Apple crumbles teaching children about sustainable food
Produce from the Tamar Valley will be sailed to Plymouth in an event teaching schoolchildren about food sustainability next month.
Apples, eggs, flour and honey from local producers will travel along the River Tamar on the Shamrock, a traditional sailing boat operated by SailTrade, a sustainable food transport company.
The school children will spend the morning picking Bramley apples at Buckland Monachorum’s community orchard, before travelling to the Royal William Yard Restaurant to turn their harvest into apple crumbles.
Guiding the children will be Celia Steven, great granddaughter of Bramley Apple founder Henry Merryweather and Joe Draper, head chef at the River Cottage Canteen in Plymouth who will show children to make the perfect crumble.
The event is designed to teach the school children some of the history of farming in the Tamar Valley using traditional methods. This includes transporting their apples by a pony pulled cart to Weir Quay before being loaded onto a sailing boat.
Andy Whiteford from SailTrade said: ““My aim is teach children about sustainability, the history of the River Tamar and how it can be utilised today.
“What better way than with a locally sourced, organic, fairly-traded, low carbon apple crumble made from scratch.”
The children will be picking Bramley apples a variety widely considered to be the best cooking apples available at market by professinal chefs.
Celia Steven who is organising the event said: ““I wanted to kick start this year’s apple season in a unique and innovative way. Most apple growers throughout the UK had a disastrous year last year with a great shortage of apples.
“This year, with the cold start ripening the wood to encourage the fruit to take, coupled with a greater prevalence of bees this summer, we are set for a bumper crop, which is great news.”
The event will take place on the 13 September with all encouraged to wave the shamrock off which will be leaving Weir Quay at 12:30pm and arrive at Royal William Yard restaurant between 1:30 to 2pm.
River Cottage Chef, Joe Draper said: “when we first opened the River Cottage in Plymouth Celia was bringing us the apples and that’s where we got involved with Sailtrade
“We’ve always sourced our ingredients locally and having connections to people like Celia who are trying to do the right thing is really important to us.
“We always get our apples off Celia when they’re in season because they are the best for cooking with as they are so versatile
“I’m delighted to be part of this as I think it’s great for helping to educate kids about food and where it’s from, and the importance of sourcing locally.”
