Joanna Plumb in Greenhouse
Local chilli experts Joanna and Shawn Plumb who run Edible Ornamentals, Bedfordshire’
Slow Food’s mission is to help people rediscover the joys of eating and understand the importance of caring where their food comes from, who makes it and how it’s made. As part of their role, Slow Food support many small specialist growers like Joanna and Shawn so they can attend major national events and show people the real benefits of good food.
Sue Braithwaite of Slow Food said, “Joanna and Shawn have the same philosophy for good healthy eating as we do and it shows in their chillies not only looking good and tasting great, but they’re grown in a way that respects the environment. More importantly they actively encourage others to pick their own ingredients straight from the plant because they’re fresher, healthier and so much better than using frozen or preserved ingredients.”
As well as exhibitors of good food and fresh produce, MasterChef Live will feature live cookery demonstrations from international chefs such as James Martin and Michel Roux Jr and popular presenters John Torode and Gregg Wallace will be hosting daily cook-offs between previous contestants of MasterChef.
Joanna commented, “This year has been fantastic for us. We’ve had so many more people coming to pick their own fresh produce and buying their own chilli plants. It may be the current financial climate that is stimulating people to look at more economic ways to prepare food, but they are finding that using fresh ingredients is not only cheaper, but it makes food taste so much better. I hope that our being at the MasterChef Live event means this year we can introduce even more people to the joys of cooking with really fresh chillies”
The MasterChef Live Show is at London Olympia and opens on 13 November.
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More about Edible Ornamentals
Edible Ornamentals was born in the summer of 2001 on the back of a cancelled order for 3000 ornamental chilli plants. After 3 years of successfully selling chilli plants, in 2004 the company started pickling Jalapeno and Fresno chillies in jars and selling them alongside the plants. This has now developed into a gourmet range of home grown chilli sauces and relishes.
In 2007, Edible Ornamentals moved to Cherwood Nursery in Chawston, Bedfordshire, where they now grow over 40 varieties of chillies, including the Dorset Naga, one of the hottest chillies in the world. In 2009, Chawston opened as the first ‘Pick Your Own’ vegetable centre in the region where visitors can don wellies and pick fresh from the plant a range of vegetables including peppers, spinach, Swiss chard, lettuce, cabbage, dwarf French beans and an unusual variety of long aubergines.
Joanna is one of the UK’s leading authorities on chillies with appearances on BBC 3 Counties Radio, Radio 2’s ‘Chris Evans Show, Radio4’s ‘You and Yours’ and has appeared on BBC TV shows including ‘Ready, Steady, Cook’, ‘MasterChef’
Her gourmet chilli sauces are sold through Waitrose stores, and her fresh chillies are sold under the ‘From My Farm’ brand in Morrison’s stores in Eastern England.
More about Slow Food
Slow Food is a non-profit, member-supported organisation. It was founded in 1989 to counteract fast food and fast life, the disappearance of local food traditions and people’s dwindling interest in the food they eat, where it comes from, how it tastes and how food choices affect the rest of the world. Slow Food campaigns for good, clean and fair food, meaning that our food should taste good, that it should be produced in a clean way which fully respects the environment, human health and animal welfare, and that food producers are paid a fair wage.
Slow Food, by working hand in hand with dedicated grassroots volunteer members aims to raise awareness about the sustainability of our food systems and social justice issues surrounding the food we eat. Today there are over 100,000 members in 132 countries, and their work brings systemic change to communities around the world creating a new awareness and behaviour changes through projects that involve both producers and consumers.
Contact details
For further information about Edible Ornamentals Company visit
http://www.edibleornamentals.co.uk/
For further information about Slow Food contact s.braithwaite@
For further information on Tastes of Bedfordshire visit www.tastesofbedfordshire.co.uk
For Media information or additional quotes contact
Colin Caldicott, Ultimedia Public Relations Tel: 01767 601470 Email:
Photo:
http://www.prlog.org/
