Local Food

Butter or Vegetable Oil?

We have been advised to use vegetable oil rather than butter or other animal products for cooking. since most vegetable cooking oils contain 120 Kcal and butter is only 90 kcal per tablespoon I have wondered about the logic of cooking with vegetable oil rather than butter, which arguably tastes better anyway.

I use a wok, a Le Creuset wok, for cooking on a daily basis and note that I need a tablespoon of cooking oil to ensure that my food is not burnt. On reviewing my kcal consumption I have noted that cooking oil is a significant factor in my calorie consumption. A typical meal will require 120 kcal, that's one tablespoon. when I have finished cooking there is no residue left in my wok. Whereas by using butter I have noted that I am only using the same amount  as oil for cooking and, And, there is even butter left in my wok after cooking.

It seems to me that cooking with butter is not only tastier but also provides less calories, possibly less than as listed, as some is left for the next meal. We also need fat in our diet so have we been advised correctly?

Incidently a proper wok is hemispherical and will need less oil than one that has a flat bottom. I forgot to include this link when I originally posted this article: Butter is good for you

Where ever the proposed village shop needs to be, it does need to be large enough to provide the range of goods that we need and at reasonable prices. The combined shop and post office at Winsley is a good example.

I am concerned that there should always be a range of fresh vegetables available. There is a danger that because there is not much profit on fresh produce this part of the produce for sale will be neglected and disappointed shoppers will just go to Bradford On Avon. 

One of the great things about supermarkets are that it is unusual to not to be able to buy what you need, whatever the time of day. And often, whatever the time of day there are usually bargains.

Whilst not exactly a local food issue, it could be, if you grow your own food and need to store it. Although I am at present living alone my under-worktop fridge and separate under-worktop freezer are not sufficient to store the necessary amounts of fruit and vegetables for a healthy diet without having to shop more frequently than I (and possibly we) should. Using precious fuel (cost and environmental damage) and although, I might be slightly mad,  like shopping, shopping takes time that might be better spent.

My solution, well my present solution, is to install a fridge in a shed in my garden. I have done this, and now can buy plenty of vegetables and keep them fairly fresh. I have partially insulated the shed, but just recently I have encountered a problem that I have expected, what happens when the temperature drops to such a low level that the food may freeze.  I now need to plug the fridge into a time switch and monitor the temperature. I am doing this with a maximum and minium type garden thermometer. I will also complete the insulation, which will keep the shed cooler in the summer (its location can absorb sunshine) and help to stop the shed getting too cold in the winter.

I have an excellent list of recommended storage periods for fruit and vegetables that I obtained from Cindy Tong's website Harvesting & Storing. . .

What type of fridge to use in a garden shed? Apparently its best in terms of economy to use a  chest freezer!  But with the thermostatic control altered to run as a fridge  not a freeezer. For a rather extensive discussion of thermostatic control of fridges ( in the context of making Beer!) see fridge temperature control.  For the article on using a chest freezer as a fridge and how to modify one seeTom Chalko's solution (the chest freezer run as a fridge is up to 20 times more efficient than a fridge!)

PS a fridge should not allow food to freeze (outside the freezing compartment of course) and will shut down, but in the situation that the fridge is placed in a shed the ambient temperature may just freeze the food. I don't want to heat the shed!

I live in Staples Hill but in Wiltshire. My enquiry about getting an allotment resulted in being told that the half a dozen or so allotments in Bradford on Avon were unavailable and that I might gain one in Trowbridge, eventually - in a year or two! My view is that I should be able to "till the land" locally.

And on reflection my allotment in Trowbridge, if I was lucky enough to get one, would be subject to drug fiends and vandals. Actually, most denizens of Trowbridge are charming -including the youngsters, but such is the times. It would for me, have made more sense, if I could have been offered an allotment in Freshford. But not withstanding my residential status in Wiltshire -lower council tax and having Andrew Murrison as MP (even though I am a Marxist leninist -just joking of course-an asset) I would like to have an allotment in Freshford. 

Are there any? and is there any available? I like the idea of sharing ideas and a cup of tea in a shed on an allotment.

Given the next War or rather similar conditions that gave rose to allotments in central London where I used to live, in our case global warming -not a five year period; what we need is allotments and the appropriation of land for that purpose; please consent! I will include a map and leave it to the imagination to identify where such allotments should be.

PS. since we are not at war it should be fun! But we are faced with the imminent responsibility of providing for ourselves at a minimal cost to the environment. The key words must be Food and Fuel! This year's efforts in my garden leave me to realise that I would starve if left to my own efforts -even the bumper crop of pears rotted! So if I can't gain an allotment in Freshford being a Wilts geezer maybe I could share the cost with a BA&NES resident?