DISCOVER DERBYSHIRE

AND THE

PEAK DISTRICT

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PEAK DISTRICT FOOD AND EVENTS

THE FEATURE

After its initial outbreak in February 2001, foot-and-mouth disease took just two weeks to spread across Britain. It was the worst recorded outbreak experienced in this country. Some six million animals were culled, which resulted in losses of £3.1 billion to agriculture and the food chain. Tourism-in both city and country-and other rural industries were very seriously hit. The consequences are still being felt today, both by farmers and those involved in tourism and the agricultural chain.

 

A number of initiatives have been developed in different parts of the country to assist rural businesses, some of which were in existence prior to the foot-and-mouth crisis. One such, is Peak District Foods, a group of local food producers and food businesses based in and around the Peak District. Members of the group attend food events and farmers' markets throughout the year.

Florence Waller of Hilly Billy Ice Cream, Wildboarclough

The Peak District Foods for Tourism Project started in 2001, with the objective of building a strong local food economy and linking it with food produced for tourism. At that time a number of Farmers' Markets were in operation, but there was only one mention of food in the Local Authority Peak District guides and no general information about local foods. Only two types of food business seemed to be 'into tourism, ice cream vans and fish and chip shops!'

In the Peak District, the local youth hostels have been carrying out some research to see if it is possible to source the food they give to their guests from local farmers and producers. This experiment has been so successful that the Youth Hostel Association plans to roll it out across 200 Youth Hostels in England and Wales.

Crowd scene at 2003 Fair

One of the best experiences of a holiday is to taste the local food and there is now a much greater awareness of the benefits of locally produced food. The distance that food has travelled and its freshness are questions the public are becoming more and more concerned about.

Savour the Flavour of the Peak District, a superbly produced guide to food and drink round the Peak National Park, is an essential requirement for visitor and local person alike. It provides a comprehensive list of places where locally produced food of the highest quality can be bought and consumed.

Farmers' Markets take place regularly in or around the Peak District, further details of which may be found by visiting the Farmers' Markets page on this site.  Only products which have been produced, grown, raised, baked or caught locally are sold on the markets. Apart from where there is no business supplying a particular product, the produce sold normally comes from within a 30 mile radius of the market. All the stallholders must comply with stringent food and hygiene rules.

Chefs at work in the Demonstration Kitchen

When visitors come to the Peak District, they like nothing better than to sample delicious, locally produced food and drink and admire the work of local artists and craftspeople. Special events have now been introduced giving visitors the opportunity to discover the excellent range of foods, arts and crafts available in the Peak District. The events are becoming so popular that the Great Peak District Fair, held at Buxton in 2003, attracted 10,000 visitors - double the expected number.

The 2003 Great Peak District Fair, also won the Action for Market Towns Project Award for best practice in the food and drink category of the East Midlands round of the National Market Town Awards. This was funded by East Midlands Development Agency and Arts Council East Midlands, and supported by the Countryside Agency. For details of the latest news and special events click here.
 

WOMENS' INSTITUTE COUNTRY MARKETS

W I Country Markets are held at Bakewell, Buxton, Chesterfield, Leek, Hope Valley and Matlock. A unique Parcel Scheme provides a countrywide service where a fresh parcel of goods can be delivered to a holiday home or as a gift. For more information visit: www.wimarkets.co.uk

PEAK DISTRICT FOODS

To find out more about other exciting developments visit:

www.peakdistrictfoods.co.uk

 

Peak District Food Fairs

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www.derbyshire-peakdistrict.co.uk is an independent, not for profit website.

No recommendation of any establishment is implied by inclusion on this website.

 

**DERBYSHIRE FOOD AND DRINK FAIRS

 

Events not to be missed - make a note in your diary for the:

 

Food and Drink Fair 

KEDLESTON HALL

22-23 May 2010

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DERBYSHIRE FOOD FESTIVAL

22-31 May 2010

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The Derbyshire Food Festival will run from 22-31 May 2010, when venues all across the county will be staging their own events to coincide with the 2010 Festival.

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16 - 17 October 2010

 

       The Great Peak District Fair

 

Pavilion Gardens

 

 BUXTON

Click here for more information.


REGIONAL FOOD FAIRS 2010

Saturdays, 10am-4pm at the Pavilion Gardens Buxton.
  • February 13

  • March 13

  • April 17

  • May 8

  • June 12

  • September 11

  • November 13

For more information ring: 01298 23114 or email:  paviliongardens@highpeak.gov.uk.


PEAK DISTRICT FOOD PRINCIPLES

All the members of Peak District Foods have signed up to the following principles:

* Honesty, transparency, traceability, accountability

* Working towards sourcing as much produce locally as possible

* Collaboration not competition

* Building on what already exists in a complementary way

* Working to protect and enhance the distinctiveness of the local culture and the local environment

* Supporting the local economy by using local products and services where possible

* Minimalistic packaging

* Bringing producers and consumers together to learn from each other

 


 

 

Carol Greaves of Chrysalis Crafts, Tintwistle, near Glossop

 


CONTRIBUTION TO THE LOCAL ECONOMY

* Every £10 spent on locally produced foods gets re-spent locally and leads to £25.90 being invested back into the local economy

* Every £10 spent in a supermarket leads to only £14 being invested in the local economy

* So if every person, tourist and business switched 1% of current spending to local products, it would put extra £1 million into local economy each week!


PEAK DISTRICT CUISINE DISHES

The University of Derby College, Buxton, is leading a new project called Peak District Cuisine, which aims to encourage the use of local produce in restaurants, hotels, guesthouses and pubs in the Peak District. The project is about using local produce to create new, innovative or traditional menus.

A Peak District Cuisine brand is being developed as part of the project, which participating restaurants, hotels, guesthouses and pubs can display on their menus to let customers know that they are proud to use local produce.


IMAGES

All the images, apart from those in the header, have been kindly supplied by the Great Peak District Fair.

 

All details on this page were correct at the time of publication, but changes may be made without notification.