All posts in In The Basket

Help Save The World’s Rainforests This Easter

rainforest foundationA new environmental campaign has recently launched encouraging chocolate lovers to become checkout-campaigners in their choice of Easter Eggs with the aim of halting the destruction of the world’s rainforests.

The campaign is a ground-breaking collaboration between the Rainforest Foundation UK (RFUK) and Ethical Consumer and has surveyed over 70 of the UK’s top chocolate brands on their use of palm oil or its derivatives.

The campaign is being launched in response to the increasing threat that unsustainable palm oil is posing to the world’s rainforests, and consequently, to the people that rely almost entirely on those forests for their livelihoods.

Having destroyed vast areas of forest in countries such as Indonesia, palm oil companies are now planning to expand in the rainforests of the Congo Basin in Africa. An area the size of Yorkshire is currently being cleared to make way for oil palm plantations. If forest habitats are lost, then numerous wildlife species, including forest elephant and lowland gorilla, will also be under threat.

Simon Counsell, Executive Director of The Rainforest Foundation UK said:

“We’ve launched a guide to foods containing palm oil with Ethical Consumer to raise awareness of the impacts associated with the production of this common ingredient. Consumers should be empowered to make informed purchasing decisions, understanding the impact of the production of the products they pick.”

According to a recent RFUK report Seeds of Destruction, 1 million acres of rainforest in the Congo Basin is currently being developed by palm oil producers, and with 284 million acres of suitable soil in the region, developers are actively seeking large sites now. Palm oil is a core ingredient in many food products and companies are not required by EU law to label products containing it until December 2014.

Tim Hunt co-director at Ethical Consumer said:

“Consumer power has the potential to help save the Congo’s rainforests and its wildlife that is under threat from palm oil production. This Easter we’re asking chocolate lovers to buy their Easter eggs from those chocolate companies that we’ve identified as taking an ethically responsible stance on this critical issue.”

The top two chocolate companies identified in the product guide are: Divine and Booja Booja. Neither company uses any palm oil in their chocolate products.

The bottom three chocolate companies identified in the product guide are Lindt, Thorntons and Guylian. Lindt supplied inaccurate figures while Thorntons and Guylian failed to submit any documentation to the organisations that set international sustainable palm oil standards.

The product guide to chocolate is the first of a series of guides that will rate all consumer products using palm oil. Future guides will include biscuits, cereals and spreads.

The aim of the campaign is to encourage consumers to buy the best rated products, forcing those companies that are not taking their environmental responsibilities seriously to use more sustainably sourced palm oil.

The full product guide can be seen here: www.rainforestfoundationuk.org/palm-oil-database


Comic Relief Homeware Range

homesense comic relief

Ten of Britain’s favourite celebrity chefs and cooks have joined forces and swapped their kitchens for the camera lens in aid of Comic Relief for a fun-packed photoshoot to celebrate Emma Bridgewater’s stunning homeware range for Red Nose Day 2013, available to buy now from HomeSense stores nationwide.

Those championing the campaign to get the nation cooking using the Emma Bridgewater Red Nose Day products are (pictured left to right): Angela Hartnett, Michael Caines, Raymond Blanc, Valentine Warner, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Allegra McEvedy, Antonio Carluccio, Glynn Purnell, Aktar Islam and Monica Galetti.

Emma Bridgewater’s Red Nose Day range consists of six different mug designs, two tea towels and apron designs, an oven glove and a bag for life, all designed for Red Nose Day to encourage the great British public to ‘Do Something Funny For Money’. The money donated from sales of the products will be spent by Comic Relief to help people living incredibly tough lives across Africa and here in the UK.

Renowned cook and food author Valentine Warner says: “By purchasing these lovely Emma Bridgewater Red Nose Day products from HomeSense stores you’ll be doing your bit to help raise millions of pounds to help people who need it most in this country and Africa, and that is a really important thing. I urge everyone to go out and buy a bag for life and a mug and some oven gloves. No, in fact, buy one for yourself and one for all your family and your friends, too! Let’s raise as much money as we possibly can for this great cause.”

“The Emma Bridgewater Red Nose Day products are fun, quirky and of course useful too. I’d love to see the whole nation buying them and getting messy in the kitchen for Comic Relief,” adds Raymond Blanc.

The products are available from Red Nose Day official partner HomeSense the homeware retailer selling leading brands at up to 60% off the RRP and are already proving to be a massive hit with baking and cooking enthusiasts throughout the country who are helping raise money whilst looking fabulous and getting creative in the kitchen.

Chef Glynn Purnell says: “I’m urging everyone to get down to HomeSense stores and purchase Emma Bridgewater’s quirky range of products for Red Nose Day. This campaign has received overwhelming support from well-known chefs across the country and is perfectly placed to get the nation back into the kitchen. The quality of design and merchandise available will ensure that vital funds will be raised to help those less fortunate both here in the UK and Africa. I am extremely proud to be involved and hope Red Nose Day 2013 receives the support it deserves.”

Allegra McEvedy adds: “Go out and buy these mugs, bags, mits and bits from HomeSense for a whole load of reasons: they’re top quality, look good, feel timeless and make you feel better about yourself. Oh, and they also help change the world.”

Antonio Carluccio gave the range his backing by joking: “You can get ‘un naso rosso’ (red nose) for Comic Relief, and you don’t even have to drink! Just buy Emma Bridgewater’s special designs and ‘fare la differenza’ (make a difference).

Red Nose Day takes place this year on Friday 15th March 2013.

Don’t miss out on your very own Emma Bridgewater Comic Relief Homeware Range and help raise money for Red Nose Day 2013, from HomeSense.

Eggs for Soldiers and Help for Heroes

egg for soldiersCalling all cake fans, Help for Heroes annual Colossal Cake Sale is upon us again. The wonderful collaboration between Eggs for Soldiers and Help for Heroes, which is now in its fourth year, will be setting alight our taste buds this April with the Colossal Cake Sale. The cake sale which runs from 20th April until the 5th May, is a major fundraising event for Help for Heroes and is completely dependent on community involvement to help make it a success.

Help for Heroes is calling on all baking enthusiasts and cake lovers, to grab some flour, stock up on eggs and sign up. Bake with your kids, neighbours or work colleagues and ice, sugar or drizzle your cakes.
Every cake sale organiser will receive a free Fundraiser Pack with a roll of price stickers, bunting and balloons. With every pack of Eggs for Soldiers sold 15p is contributed to Help for Heroes. The Charity provides support to members of the Armed Forces who have been wounded, injured or become sick in the line of duty. Another way to help raise money is to get extra merchandise for selling on the day, which is available to order from the website.

Last year’s event raised over £164,000 from 700 cake sales and this year it is hoped that there will be even more cake sales and donations. Let’s make it colossal!

Eggs for Soldiers are currently available in Tesco, Asda and Morrison’s stores nationwide, RRP £1.69 for a box of six eggs. For more information visit www.eggsforsoldiers.co.uk

Spicentice Herb and Spice Blends

Spicentice Herb and Spice BlendsLeicester-based food producer, Spicentice, creates the ultimate store cupboard essentials. With 21 recipes to choose from, the range offers endless spicy know-how for budding chefs to marinade, grill or barbie all kinds of meat, fish and veggies, using the Spicentice clever little (no waste!) packs of lovingly selected blended herbs & spices.

Every pack comes with a shopping list of fresh ingredients to buy, along with an easy to follow recipe. Head on line to buy Arriba! - a mix for Fajitas (£1.99), Goan Prawn Curry mix (£1.99), or Yee-hah! for a Chilli Con Carne (£2.49)

Other dishes include Peri Peri Chicken, a typical Portuguese dish; Cajun Chicken, inspired by New Orleans; Coriander Chicken, a traditional recipe from Eastern India and Tandoori Salmon. All can be served with Pitta or Naan Bread, Salads and Chutney … perhaps with a dish of Spicentice Bombay Potatoes or Pilau Rice on the side!

With 100% pure herbs & spices, no additives, no preservatives and no colouring, everyone can make it with Spicentice - just add a few fresh ingredients and friends!

Spicentice Herb and Spice Blends are available online at www.spicentice.com, from Ocado and a number of shops nationwide.

Christmas Pud Yoghurt

christmas pud yoghurtBack by popular demand is the Limited Edition Christmas Pud yoghurt from The Collective. It’s surprising, exquisite and everything that’s great about Christmas. Whole juicy sultanas, warming winter spices and tangy orange zest are all wrapped up in this distinctively thick and creamy yoghurt: it’s Christmas in a pot.

Packed full of festive flavour, it’s a taste combination that might not be the most obvious paring, but once experienced, it is sure to be on your Christmas list next year. Christmas pud fans and foes all agree that this is something not to be missed. Trust us, those who experienced it last year insisted that The Collective bring it back and give others a chance to try it this Christmas.

Limited Edition Christmas Pud is available in 500g pots from Sainsbury’s, Waitrose, Ocado and Nisa Stores.

Handcrafted using West Country milk The Collective yoghurt is thick and creamy on the spoon and has a silky smooth, clean taste. What’s more it contains probiotics (cultures A, B and C), has no artificial colours, preservatives or flavourings and with only 5% fat is a little more saintly but no less indulgent than cream or custard when served alongside a piping-hot mince pie, or a brandy-soaked slice of plum pudding…or just as it comes.

Much like your snowman jumper or fairy lit tree, The Collective’s Limited Edition Christmas Pud won’t be around forever, so grab it while you can. Priced at £2.39 for a 500g tub it will be available from now until January 2013.