Farmers to descend on London to launch new cook book celebrating Britishness

The NFU has launched a Countryside Kitchen recipe book to advocate a local, British, seasonal diet
The NFU has launched a Countryside Kitchen recipe book to advocate a local, British, seasonal diet

Farmers from across the country will be in London to celebrate the launch of a new cook book starring them, their produce produce and Great British recipes.

Announced in October, 'Countryside Kitchen: Farm, Food, Fork' includes 77 recipes that use only British seasonal ingredients cultivated by British farmers.

The book will be formally launched in London on Monday (20 November) with several of the wholesome dishes from the book being showcased during the event, which will be held at the London Review Bookshop in Bloomsbury.

Front and centre of the event will be those farmers, growers and producers who help grow the food, including the High Priestess of Rhubarb, Janet Oldroyd, who listens to her crops growing in her “dark houses”, and Alastair Wilson, who claims his salad farm at Rainford on Merseyside is the highest of this type in the country.

Countryside Kitchen, the NFU’s first ever recipe book, highlights how ordinary Brits can make the most of great British seasonal produce and find out more about where food comes from.

Countryfile presenter and farmer Adam Henson provides a foreword for the book and encourages everyone to reconnect with British seasonal food.

'Delicious and diverse'

NFU Deputy President Minette Batters will open the launch. She said: “British farmers produce some of the most delicious and diverse food in the world, all the while adhering to assured Red Tractor standards.

“This logo helps to show shoppers the food they are buying can be traced back to the farms on which it was produced, adhering to some of the highest standards of environmental protection, food safety, hygiene and animal welfare.

“The NFU’s Countryside Kitchen recipe book can help to reconnect readers with their food and give them an insight into the lives of the farmers who work so hard to put food on our tables.

“Food and farming is the bedrock of the UK’s largest manufacturing sector, food and drink, an industry that contributes £109 billion to the economy and provides jobs for 3.8 million people. It really is a sector we can’t afford to take for granted and this cook book helps to recognise and celebrate food producers and great British food and farming.”