proteins.
You could use Eat Curious dehydrated mince to create a delicious cottage pie for your residents – value for money and a great addition to your Autumn menu. Contact allmanhall for more great ideas and samples.
Conclusion
In all, celebrating seasonal British food isn’t just a matter of flavour – it supports the health of your residents, and builds both environmental sustainability and supply chain resilience.
Let’s continue championing British food traditions, not just during British Food Fortnight but every day, while adapting thoughtfully to the challenges ahead.
Speak with your allmanhall team for tailored advice on what’s in season and which ingredients are especially abundant through our supplier network.
You may find these are not only better in quality and value but also support your nutrition, sustainability, and budget goals – a win all year round.