You’d think that launching a new food magazine and visiting one of the most popular Food Fairs in the country would be two good reasons to forget about a healthy eating diet for a while. But no, two weeks after the launch of our new magazine, people and food, I spent a day at the Eat Dorset Food Fair outside Beaminster, marvelling at (and only occasionally sampling) a selection of some of the finest foods produced in the South West. On a crisp autumn weekend the crowds came out in their thousands and producers, chefs and food lovers combined to give the whole event a party atmosphere. One local chef showed recipes using foraged food from nearby woodland. Foraging has been popular for some time but has recently become even more in vogue after being heavily promoted by many high profile chefs. However the question of legality still rears its head occasionally. Which is why I was delighted to read a comment this week from a representative of the National Trust about scrumping. Throughout October many people in the country have been celebrating Apple Day and one BBC journalist highlighted the question of legality asking ‘if you don’t own the land on which it grows, can you legally pick it?’ In most cases the answer is no, it’s not legal. However Matthew Oates, the National Trust’s conservation advisor has suggested that the chances of being prosecuted for taking a couple of apples from a National Trust orchard are pretty slim. “Our view” he said “is to invite people to come and do it on National Trust land if it’s for personal or family consumption.” In a week where government cuts are going to bite hard into rural pockets, that sounds like a good, healthy invitation.
