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Food for free

Tasty art: the Pavement reader Peter Gregory says: “We have been making donations to the Red Bag Company which gives out food in Birmingham. We wanted to do what we could for your magazine and the work you do also. We want to do anything we can to help homeless charities as we are using food banks and without them, probably wouldn't manage.”  www.redbagco.bigcartel.com Tasty art: the Pavement reader Peter Gregory says: “We have been making donations to the Red Bag Company which gives out food in Birmingham. We wanted to do what we could for your magazine and the work you do also. We want to do anything we can to help homeless charities as we are using food banks and without them, probably wouldn't manage.” www.redbagco.bigcartel.com

Street Food Special: This food issue goes back to the Pavement’s roots as the mag was set up to help homeless people have a list of where to find food, shelter and help for any addictions

Eat up: For starters, if you’re hungry then turn to the list in the centre of this magazine and look for suppliers of food.

Watch your caffeine: “Choose hot chocolate, decaf coffee/tea. They’ll warm you up, but you won’t be so alert that you don’t get any sleep. Herbal hot drinks – peppermint and fruit tea – can be a good switch. When someone offers to get you something, you could ask for an oat bar, porridge pot or fruit which is filling, but has a slow release of energy which is more healthy,” says Oliver Hall, Mental Health Project manager running Groundswell’s Building Resilience Group. “Don’t run off carbohydrates and sugar because the side-effects of living on fried chicken, burger and chips has a long-term bad effect on your arteries and heart.”

Food banks: Jack Monroe’s book, Tin Can Cook, aims to help people using food banks create tasty meals as there are more than 400 food banks sharing 1.5 million food parcels a year. Find loads of cheap meal ideas at www.jackmonroe.com, including:

  • Tinned carrots and potatoes are ready to eat and cheaper than fresh.
  • Tinned sweet corn, mushy peas, beans and lentils are staples that can be used to make a healthy meal. Eat cold or hot.
  • Tinned sardines contain almost a whole day’s recommended intake of vitamins D and B12.
  • Poundland is where to buy a cheap tin opener.



Make pasta in an electric kettle: Put in a handful of dried pasta, cover generously with water (eg, one cup of pasta, two cups of water). Switch the kettle on until the water boils. Stir down with a wooden spoon. When the water tries to boil over, switch off the kettle, stir. Switch kettle back on and repeat the boiling/stirring three or four times. Drain and put into a bowl. You can heat up sweet corn in the kettle too – and even jars of pasta sauce. Kettles boil so fast that this is a speedy way to get a hot meal.

Nature’s bounty: Richard Mabey’s Food for Free lists 100 edible plants. Use gloves to pick early spring nettles, then wilt off their sting in hot water and add as iron-rich addition to soups and stews, or use as tea. In July and August enjoy blackberries straight from the bush in city parks. Pick edible herbs from front gardens and public green spaces. Lemon verbena, mint and goosegrass all add flavour to tap water. 

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