Summer Surplus, Shared
It’s been a busy summer here at Sussex Surplus. As autumn begins to take its hold, we’re taking a look back at what we’ve been up to over the past few months. Here are some of our highlights:
New volunteers
It’s been great to welcome some wonderful new volunteers to the team supporting us to deliver our community lunch on Thursdays in the Bristol Estate Community Room. It’s always a joy to have new people join us, and this summer we’ve been lucky to have Taj, Ami and Farhana lending a hand. Everyone brings their own skills, ideas and personal touches to the meals we create, adding something special to what we do. We’re so grateful for the enthusiasm and energy our volunteers bring to the team!
Catering for HAF cAmps
Throughout August, the Sussex Surplus kitchen was in full swing, cooking for Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) camps run by Brighton Table Tennis Club in Moulsecoomb and ThirdSpace Theatre in Hanover — all using surplus food that would otherwise have gone to waste. Over three weeks, we served 1,300 meals to children eligible for HAF through free school meals, alongside our regular weekly community café.
Hats off to the camp organisers, who put on fantastic, meaningful and stimulating programmes for the kids — it's been brilliant to part of, and it feels really good to be working alongside such fantastic groups. We loved every moment of feeding them!
Gleaning
In late July, we headed to the beautiful Racehill Community Orchard with a community group to glean delicious, tiny mirabelle plums, bringing back 25kg. Over July and August, they found their way into puddings, jams and even a cordial, as well as being shared through our community fridge and redistributed to BrightStore Whitehawk.
We've also had plum gleaning success at a private orchard in Ringmer, and just this week completed our first apple glean of the season — over 1 tonne of apples shared with FareShare Sussex & Surrey, Real Junk Food Brighton, and BrightStore.
Communal dining events
We took communal dining outside this summer for 'Together at the Farm Table,' and it was wonderful.
We kicked things off in July at Lovebrook Farm. After cooking inside all morning, it was a joy to head outdoors for the finishing touches, watching the sun roll over the South Downs. Following a warm welcome and farm tour from Hannah & Rich, 65 people sat down to a summery dinner under the shelter of the farm's barn.
The meal opened with Real Patisserie bread and smoky baba ganoush, before moving on to a hearty Tuscan bean stew, crispy potato salad with miso mayonnaise and Shrub samphire, and a vibrant panzanella loaded with heritage tomatoes, kohlrabi, purslane and fresh herbs. Every dish was built around rescued surplus, with the exception of fresh leaves from Lovebrook and tomatoes from Pitfield — proof that "waste" food can still make for a genuinely delicious spread. We finished on a high with a rich chocolate and orange cake topped (randomly and successfully) with Ferrero Rocher eggs, with vegan and gluten-free alternatives on hand for all.
In August we were at the Earthship at Stanmer Park. The menu consisted of beetroot dip, Kerala style potato curry, Bombay potato salad and a fresh summer salad. An influx of plums were turned into a plum crumble cake served with creme anglaise - it was a real star!
The evening was made extra special by coinciding with the solar eclipse. Despite the order happening 8 days in advance, eclipse glasses didn’t arrive in time! Fortunately our brilliant volunteer Simon (aka Ingrid’s Simon) brought online so precisely made pin-hole projectors and we had an excess of collinders.
As the moon inched further over the sun, everybody jumped up to the far end of the field to witness the moment. We all ended up pouring into Fork and Dig It plot just below the Earthship, where everybody shared colanders and the single pair of eclipse glasses that had been brought along. Lots of us commented on the unusual dusky light that fell over the land. It was definitely a night to remember.
It’s been a real joy to host communal dining events outdoors this summer, welcoming both new and familiar faces each month. This time - on Wednesday the 16th of September - we’ll be at Old School Studios in Whitehawk (see link details below).
Climate challenges
The sun being out brought its challenges. While it's been nice to have the outdoor seating available, the heat has been hard too, so we’ve prioritised lighter, easily digestible meals at the cafe. Blackcurrant leaf, grape, and elderflower cordials have been filling our drinks dispensers with heapings of ice and our fan has been working overtime.
Due to the increased heat, certain fresh produce is ready at an earlier stage than it ought to be - we had pumpkins coming through the kitchen in August. We’re in unprecedented times, and farmers all over the country are feeling the effects of the heatwaves on their crops. As climate change takes hold and we creep past 1.5 degrees of warming, it’s all the more important to build strong, resilient food systems and nurture a community of people who care in the process.
As we head into autumn, we're looking forward to the produce the new season will bring, and to continuing our communal dining series — next up is Together at the Table on Wednesday 16th September at Old School Studios, Whitehawk, where we'll be joined by Pitfield Veg for a hot, seasonal, surplus-fuelled feast. Book here.
We're teaming up with The Launchpad Collective for a special Cooking the Books takeover at Patio on Sunday 20th September, exploring food, memory and displacement with Pary Baban, author of Nandên: Recipes from My Kurdish Kitchen. It's a powerful one — a chance to hear Pary's story and share a meal together in the year marking 75 years since the Refugee Convention. Book here.
We're also excited to be part of BrightonFoodStory, Brighton & Hove's brand new annual food festival (2–4 October), taking part in their Long Table Supper Club — a network of dinners across the city celebrating our diverse migrant food cultures. Details of our event are still coming together, so stay tuned to our newsletter to hear about it!