South down national park sourced lamb for the chichester hospital ICU.

After hearing of the work we were doing with Jacaranda to feed the incredible staff over at St. Richards Chichester, we are very grateful to Angmering Park Farms for their donation of some of their delicious, sustainably farmed lamb to the cause. These will be going into next weeks meals for the ICU unit, so keep an eye out on our social media for photos of these delicious meals. 

Working with the environment to increase wildlife habitat is something that not only enriches the food that we produce but also increases the biodiversity of farmland margins and hedgerows. Angmering Park Farms have integrated Beatle banks, large wild flower margins and large trial plots. The trial plots are to establish habitat and analyse what is best for pollinator numbers across the farm, meaning that we can work to produce the best quality, most sustainable an environmentally conscious produce. This is called regenerative farming.

Donating fresh produce to produce delicious ready meals for the ICU NHS staff at St. Richards, Chichester

With the Incredibly talented and generous chefs at Jacaranda catering we have managed to create a ‘donation supply chain’ of local farm produce to supply a 5* kitchen with what the need.

Starting out as an idea to get some ready meals into the hospital fridge has quickly turned into churning out 50+ ready meals that can be quickly reheated to offer the hardworking doctors and nurses a filling, delicious and nutritious meal. These guys are working very long and knackering shifts with rare and very short breaks to ‘feed’ themselves. Before it was a case of run to the canteen for a quick sandwich or snack that often wouldn’t touch the sides, before getting home after a long shift and having to cook; this is the situation we have been tackling.

We have also been amazed at how people, who are so squeezed at this hard time, who want to donate us what they are growing and producing. This said, there is still a huge task ahead of us as sadly demand is only going to go up.

Follow us on instagram to see weekly updates of the amazing meals that Jamie and the team are producing for the ICU.

Working to help the local foodbank achieve it ‘5 a day’

Fresh produce is an essential part of the balanced diet and is often overlooked when food and financial security are pivotal in decision making. This is why we are working with the fantastic ‘Horsham Matters’ charity to help make nutrient dense, local and delicious fresh produce available for the foodbank. The building blocks for anybody is the food and drink they consume, limelighting fresh produce as the fuel we ALL need to succeed.

Horsham Matter have fed 1116 adults and 634 children this year and run a winter night shelter across the region, ensuring that people aren’t helpless. They also provided Christmas Hampers to nearly 50 families, and over 20 weekly food parcels during the summer holidays to families who rely on free school meals. They do a huge range more for the community so please do have a read and see the work they do !

‘BEE’ interested in the animal that is creating our food !

Honey bees are one of the most important animal that we have on the farm and we are doing everything in our will to protect them. By using techniques throughout the pollination season, when bees are moist active, to reduce the need for Herbicides and pesticides, we are promoting bee numbers and increasing yields across the board.

March is the start of Honeybee season as we start to see some of the 8 common varieties in the south. At this time of year you will often see them flying close to the ground looking for a possible nesting site to build their new colonies.