By Lucy Corkhill
29th July 2013
Lughnasadh was absorbed into the Christian calendar and became the first harvest festival of the Christian church.
It is a time of celebration, gratitude and honouring. Now we give thanks to Mother Earth for the harvest, for the fields of wheat that grew from bags of grain. An awe-inspiring reminder of the cycles of life as the new grain is harvested and some is put aside to grow next year’s crop. One of the most recognised symbols for Lammas is the Lammas loaf – the loaf made from the first harvest. Lammas is the perfect opportunity to get baking with your family. Do your research and see if you can find a mill near you – the Real Bread Campaign has come up with a handy list of local mills making real flour here. If you grew your own grain this year or know where you can buy it, you might like to give home milling a try; this website shows how to do it without breaking the bank by using a coffee grinder. This could be a pleasing way to connect in with where our food comes from, and an exciting learning experience for kids.
The Real Bread Campaign http://www.sustainweb.org/realbread/ is part of the charity Sustain: the alliance for better food and farming. The Campaign argues that real bread is made without the use of any artificial additives, and they aim to seek, find and share ways to make bread better for us, better for our communities and better for the planet. Their Local Loaves for Lammas campaign sees events taking place in the UK (you can enter your own on their website), and urges people to celebrate this ancient festival by supporting local bread suppliers. The Real Bread Campaign website also includes inspiring ideas on how to set up a Community Supported Bakery http://www.sustainweb.org/realbread/community_supported_baking/ to get real bread at the heart of your community, and the Campaign’s exciting ways of getting schools involved in making their own bread with their Lessons in Loaf amongst many other Slow Food ideas.
However you choose to celebrate Lammas this year, one of the most important things to teach our children is an awareness and gratitude for where our food comes from. So, rather than picking up a pre-packaged loaf in the supermarket, why not get deliciously messy and bake your own, offering up gratitude for the sun, rain, earth, and farmer that saw that little handful of grains make their way to your table.
