Loughborough College students celebrated an innovative new collaboration with John Storer House’s social supermarket Your Store, strengthening the College’s community partnerships with an exciting restaurant challenge, raising awareness on food sustainability.
In this unique project Catering and Hospitality learners made use of mystery ingredients sourced from FareShare, provider for local social supermarket Your Store, to create exciting and inspired meals for a fully booked floor of diners at the College’s Radmoor Restaurant.
Students were presented with surprise stock including lentils, potatoes, and banana blossom, fostering an inventive and delicious dining experience. The challenge also aimed to celebrate creativity in the kitchen, highlight Loughborough College’s commitment to addressing sustainability, supporting the local community, and working towards ending food insecurity.
Jacob Nelson, Coordinator of Your Store, based at John Storer House shared, “The main goal of the event is awareness for Your Store and other social supermarkets. This is a fantastic opportunity to share knowledge and promote resourcefulness in students.”
Your Store based at John Storer House in Loughborough town centre, is a social supermarket aiming to reduce the number of families experiencing food insecurity across Charnwood. Conceptualised through a partnership between John Storer House, Charnwood Borough Council, The Bridge, and Charnwood Food Poverty Group, the supermarket acts as a stepping stone to support food bank users who are leaving food insecurity.
Jacob continued, “As part of the collaboration with Loughborough College, I came to speak to learners on what social supermarkets are, the delicate and everchanging food supply chain, and how chefs need to adapt to social and environmental pressures.
“It’s an incredibly valuable asset to have to know the structures around food and sustainability, something the College really stresses to its students.”
Following the success of the evening, which saw diners enjoy hearty lentil soup, handcrafted tortellini, and biscuit crunch puddings, students were able to share their recipes with Your Store and FareShare to inspire out-of-the-box cooking on a budget and promote zero-waste meals.
Chef Lecturer at Loughborough College, Steve West said, “Food and emotion go hand in hand, which is why this collaboration with Your Store was so important. Students learnt skills like compassion and imagination, alongside vital culinary considerations like nutrition.”
Radmoor Centre is an award-winning training restaurant for learners on the Hospitality and Catering courses at Loughborough College, under the guidance of the professional hospitality team.