Wellington takes first Food Town steps

The first step toward making Wellington the ‘Food Town’ of Somerset will be taken next month with a food extravaganza in the town centre.

The Wellington Food Town steering group is organising a mouthwatering launch occasion on Saturday December 2 from 10 am to 4 pm.
Dozens of local food producers and suppliers will take part, under cover of a giant marquee, and they will be giving away food and drink samples for the public to taste.

There will also be expert cookery demonstrations and workshops to educate and show people how best to prepare and enjoy their meals.

The Food Town launch will showcase the fabulous range and quality of produce in the area and will be a launch pad for a series of events planned in 2007.

As well as showing local residents the huge variety and scope of foodstuffs available on their doorstep, it will also draw in thousands of visitors for the day and benefit other businesses in the town.

Wellington Food Town will build on the existing rich heritage of food production in and around the town, which has many successful and award-winning businesses.

There are no fewer than eight Rick Stein Food Heroes in the catchment area, including Wallace’s, on the Blackdown Hills, which produces Aberdeen angus and bison meat and has an award-winning farm shop business.

Other awards heaped upon Food Town businesses include the BBC Radio 4 ‘Best Food Producer’ title for Gundenham Dairy, at Langford Budville, and both The Times and Waitrose ‘Small Producer of the Year Awards’ which went to Fenton Farm Poultry, in Holcombe Rogus.

Wellington Food Town steering group chairman John Cottrell said: “While the focus is on the excellence of food products which are available locally, it is important to realise that we are seeking to bring benefits to the whole range of businesses in the town.

“We want to include everybody in what is going on and we welcome any suggestions people may have.

“We look forward to as many as possible joining us for the other events which are being planned for 2007.

“This launch event is just the start of something much bigger which we intend to make into an annual occasion and to carry on throughout the calendar year.”

Wellington Food Town is being organised by Somerset Food Links in conjunction with Taunton Deane Borough Council and Wellington Economic Partnership and is being supported by Wellington Town Council, Wellington Chamber of Commerce and Trade, and the Wellington Farmers’ Market.

Our photograph shows award-winning Wellington butcher Tim Potter with some of his traditional large pork sausages, which won a Meat and Livestock Commission ‘Gold Award’ for excellence in meat products, and a recent addition to his stock – chicken parcels, which are boneless chicken legs filled with spinach and sage and onion stuffing or stuffed with sausage meat and wrapped in smoky streaked bacon.