Stonesfield Food Group are just getting going on FaceBook (see link below), where we provide you with our weekly menu in advance, plus any updates that you need. Come and ask us about allergens – or just say Hi!

Our activities include:

Stonesfield Socials The weekly Social continues to provide delicious, healthy, free food to all the community on Tuesdays between 5 and 7pm at the Village Hall. Takeaways are available, and we ask that you support our planet-friendly ethos by bringing your own reusable container if possible. Why not pick up a takeaway for a neighbour?

Be a volunteer – it’s free, fun and friendly! We have a wonderful team of volunteer cooks, bottle washers, front of house, crafters and more. We’re so grateful to those who give up their time to be neighbours supporting neighbours.

If your New Year’s Resolutions included contributing to your community, trying something new or having fun, we can help you! Join our friendly team of volunteers at the Social. We are a little light on savoury cooks so if this is your forte, please get in touch! We like to have 2 savoury cooks per session if possible, so you don’t have to cook as much as you might think. You can cook at home or in the Village Hall kitchen. Most of our ingredients come from the Food Hub and are free, but any expenses can be reimbursed. If you’d like to help, even if it’s only once in a while, please get in touch with Julie (see below).

Our impact on the environment We are averaging one or two small caddy bags of food waste per week – which is amazingly small given that we are serving around 70 portions. We source much of the food from the fantastic Oxford Food Hub who rescue surplus food from restaurants, small suppliers, and supermarkets, and it would otherwise go to waste. Recently, we have noticed vegetables imported from Kenya, Egypt and Peru – how sad if they had been flown here just to finish up in landfill, creating greenhouse gases. The quality is incredible, we have been inspired by it to make wonderful dishes such as Teriyaki noodles with chicken or Quorn and a Tuscan-inspired sausage and bacon casserole. Our puddings are fab, and we always serve salad, crudites and fresh fruit! Most of our food is cooked from scratch, using fresh ingredients, and we are demonstrating how you can move away from the ultra-processed foods which have been in the news so much recently.

Craft presents Children are well catered for at the Social, and as well as being a great place to try new foods and play with friends, there’s always a fun craft activity led by expert crafters Claire, Mould and Aoife. At Christmas the children received a personalised bag of craft materials to try out at home. “They were buzzing with excitement when they received their bags!” said one appreciative parent.

Seniors’ Café Meet friends old and new, have delicious homemade cake and a lovely cup of tea – all on a Tuesday from 3-4pm in the Village Hall. All on the same planet-friendly basis as the Social.

Emergency Food help One of the aims of the Food Group is to support Stonesfield residents who are struggling to afford nourishing food. We do this using the funds raised by the Community Cafés run alongside the Repair café, and through other generous donations.

We are currently able to offer food parcels. If you, or someone you know, could benefit, contact Kate Harris at kateharris58@yahoo.co.uk. If you are able to, you can support the food parcel initiative by donating TINNED meat pies, hotdogs, meatballs, chicken, or ham. They can be left in the brown box on the doorstep of 6 Brook Lane.

Community Café See the latest Slate for dates of the next Community Café with the Repair Café. Lunch will be served noon till 2pm or earlier if we run out! The café is open to all on a pay-what-you-feel basis; you don’t need to bring an item to repair if you just want to enjoy the food.

Food group visits We are planning a group visit to the Charlbury Society’s talk on chocolate in March, come along and join us.

We believe that helping the community is important to preserving it for the future. So, we will report our Food Group activities in The Stonesfield Slate on a regular basis.

Anyone interested in finding out more about our projects or in joining our group please contact Julie Curran (juliecurran0@gmail.com)

See latest activities using the Facebook link below