A campaign to get seasonal food on the menu is targeting pubs this year, and aims to get 2,000 venues on board.
Now in its second year, Eat Seasonably plans to offer pubs stickers to display in their windows, "ask me about eating seasonably" badges for waiting staff, logos to highlight suitable dishes on menus and a notebook of recipe ideas for chefs and restaurateurs.
Campaign director David Hall said he had already started working with the British Hospitality Association and the Women's Institute to get its message out there. "We would like to get a minimum of 2,000 food service businesses involved this year."
It plans to create a map on the Eat Seasonably website where customers can see which venues are serving seasonal food, and is considering developing an iPhone app.
The campaign held a breakfast launch at Geetie Singh's north London pub, the Duke of Cambridge, last week. Singh's pub was the first to be recognised by the Soil Association as an organic venue.
Singh said pubs need to "start looking at how they put their menu together", and consider writing "seasonal vegetables" instead of specifying which vegetables will be on offer. She also advised linking up with a local farmer — "the best way to do this is by going along to a local farmers' market".
Gregg Wallace, greengrocer and MasterChef presenter, is also backing the campaign. He advised chefs to put seasonal vegetables on menus, together with a description highlighting what's special about them. "Celebrate the produce and people will buy into something that is local to them," he said.
To get involved visit www.eatseasonably.co.uk