RAU continue to help feed the local community in proud partnership with The Long Table

29 Jan 2021

The Royal Agricultural University is proud to partner with The Long Table project serving up over 7,000+ locally sourced, home cooked freezer meals that can be bought on a ‘pay what you can’ basis across the Cotswolds and Gloucestershire during the pandemic.

With reduced numbers of staff and students on site, the University is not needing to provide its usual catering service, and this led Ryan Hanson, Head of Catering and Retail at the RAU, and his catering team to prepare meals for the Long Table Project since March 2020.

“It is wonderful to play our part in feeding local people with good, wholesome comfort food. Our kitchen is the largest across Gloucestershire and we are all incredibly proud to prepare, cook and package thousands of meals including cottage pies and beef stews for the ‘Freezers of Love’ across the region.”

One happy customer talking about the RAU meals said: “It’s lovely to know there is good, home cooked food to take because I’ve been really struggling emotionally and sometimes can’t cook.” Another commented: “The food in half term was great. I’ve got four kids and one on the way and my husband has lost his job, it was something I didn’t need to worry about.”

Tom Herbert, Founder of The Long Table, said: “We are delighted and relieved to be working in partnership with the RAU. We really could not have provided food to sixteen community based ‘Freezers of Love’ throughout two further lockdowns without the additional RAU meals. We look forward to sharing their meals with people across the county as we improve access to real food.”

“Food and people lie at the heart of the RAU’s activities and we’re delighted to be able to do our part in feeding the nation in these challenging times", said Ryan. “This is a fantastic example of local organisations and business coming together at a time of crisis to make a difference in the community.”

The Long Table, is a community-based kitchen and restaurant in Brimscombe, supported by the Diocese of Gloucester.

For those wanting to find their nearest freezer or place meal orders with The Long Table can visit: www.thelongtableonline.com or email hello@thelongtable.online.com.