NATIONAL Lottery Funding has been awarded to a Rame Peninsula social enterprise helping people to learn wild food skills and reduce food poverty.

The cash will allow The Family Foraging Kitchen to continue its services to those living

in Torpoint, Millbrook, Antony, Kingsand, and Cawsand.

Those participating in the project receive a monthly wild food box with freshly foraged wild foods and educational materials, such as recipes and foraging guides. Alongside the wild food boxes, The Family Foraging Kitchen will also continue its Virtual Foraging series, which supports free online wild food education, as well as the continuation of the social enterprise’s Free Food Forever and Grandparents’ Secrets initiatives, all of which are directed to tackle social isolation and food poverty.

The Family Foraging Kitchen has been running since 2013 and was founded by forager, Vix

Hill-Ryder, after she realised that her community was facing significant levels of food poverty,

often lacking the confidence, knowledge and skills needed to cook with the bountiful array of

wild nutritious fresh food available on their doorstep.

“I was receiving messages on a weekly basis from families asking me what simple things they

could pick up to eat when they were out walking as part of their daily exercise allowance. So I

began to make short films of myself and my two children, ages 3 and 8, gathering and cooking

at home. These were a huge hit and watched and shared by so many people” says business

founder, Vix.

“I felt I needed to do more to help. Foraging can literally be a lifeline for low income families and

individuals struggling to afford fresh food. Food box schemes are wonderful but having fresh

produce to pair with those staple items is essential. Now, we can help people not only by

supplying them with a fresh ingredient box each month but by inviting and encouraging people

to join us, for free, out on our walks and courses, learning how to pick and prepare those

ingredients for themselves. The boxes will also contain recipe cards and ideas and during

periods of lockdown, content will regularly be put online with cookery tips, videos and streamed

virtual walks.”

The funding from The National Lottery Community Fund, which distributes money raised by

National Lottery players for good causes and is the largest community funder in the UK, will see

this project continue for the next two and a half years.

If you are experiencing food poverty and would like to discuss wild food education or support

services from The Family Foraging Kitchen, please email them directly at:[email protected].