Food, drink and hospitality Glasgow March 25 2010 08:42

Cookie Launches Urban Gardener Barter Food Exchange

Cookie, the much-talked about eatery, deli and shop in Glasgow’s southside, is heralding the arrival of spring by appealing to gardeners and allotment growers to use their green fingers to grow produce for the business or share their excess production through an innovative barter system.

The Urban Gardener Barter Food Exchange is the latest, exciting phase of Cookie’s ongoing programme to break down the barriers between food production, distribution, preparation and consumption from its base at Nithsdale Road in Pollokshields.

Cookie co-owner, Domenico Del Priore, said, “The idea is that we will use your lovingly-grown produce in our restaurant. We also have a stand outside which we would like to fill with local produce to offer a truly alternative means of supply to our community. So if you are interested and would like to participate and help develop an exchange of local food production, we would love to hear from you.”

Mr Del Priore is passionate about using local and seasonal Scottish produce as much as possible.

He said, “Scotland has the capability to grow some of the freshest, tastiest food so why don’t we do just that? The idea is rooted in our own personal interest in gardening and growing so it makes perfect sense to work with like-minded local people who share our passion for reducing their carbon footprint and food miles.”

He draws parallels with the groundbreaking urban food programme in Cuba where political and economic change forced the population to attempt an ‘organic revolution’ as the country struggled to produce enough food to survive. One way was to grow more food in urban areas, a strategy that has been supported by London’s mayor Boris Johnson, who wants to free up more urban land in the city so people can get down and dirty in the vegetable patch.

Mr Del Priore said, “If you enjoy growing your own veg and want to do a bit more to encourage more people to eat locally-grown produce, then give us a call – we’d love to hear from you.”

For further information about Cookie log on to www.cookiescotland.com

ENDS

For further information please contact Domenico Del Priore on tel 0141 423 1411

Issued on behalf of Cookie by Liquorice Media tel 0141 561 4018 www.liquorice-media.com

Date 25^th March 2010