Produce swap shop set up (From York Press)

Produce swap shop set up

8:37am Saturday 6th October 2012 in News By Kate Liptrot, kate.liptrot@thepress.co.uk

WE’VE seen clothes swaps and websites to trade unwanted goods, but now the latest trend for our frugal times is a food swap.

Today will see the first of York’s food swap events take place, with people meeting to trade food without money changing hands – the only currency being homemade goods.

The Apples For Eggs event at Ambience Café Bar in Gillygate is fully booked and will see people trading produce, much of it including ingredients from York allotments, including granola, cinnamon rolls, curry, jams, chutneys and baked goods including apple pies.

Sue Jewitt, organiser of the York event, which originated in Lancashire, said: “Bakers, picklers, jammers, foragers, beekeepers, chicken keepers, brewers, allotmenteers come along with their delicacies to exchange with other local home producers and often go home with a bag full of food that can be tuned into a meal or seasonal jams and chutneys for the cupboard.

“York is a foodie city. We have lots of people supporting the local food industry. We are fully booked for the event. It’s about knowing where your food comes from.”

About 40 people in total are expected to attend this afternoon’s event, with 20 people swapping food.

The first hour of the event is expected to be spent greeting everyone, displaying produce, completing swap cards and setting up tasting samples.

“Bids” will then be written on to the swap cards allowing people to see who has expressed an interest in their goods and allowing for the cards to be used as a basis for negotiating.

Anyone who wants to organise their own food swapping events can visit www.applesforeggs.com for more information.