How it works

Food swapping is a collaborative, community-based activity. No money changes hands, the currency is your home produce! The first part of a Food Swap event is for greeting, displaying your stuff, completing 'swap cards' for each item of produce you've brought and for setting up some tasting samples if you have them. Then it's on to chatting, tasting, perusing the available items and writing down what you would like to offer for other people's produce on swap cards. Around an hour into proceedings we make an announcement and everyone heads back to their goods to see who's expressed interest.... and then the fun begins! Using the cards as a basis for negotiating, you finalise your swaps - and rapidly find yourself with a haul of fantastic produce to take home.

A few Food Swap tips:

Arrive at the start (or as close as you can) - so you don't miss out on potential swaps.

Batches are good - the more items you bring, the more you take home. So, if you bring one cake, you'd get to take home one jar of jam (say). If you bring three cakes and a jar of chutney from your larder, you'd be able to take home that jar of jam, plus a sourdough loaf, a bag of organic apples and some granola...... so the more the merrier definitely works!

Think about packaging your items up so that they can be easily transported by other swappers - and feel free to make them look attractive too! Think about portion swapability as well: a loaf of bread, 225g (8oz) of jam or 6 eggs are about equal.

Label your produce where you can.

Bring samples to share/taste.

For more information on Food Swaps visit www.applesforeggs.com or www.foodswapnetwork.com, or get in touch with Caroline Huish on caroline@huishs.com

Notes:

Tickets are for the swapper only - so if you're bringing partner/kids etc no need to register them

You must be over 18 to register as a Swapper. Under 18s are welcome to participate in the event under the supervision of a parent or guardian who has registered.

If you register for a ticket and then can't make it, please let us know so we can release your place.

This is a community event, and as such, to participate you are acknowledging that the food being swapped has not been prepared in commercial kitchens subject to food Standards Agency certification. With this in mind, we ask that you take great care to bring only food prepared to the highest standards and agree not to hold liable the food swap hosts, swap venue owners or other swap participants should you be in any way dissatisfied or adversely affected. (And remember, if you don't like the look of it, you don't have to take it)