A big pot, an even bigger table, and enough curry to float the Titanic!
Organisers of one of the biggest nights in NI’s cultural calendar are planning their most audacious events yet!
Culture Night Belfast and Belfast Food Network in association with Friends of the Earth, Big Lunch NI and GreenMan Packaging are planning to “Feed the 5000” on the evening of Culture Night Belfast on 16 September. A giant dinner table will be set along the length of Donegall Street in Belfast City Centre, as a giant vegetarian curry made from locally sourced surplus produce will feed hungry revellers!
“Feed the 5000” is 100 per cent environmentally sustainable, from donated surplus vegetables and the compostable plates and cutlery provided by Green Man Packaging, to the environmental disposal of all waste, courtesy of Natural World Products and RiverRidge Recycling. It will be Belfast’s biggest and greenest dinner party ever.
Fourteen local farmers and distributers have contributed a whopping 1.5 tons of surplus veg from this year’s harvest to go towards the Big Pot which will Feed the 5000 on the night! People can also help get involved at “Chop and Bop” events across Belfast on Thursday 15 September, where volunteers can have a boogie whilst helping to prepare the massive amount of veg the day before and on the day itself.
Adam Turkington of Culture Night commented: “Feeding 5000 people is the perfect piece de la resistance for Culture Night Belfast 2016”.
He added: “We’ve been leading up to this for a while now. This year’s culture night is all about people coming together to break bread, a shared sense of community, and idea that we have more in common than apart. The big table along Donegall Street to “Feed the 5000” in an utterly sustainable way is the perfect demonstration of that, and we hope it will be a suitably impressive highlight for people coming to Culture Night on 16 September. Hats off to all the contributors and organisers – it’s an amazing effort, and we can’t wait to see the first fruits – or veg of this epic project on Culture Night!”
Kerry Melville of the Belfast Food Network said:
“We’ve been blown away by the generosity of participating farms, distributors and our partners and hope that thousands of people enjoy their free meal at Culture Night. All of the food donated for Feed the 5000 is surplus food that might otherwise have gone to waste. Our local food system can be drastically improved if people choose to buy their food from local farms, producers and suppliers and then use all the food they buy.”
Niall Bakewell of Friends of the Earth NI said:
“Good food, produced in a way that doesn’t hurt the planet should be a human right. We need to stop seeing it as little more than another commodity whose only worth is its ability to turn a profit. Food should be valued by how it maximises the wellbeing of our environment and society, as well as our economy.
“Food has always brought people together, and nothing does this like making 5000 bowls of soup. Please set aside some time to take part in helping to prepare the biggest pot of soup that this city has ever seen.”
Big Lunch representative Niamh Scullion said:
“On Culture night people come together in a true act of community spirit showcasing the best of Belfast and The Eden project is proud to be part of it. At the Biggest Lunch we will be asking people to consider what ideas they can take back to their communities, whether it’s a Big Lunch, reducing food waste, or making the most of shared spaces.”
For information about the Big Table and Feed the 5000, go to:
