Women's Environmental Network (WEN) and Debdale Eco Centre hosted Culture Kitchen, a sumptuous celebration to mark World Food Day on 16 October 2007.

Over 80 women community growers of diverse cultures from across Manchester and the North of England along with a couple of men, joined together at The Angels, Endcott Close, Gorton, Manchester, to share inspiration and the fruits of their plots. Many of these plots have been created on disused or abused land in inner city environments, greening inner city spaces, replacing urban deserts with oases of abundance.

Members of community growing groups including Sho Nirbhor from Bradford; Burnley Food Links; Heeley City Farm, Sheffield; Eagles Wings from Bury and Productive Landscapes, Preston attended along with Healthy Living Partnership Halifax, as well as many other interested and new growers.

WEN offered groups support with the development of their projects. There were workshops on composting with Debdale Eco Centre, seed-saving from WEN and On the Eighth Day Co-op showed how to make beauty products from everyday kitchen ingredients. Just Change Manchester ran sessions on fair trade tea. Women who were originally from Bangladesh were interested to make links with tea growing and production in their home country.

The highlight for many was the delicious vegetarian Eritrean lunch made by Lem Lem Kahsay using local and organic ingredients which earned a standing ovation. Cakes were from On the Eighth Day Co-op. Shahida from Manchester summed it up, "Good information and fantastic food!"

Caroline Fernandez of WEN said, "Culture Kitchen was a wonderful celebration, bringing diverse groups of women growers together to share ideas, techniques and to cook up a feast from their own grown produce. The day ended with an inspirational visit to the new Debdale Eco Centre where all the ingredients for the salad had been grown - urban food growing in action."

ENDS

For further information contact: Caroline Fernandez, Women's Environmental Network on 0787 6777327 or 020 7481 9004 or Val Rawlinson, Debdale Eco Centre on 0161-220 9199 e-mail: carofern@dsl.pipex.com.

Notes to editors
1) Women's Environmental Network (WEN) is a national charity and membership organisation which campaigns on environmental and health issues from a women's perspective. WEN educates, informs and empowers women and men who care about the environment.
2) The 'Taste of a Better Future' Network was set up seven years ago to help ethnic minority women's groups develop organic food growing skills. It recognises that such groups have little access to affordable organic food, particularly traditional fruit and vegetable varieties, or to gardens of their own. Over the last six years, the 50+ groups in the Network have brought new life to some of the most unlikely spaces on housing estates and disused inner city plots. As well as nutritious food, they have enjoyed making new friends, sharing skills and bolstering their communities. The current project, 'Cultivating the Future', offers support and training to urban women's growing groups.
3) The event is supported by On the Eighth day Co-op, Just Change Manchester, Unicorn Grocery, Debdale Eco Centre, Lem Lem Kahsay, The Angels and Surestart Children's Centre.